Making his first start for the Minnesota Vikings since 2023, quarterback Kirk Cousins picked up where he left off — almost literally.

Cousins led the Vikings to a 30-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, ending Minnesota’s two-game losing streak and improving the team’s record to 7-2.

Cousins’s most recent start for the Vikings prior to Sunday also came at Green Bay. It was in 2023, and he tore his Achilles during that game, and Minnesota moved on from him the following offseason.

The Vikings have been looking for an answer at quarterback since, and they eventually came back around to Cousins at this year’s trade deadline. Cousins got the start Sunday only five days after he was acquired from the Las Vegas Raiders, and he made some big throws as he led Minnesota to its highest scoring output since Week 1.

“I didn’t even know what my code was to get into the building on Wednesday,” Cousins said postgame. “It took a village. I’m just grateful for all the people that stepped up to help.”

Cousins finished the game completing 21 of 31 passes for 207 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. While his stats weren’t spectacular, he made a meaningful impact on money downs, as the Vikings finished the game converting eight of 16 on third down. (Entering Sunday, Minnesota was ranked 30th in third-down conversion percentage at 33.3%.)

Minnesota’s first touchdown came on a third and 23, as Cousins made a beautiful, drop-in-the-bucket throw to Myles Price, who bounced off defenders en route to the end zone. Cousins described it as a “big-time” play by Price.

Cousins made another great throw on a third-and-long later in the game, connecting with Tai Felton on a wheel route on a third and 15 in the second quarter. The pass set up a one-yard touchdown run on the next play.

Later, after the Packers had cut the Vikings’ 20-0 lead to 20-10, Cousins picked up another massive first, checking into a screen pass on third and 12 and finding Justin Jefferson for a first down.

“It was fun, it felt like old times watching Justin do what he just did on that play,” Cousins said. “It was like, ‘I remember that guy. He’s pretty special.’”

Five plays later, Cousins threw his second touchdown of the game and effectively iced any chances of a Green Bay comeback.

“[He] just brought a certain amount of poise, leadership, execution,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said postgame. “Ran the show incredibly clean. Can’t say enough about him, I know everybody in the organization felt it this week.”

Jefferson, one of the game’s top receivers, was perhaps the biggest individual beneficiary of his old quarterback’s return. Jefferson’s nine receptions and 13 targets were both season highs.

Though Cousins didn’t exactly light the box score on fire, his presence Sunday made Minnesota’s championship formula incredibly clear: Play lights out defense, and do just enough on offense with above-average quarterback play.

With Cousins helping push the Vikings out to an early lead, Minnesota’s defense pinned its ears back and got after Jordan Love. The Vikings finished the game with eight sacks, and limited the Packers to only 56 yards rushing.

Love, one of the game’s great deep-ball throwers, finished the game with 220 yards, his fewest since Week 4. His 46.6 QBR was also his third-worst mark of the season.

“For one of the first times this year, I thought we played complementary football,” O’Connell said.

The win was an important one for Minnesota. The Vikings are now two games clear of Green Bay in loss column in the loaded NFC North, and now also own the tiebreaker between the two teams. Minnesota kept pace with the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears, both of whom are also 7-2.

The Vikings’ offense didn’t necessarily look perfect Sunday. But their quarterback making big throws and providing a steady hand while the defensedefense continued to dominate showed exactly why Minnesota decided to bring Cousins back.