With a fresh start and little to lose, the Atlanta Falcons played like it from start to finish.
The Minnesota Vikings made a big mistake …
With a fresh start and little to lose, the Atlanta Falcons played like it from start to finish. The Minnesota Vikings made a big mistake on their very first play and simply never recovered. Julio Jones returned from injury to catch two of Matt Ryan’s four touchdown passes, as the Falcons beat the Vikings 40-23 on Sunday for their first victory of the season — one week after the firing of head coach Dan Quinn. The Falcons (1-5) turned three interceptions into 17 points and built a 20-0 lead at the break that proved to be solid enough for even this falter-prone bunch. The ever-popular Quinn might have found himself wondering just why this team hadn’t played like this yet this year. “I can’t worry about where it’s been. I’ve just got to worry about where it’s going,” said interim coach Raheem Morris, who was given the game ball afterward. Kirk Cousins was picked off three times in the first half for the first time in his career, and the depleted Vikings (1-5) surrendered 40-plus points for the second time this year after going five straight seasons without any such games. Two of Minnesota’s last three games were one-point losses to still-undefeated teams, lending confidence for a turnaround. “It’s hard for me to figure out how we can continue to get better and play like we did a week ago and then play as poorly as we did this week,” head coach Mike Zimmer said. “We didn’t do very many things right, and we’ve got to get it fixed.
