GREEN BAY, Wis. — There was little question as to whether Kirk Cousins would be back in the No. 8 jersey for the Vikings.

It was fair to ponder how the veteran QB would do in said jersey.

With the Packers trying to turn around momentum and having outgained Minnesota 158 to 26 in the third quarter to half the Vikings lead, Cousins went 8-for-8 for 68 yards, capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Bartholomew for a 17-point lead with 8:29 remaining in an eventual 30-10 victory.

Cousins opened the fourth quarter with a 5-yard completion to Ben Yurosek that was set up by play action, and Jordan Mason followed with a run of 2 on third-and-1.

Then it was Cousins to Justin Jefferson for gains of 10 and 2, a loss of 4, a pick up of 16 on third-and-12, another gain of 8 to get back on track after a pre-snap penalty and another third-and-1 conversion with an 11-yard pass to Jefferson, who totaled 43 of his 74 yards during the clincher.

Cousins finished 21-of-31 passing for 207 yards with two scores and one interception. His passer rating was 94.4.

More importantly, in some of the toughest moments, he was completely composed.

Cousins showed beautiful touch and placement of a pass to Myles Price to turn a third-and-23 into a 38-yard TD for a 10-3 lead with 2:46 remaining in the first quarter.

Minnesota went 8-for-16 on third downs six days after going 0-for-8.

The Vikings completed the season sweep of the Border Battle, and Head Coach Kevin O'Connell recorded his 50^th career victory. O'Connell set a team record for fastest coach to 50 wins, edging out Hall of Famer Bud Grant.

Here are four more observations.

1. Defense opens with a sacks spree

Despite being on the field so much Monday, traveling on a short week and missing starting "Green Dot" Blake Cashman, the Vikings defense pitched a shutout in the first half.

Minnesota significantly affected Jordan Love in the first half, recording five sacks and eight QB hits in limiting a potential MVP candidate to 7-of-12 passing and a passer rating of 41.0 in the first half.

Dallas Turner, Eric Wilson, Levi Drake Rodriguez, Andrew Van Ginkle and Kyle Van Noy each were credited with a sack in the first half.

Rodriguez added another, and Elijah Williams and Jalen Redmond also took down Love in the second half for a season-high total of eight sacks.

2. Gink & Hitman provide takeaways

Van Ginkel provided an early takeaway, forcing and recovering a fumble by Mark Redman on Green Bay's second play of the game.

Van Ginkle became the second player this season to force and recover two fumbles.

The quick takeaway, which gave Minnesota possession at the Green Bay 10, resulted in a 34-yard field goal to set up a wire-to-wire win.

Love opened the game 4-for-4 with 40 yards, but then missed his next four pass attempts, beginning with a pass intercepted by Harrison Smith in the end zone for a touchback.

Green Bay had advanced the ball that far with help from two 15-yard penalties against Minnesota, but Smith nabbed his 41^st career interception and seventh against the Packers.

3. Run game makes forward progress

Cousins' impact was certainly felt in the passing game, but it also seemed to help the rushing attack.

Jordan Mason finished with 59 yards on 16 carries, and Aaron Jones, Sr., rushed 11 times for 47 yards, highlighted by a 1-yard romp into the end zone thanks to an impressive block by rookie fullback Max Bredeson, who is a Wisconsin native.

Jones enjoyed the opportunity to do the Lambeau Leap in his third game at the venue against his former team and was joined by Bredeson and others.

Minnesota finished with 31 rushing attempts for 129 yards, compared to 56 yards on 17 carries by Green Bay.

4. Rookie connection on special teams

Vikings rookie Jakobe Thomas, who made his NFL debut a few days after swapping out his No. 8 jersey (after Cousins returned) for an available No. 6, forcing a fumble on the kickoff return that followed Bartholomew's TD.

It was recovered by fellow rookie Jake Golday at the Green Bay 35. Minnesota followed with a 33-yard drive to set up a 20-yard field goal by Will Reichard, who has not missed a kick at Lambeau Field.

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