Cousins looks sharp in debut, Vikings get preseason win over Denver

In their first preseason game of 2018, the Minnesota Vikings hung on to defeat the Denver Broncos by a score of 42-28.

It didn’t take very long for Kirk Cousins to prove to the Minnesota Vikings that he was worth the $84 million they spent on him last March. Okay, well maybe not, but Cousins certainly made a great impression during his first preseason game with the Vikings on Saturday night.

Against the Denver Broncos, Minnesota and their new quarterback marched 75 yards down the field on their first offensive drive of the matchup and capped it off with a one-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs.

That ended up being the only drive of the night for Cousins and Minnesota’s first-team offense. The Vikings’ new signal caller completed all four of his passes for 42 yards and one touchdown.

Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota’s opening drive score was the first of five touchdowns on Saturday for the purple and gold during their 42-28 win over the Broncos.

During that opening drive, the Vikings’ offense also got a big boost from running back Latavius Murray. Currently in his second season with Minnesota, Murray finished his night with 43 rushing yards on four carries, including two runs of more than 20 yards.

Speaking of running backs, Roc Thomas had himself an impressive debut for the Vikings on Saturday. The undrafted rookie out of Jacksonville State scored two touchdowns against Denver, including one that saw him take a screen pass 78 yards down the field and into the end zone.

On the other sideline, former Vikings quarterback Case Keenum didn’t look that great in his preseason debut with the Broncos. Keenum stayed on the field for two offensive series, completing one of his four pass attempts for just five yards.

Defensively, Minnesota’s top two units shut down Denver’s offense. Thanks to the Vikings’ defense, the Broncos had a total of just 12 yards after their first five offensive drives of the matchup.

Minnesota is now 1-0 this preseason and will face the Jacksonville Jaguars next Saturday, August 18 at 12 p.m. CT inside U.S. Bank Stadium.