StaTuesday: Vikings’ Diggs, Cousins pull off rare home feats
The sight of Stefon Diggs burning Philadelphia cornerbacks and catching a Kirk Cousins pass were plentiful on Sunday during Minnesota’s 38-20 victory.
It was also a rare sight for home fans.
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Diggs finished with seven catches on 11 targets for 167 yards and three touchdowns – the three scores coming from distances of 62, 51 and 11 yards.
Cousins, who completed 22 of 29 passes for 333 yards, also threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen to open the scoring
Three TDs for Diggs, four for Cousins. A home game in Minnesota has featured a wide receiver with three touchdowns and a quarterback throwing for four and with 300+ yards only twice previously in Vikings history – Tommy Kramer and Sammy White in 1982 and Randall Cunningham and Randy Moss in 1998.
Including the postseason, Diggs had just the 17th three-receiving touchdown game in Vikings history and 11th at home. The last to do it was Sidney Rice in an NFC Division playoff game on Jan. 17, 2010. The last to do it in a regular-season game was Marcus Robinson against Cleveland in 2005. Robinson only had three catches in the game totaling 32 yards – or less than two of Diggs’ TDs.
Diggs’ 167 yards against the Eagles are the fourth-highest in any three TD game in Vikings history, topped only by White and Randy Moss (twice).
ALL-TIME VIKINGS 3 RECEIVING TD GAMES
PLAYER | DATE | OPP | RESULT | REC | YDS |
Jerry Reichow | 12/17/1961 | at Bears | L, 52-35 | 6 | 90 |
Charley Ferguson | 11/11/1962 | at Bears | L, 31-30 | 3 | 130 |
Gene Washington | 11/9/1969 | vs. Browns | W, 51-3 | 7 | 119 |
Sammy White | 12/11/1976 | at Dolphins | W, 29-7 | 9 | 120 |
Ahmad Rashad* | 9/2/1979 | vs. 49ers | W, 28-22 | 7 | 152 |
Sammy White | 11/28/1982 | vs. Bears | W, 35-7 | 10 | 177 |
Cris Carter | 9/25/1994 | vs. Dolphins | W, 38-35 | 7 | 81 |
Cris Carter | 12/21/1997 | vs. Colts | W, 39-28 | 5 | 89 |
Randy Moss | 11/26/1998 | at Cowboys | W, 46-36 | 3 | 163 |
Randy Moss | 12/6/1998 | vs. Bears | W, 48-22 | 8 | 106 |
Cris Carter | 11/14/1999 | at Bears | W, 27-24 | 9 | 141 |
Randy Moss | 10/1/2000 | at Lions | W, 31-24 | 7 | 168 |
Randy Moss | 11/19/2001 | vs. Giants | W, 28-16 | 10 | 171 |
Randy Moss | 9/28/2003 | vs. 49ers | W, 35-7 | 8 | 172 |
Marcus Robinson | 11/27/2005 | vs. Browns | W ,24-12 | 3 | 32 |
Sidney Rice** | 1/17/2010 | vs. Cowboys | W, 34-3 | 6 | 141 |
Stefon Diggs | 10/13/2019 | vs. Eagles | W, 38-20 | 7 | 167 |
* — Rashad had four touchdowns
** — playoff game
Cousins became the 14th Vikings quarterback, including playoffs, to throw four or more touchdowns in a home game and the 26th time overall. The others: Todd Bouman, Teddy Bridgewater, Daunte Culpepper (twice), Cunningham (twice), Brett Favre (three), Gus Frerotte, Jeff George, Brad Johnson (twice), Joe Kapp, Kramer (six), Warren Moon and Fran Tarkenton (four). Six of those 26 games occurred in the playoffs.
The last Vikings quarterback to throw for four TDs in a home contest was Bridgewater at TFC Bank Stadium on Dec. 20. 2015. But he only had 231 yards passing that day. It had been nine years since the home faithful saw a Vikings QB have four touchdowns and 300 yards passing, and it’s been done only 10 times total.
VIKINGS QBS W/ 4+ TD, 300+ YARDS IN A HOME GAME
PLAYER | DATE | OPP | RESULT | YDS | TD |
Fran Tarkenton | 9/20/1964 | Bears | L, 34-28 | 311 | 4 |
Joe Kapp | 9/28/1969 | Colts | W, 52-14 | 449 | 7 |
Tommy Kramer | 12/14/1980 | Browns | W, 28-23 | 456 | 4 |
Tommy Kramer | 11/28/1982 | Bears | W, 35-7 | 342 | 5 |
Warren Moon | 11/19/1995 | Saints | W, 43-24 | 338 | 4 |
Randall Cunningham | 12/6/1998 | Bears | W, 48-22 | 349 | 4 |
Jeff George | 11/28/1999 | Chargers | W, 35-27 | 363 | 4 |
Todd Bouman | 12/9/2001 | Titans | W, 42-24 | 348 | 4 |
Brett Favre | 1/3/2010 | Giants | W, 44-7 | 316 | 4 |
Kirk Cousins | 10/13/2019 | Eagles | W, 38-20 | 333 | 4 |