MINNEAPOLIS —The hits just kept on coming, and this time, it was good for the Vikings.

Minnesota racked up 15 hits, including four sacks, of Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer in a 30-24 victory on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium to snap a four-game losing streak.

The Vikings defense re-took the field with a six-point lead with 2:20 remaining. Minnesota looked more like it did in the first five games of the season than it did in the previous four.

The Cardinals (4-5-1) took possession at their own 13-yard line after a **booming 72-yard, career-long punt** by Kevin McDermott, and the Vikings applied more pressure than they had two weeks ago when trying to protect a three-point lead over Detroit with just 23 seconds in what became an overtime loss.

A tackle for no-gain on first down was followed by Everson Griffen getting a hit on Palmer during a deep pass attempt to John Brown that was broken up by Andrew Sendejo.

The Vikings kept Sendejo back as a single-high safety on the following play and blitzed Harrison Smith, who sacked Palmer for a loss of 9. Palmer's next pass was also incomplete, but officials called Tom Johnson for roughing the passer, awarding a fresh set of downs at the 19 with 1:07 left. The Vikings, however, remained relentless.

"We were talking on the sideline when the offense punted the ball," Mackensie Alexander explained. "We said, 'Listen, this is on us. If they don't score, they don't win.' When Tom got the penalty, we said, 'That's OK, let's roll,' and that's the attitude we had in the first five weeks."

Griffen chased Palmer down on a scramble and added another hit on a short attempt to J.J. Nelson. With 44 seconds remaining, Palmer was sacked for a second time by Danielle Hunter on fourth-and-6.

"Those wouldn't be possible if it weren't for my teammates," Hunter said. "We were setting up games, and all that, so we rushed together, and across the line, somebody is going to mess up, and that's how you get sacks.

Hunter, who recorded his first game with 2.0 sacks, said coaches told the team, "just keep pounding, and eventually the sacks are going to come."

"We didn't get frustrated; we just kept rushing," Hunter added.

Brian Robison, who moved into fourth all-time by a Vikings defensive end with his 152nd game, recorded the other sack and totaled five hits of Palmer. Robison moved into the Vikings top 10 in career sacks (53.5), sliding ahead of Keith Millard (53).

"That's what we want. Over the last four weeks, people have talked about, 'Our pass rush hasn't been the same,' but it just goes to show you, you have to get teams in situations to throw the ball in order to get your pass rush ramped up," Robison said.

The Vikings recorded 19 sacks in their first five games but only totaled three in their past four outings.

"That's the first time in a little while that we've been able to ramp things up and get after a quarterback with our best four pass rushers," Robison said. "For all of the people that said our pass rush was gone by the wayside, I hope this game will show that there's situations you have to have in order to make your pass rush successful."

Part of the pressure package involves shifting Robison inside to a defensive tackle spot and putting Hunter and Griffen as the defensive ends. Robison likes to work from a two-point stance and often moves around before snaps, adding to an offense's mystery of what could happen.

"I love that look. I think it creates a mismatch across the board," Robison said. "It gives them a different look because when we just have four down linemen, it's easy for them to pick out their protection, but when you give me the ability to walk around, and at times Danielle and Everson doing different things on the edge, it gives us an opportunity to show them a lot of different looks that they normally wouldn't see.

"What we're trying to do is create a mismatch, trying to attack their protection different ways," Robison continued. "We've got a lot of stuff built in that kind of gives us freedom to do different things based on what they do."

Griffen and Hunter each added three hits, Johnson tallied two, and Shamar Stephen and Smith each recorded one.

Century celebrations

Xavier Rhodes and Cordarrelle Patterson enabled the Vikings to become the second team ever to record a 100-plus yard kickoff return and interception return in a game.

Rhodes nabbed a pass at the goal line and streaked 100 yards for his first score since high school and **first of two interceptions** on the day.

Patterson took the opening kickoff of the second half **104 yards for a touchdown** — the fifth of his career to tie Percy Harvin's franchise record.

The only other time that a team had two plays of 100-plus yards was Oct. 14, 1962 by Dallas against Philadelphia (Mike Gaechter had a 100-yard interception return, and Amos Marsh had a 101-yard kickoff return).

More milestones

Trae Waynes played in his 200th career game, becoming the 16th cornerback in NFL history to play in at least 200 games. Newman is tied with Hall of Famer Mel Blount and is five away from passing Lionel Washington and Hall of Famer Willie Brown for 13th all-time.

Riley Reiff played in his 150th game, becoming the seventh Vikings linebacker to appear in that many. He is six away from tying Jeff Siemon (1972-82) for sixth in team history.

Overcoming third-and-1 hurdle

Third-and-1 had been a boogeyman of sorts in the Vikings four-game skid. Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer pointed out last week that they were 5-of-13 on third-and-1 or fourth-and-1 in the four losses.

On Sunday, the Vikings offense faced third-and-1 two times. The first time, they opted to throw the ball, allowing Kyle Rudolph to find Patterson on a crossing route, and the speedy receiver turned it into a 30-yard gain before his momentum carried him out of bounds.

The second time, the Vikings offensive line got a substantial push, recreating the line of scrimmage and enabling Nick Easton to run for 3 yards early in the fourth quarter. The possession ended in a fumble by Bradford during a sack, but lasted another 2:51.

The Cardinals didn't have a third-and-1 on Sunday but were 0-for-1 on third-and-2. Arizona was just 4-for-13 on third downs.

Outlook

Up next, Minnesota (6-4) visits Detroit (6-4) on Thursday and will attempt to exact revenge from the Nov. 6 home loss to the Lions. The Vikings will try to reclaim the driver's seat in the division during the Motor City's annual Thanksgiving tradition game.