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          Dalvin Cook busts loose for 81-yard TD run to keep Vikings in the game

          • Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff WriterNov 13, 2022, 01:29 PM ET
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              Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. You can follow him via Twitter @SeifertESPN.
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          At the end of the third quarter, Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook took a pitch to the left sideline and dashed 81 yards for the longest touchdown run in the NFL this season.

          The score closed the Vikings' deficit to 27-17 against the Buffalo Bills. It was the longest run of Cook's career and the longest by a Vikings player since Adrian Peterson ran 82 yards for a score in Week 1 of the 2012 season.

          Meanwhile, after going six consecutive games without a receiving touchdown, Justin Jefferson has now caught one on the opening drive in each of the past two weeks.

          Jefferson's 22-yard catch down the right sideline gave the Vikings an early lead over the Bills in the first quarter at Highmark Stadium.

          Jefferson set up the score with a 46-yard catch-and-run to convert a third down earlier on the drive.

          Jefferson now has four receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown this season. His last two receiving touchdowns were both into what NFL Next Gen Stats considers a "tight window," a push from coach Kevin O'Connell for quarterback Kirk Cousins to target Jefferson more aggressively in the red zone. Previously, Jefferson had scored only one tight-window touchdown in his career.