Kirk Cousins Throws Two Touchdowns and an Eight-Sack Defense Buries Jordan Love in a 30-10 Lambeau Rout

Less than a week after a trade-deadline deal sent him back to Minnesota, Kirk Cousins walked into Lambeau Field and looked like he had never left. He threw two touchdown passes, and the defense in front of him sacked Jordan Love eight times as the Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers 30-10 on Sunday.

Minnesota is 7-2 and snapped a two-game losing streak. Green Bay falls to 6-4, its three-game winning streak over, and the Vikings now own the season sweep after winning the Week 1 meeting 39-22.

A Quick Lead, Then a Long Afternoon

Green Bay forced a three-and-out and then handed the ball right back. Andrew Van Ginkel knocked it loose from tight end Mark Redman at the Packers 10, and after Barryn Sorrell sacked Cousins on third-and-goal, Will Reichard kicked a 34-yard field goal. Trey Smack then missed wide right from 53 yards. On third-and-23, Cousins hit Myles Price over the middle, and Price broke away from cornerback Brandon Cisse, who was injured on the tackle attempt, for a 38-yard touchdown and a 10-0 lead with 2:46 left in the first quarter.

Harrison Smith intercepted Love in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter, the 41st pick of his career. The Vikings' next touchdown drive survived a scare when an apparent Cousins interception was overturned because he was ruled down for a sack. Cousins later converted a third-and-15 with a 24-yard throw to Tai Felton, and Aaron Jones Sr. ran in the touchdown that made it 17-0.

Levi Drake Rodriguez sacked Love on the first snap of the second half, and Green Bay gave the ball away again on that possession when a shotgun snap got loose and Dallas Turner recovered it. Reichard's field goal pushed the lead to 20-0. The Packers finally answered with Love's 32-yard touchdown pass to J. Michael Sturdivant, and Smack's 40-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in the third quarter made it 20-10.

That was as close as it got. Minnesota went 75 yards, and Cousins finished the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gavin Bartholomew, the first score of Bartholomew's career, with about eight and a half minutes to play. Reichard added his third field goal to close it out.

The Pass Rush Ran the Show

The eight sacks came from seven different Vikings, with Rodriguez the only one to get there twice. Turner, Van Ginkel and former Packer Eric Wilson each added one. Love finished 17 of 27 for 220 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Green Bay was held to 220 total yards and 56 on the ground. Matthew Golden caught five passes for 70 yards but dropped two on one second-quarter drive. Add Sturdivant's lost fumble on a kickoff and Green Bay gave the ball away four times.

Cousins was efficient rather than spectacular, going 21 of 31 for 207 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, the lone pick coming from Xavier McKinney just after the two-minute warning. Justin Jefferson caught a season-high nine passes for 74 yards, and Price added four catches for 49 yards.

What It Means

With Kyler Murray out with a hamstring injury, the Vikings went and got a quarterback who knows the system, and the first returns were exactly what they needed. Minnesota now shares the NFC North lead at 7-2 with Chicago and Detroit and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Green Bay. The Vikings face the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday night.

Green Bay sits two games back of the division leaders in the loss column, with a protection problem that showed up all afternoon. In September, Minnesota needed a comeback to beat the Packers. This time the Vikings never trailed.

Stats from the box score via Bleacher Report and Pro Football Talk. Reporting from Packers.com, Forbes, Packers On SI, Athlon Sports, Yahoo Sports, Yardbarker and FOX 9.