Winners and losers: 5 takeaways for Vikings in blowout win over Falcons

If the Minnesota Vikings didn't already have enough proof that signing Sam Darnold was the right move after letting Kirk Cousins waltz into free agency, they've certainly got it now.

The Vikes welcomed Cousins and his Atlanta Falcons to U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon and absolutely annihilated the now-former NFC South leaders, taking a 42-21 victory to up their winning streak to six behind a career day from Darnold. More on that in a moment.

With the win, the Vikings improved to 11-2 on the season and remain just one game back of the Detroit Lions in the NFC North, who upped their conference-leading mark to 12-1 this past Thursday with a 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers. Minnesota now owns a two-game lead on Green Bay (9-3) in the race for the top wild-card spot.

With the loss, the Falcons dropped to 6-7 and also dropped to second place in the South as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers upped their record to 7-6 with a win over the Las Vegas Raiders, thus taking control of the division.

Getting back to the Vikings, here's a look at some winners and losers for Kevin O'Connell's club following their big win over Atlanta in Week 14.

Winner: Sam Darnold

Sam Darnold didn't just have his best day of the season on Sunday against the Falcons but also had the best overall game of his entire career.

After a solid enough first half in which he threw for 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns to help Minnesota to a 14-10 advantage at the break, the 27-year-old went off over the final 30 minutes, throwing for 250 yards and three additional scores as the Vikings pulled away.

By the time the clock hit zeroes, Darnold had completed 22 of 28 passes for a career-high 347 yards with a career-best five touchdown passes. He was also interception-free for the fourth consecutive game and earned a career-best 157.9 passer rating, falling just short of a perfect mark.

Winner: Justin Jefferson

Leading into this Vikings-Falcons matchup, we predicted that Justin Jefferson would score his first touchdown since Week 7.

And just ahead of the two-minute warning in the first half, the three-time Pro Bowler did just that with a 12-yard score. But Jefferson wasn't done in that department as he added a 52-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter, which ultimately extended Minnesota's lead to 21-13.

In addition to finding the end zone for the first time since Week 7, he also hit the century mark for the first time since Week 9, catching seven passes for 132 yards. Surprisingly, though, Jefferson wasn't the team leader in receptions, yards, or touchdown catches in this game.

Winner: Jordan Addison

While Jefferson had a great game, Jordan Addison had an even better one.

Just two weeks after setting a new career high with eight receptions against the Chicago Bears, the second-year wideout matched it on Sunday, catching eight passes on 12 targets for a team-high 133 yards.

And let's not forget about his career-high three touchdowns.

After getting the Vikings on the scoreboard near the end of the first quarter with a 49-yard TD, Addison was the recipient of Darnold's final two passing scores in the final frame, which went for 11 and six yards, respectively.

Jefferson and Addison are rapidly becoming one of the most dangerous 1-2 WR combos in the league.

Winner: Aaron Jones

It's no secret that Vikings running back Aaron Jones has had some issues hanging onto the football in recent weeks, racking up four fumbles in his last three games.

There should have been a fifth, but a pitch he lost against the Tennessee Titans a few weeks back was credited to Darnold for some reason.

Nevertheless, Jones has struggled. But those struggles were nonexistent against the Falcons as the eighth-year veteran was fumble-free for the first time in nearly a month and had a solid day, rushing for 73 yards on just 13 carries with a touchdown and adding another 11 yards on a pair of receptions.

Jones now has a team-high 1,195 yards from scrimmage on the season, 22 more than Jefferson's 1,173.

Loser: The Vikings' defense

The headlines will highlight that the Vikings' defense added to their league-leading interception total by picking off Kirk Cousins twice and keeping him from throwing a touchdown pass.

But it doesn't change the fact that Brian Flores' unit still allowed Cousins to pass for 344 yards.

Furthermore, while Minnesota entered this game with the top-ranked run defense in the NFL, the Falcons racked up 158 rushing yards on the day, the highest total the Vikings have allowed on the ground all season. And that's after allowing 154 rushing yards to the Arizona Cardinals a week ago.

In total, Minnesota allowed 496 total yards to Atlanta in this game, which also marks a season-worst. Like they've done much of the season, the Vikings were able to offset some of this damage by creating some turnovers and getting some big stops in the red zone, holding the Falcons to two touchdowns in five trips inside the 20.

But the yardage is concerning. Luckily for Minnesota, it was a non-issue in this game, as Darnold and the offense put up a season-high 42 points. Typically, though, this team is in close-game situations, and if the defense continues to allow teams to march down the field at will, the Vikings' luck could soon run out.