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          Vikings' Kirk Cousins hits K.J. Osborn for 62-yard TD after Steelers narrow deficit

          • Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff WriterDec 10, 2021, 02:47 AM
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              Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.

          MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Vikings, whose season has been littered with wasting leads in close losses, must have felt deja vu Thursday night when the Pittsburgh Steelers mounted a second-half comeback.

          After the Steelers, who trailed 29-0 in the third quarter, fought back to make it 29-20, Kirk Cousins found K.J. Osborn for a 62-yard TD to give the Vikings a little breathing room.

          But that didn't last long as Cousins threw his second interception of the night, and the Steelers converted it into a touchdown and two-point conversion to make it 36-28 with 4:14 left.

          In his first game back since dislocating his shoulder in San Francisco two weeks ago, Vikings running back Dalvin Cook had the best first half of his career as he topped 100 yards rushing with a 29-yard touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

          He later added a seven-yard score as the Vikings' ground game dominated.

          With the Vikings just outside of Pittsburgh's red zone with 10:02 to play in the second quarter, Cook took a handoff from Kirk Cousins and ran 29 yards down Minnesota's sideline -- untouched -- into the end zone to help his team jump out to a 16-0 lead. The Vikings led 23-0 after Cook's second score.

          Five of Cook's rushes went for at least 15 yards, the most in a game in his career and the most by any player in the first half over the last 20 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Info. It was the most rushing yards in a first half against the Steelers since at least 2000.

          Cook rushed 14 times for 153 yards in the first half, averaging 10.9 yards per carry.