MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kirk Cousins took the third-and-5 shotgun snap with 3 minutes left and Minnesota holding an eight-point lead.He decided to run for it.The San Francisco defense converged as Cousins crossed his 40-yard line Ugo Amadi Jersey , so the most expensive player in Vikings history lowered his head as he tried to power his way past the first-down marker.Cousins took a shoulder to the back from 49ers linebacker Elijah Lee as he tumbled to the turf and came up just short, a dangerous way for a franchise quarterback to try to move the chains, but his determination to experience victory in his Vikings debut on Sunday afternoon was not to be reasoned with.“Hey, when the game’s on the line, we’re trying to get the first down. Go for it,” coach Mike Zimmer said. “I’m all in.”Cousins passed for two touchdowns and the Vikings forced four turnovers, fueling a 24-16 win over the 49ers in the season opener that stuck Jimmy Garoppolo with his first loss in eight games as an NFL starting quarterback .The Vikings actually kept that late drive alive by a 49ers neutral zone infraction penalty on fourth-and-1, before punting four plays later. Harrison Smith’s interception, the third by the Vikings against Garoppolo in the second half, sealed the game with 1:35 remaining.Asked afterward about that head-first hustle, Cousins acknowledged the risk of such a play and said he might have been better served with a stutter-step or some kind of move to try to make Lee miss.“We had played too hard at that point to just slide early and give up on that,” Cousins said.Cousins completed 20 of 36 passes for 244 yards without a turnover. He faced plenty of pressure, highlighted by DeForest Buckner and his 2½ sacks, and there were a handful of awkward-looking plays produced by the Vikings. Cousins was right on target at just the right times , though, delivering several clutch throws in traffic including the scoring passes to Stefon Diggs in the second quarter and Kyle Rudolph in the third quarter.“That’s NFL football. I think that if you’re not really accurate and you don’t have that confidence to let it rip, you’re going to be holding the ball and getting sacked, you’re going to be spraying it everywhere,” Cousins said. “If you’re waiting for guys to be open, you’re going to be waiting a long time.”Cousins, who signed a three-year, $84 million, fully guaranteed contract with the Vikings this spring, clearly savored his first regular season contest at U.S. Bank Stadium, where the Vikings are 15-3 Devin White Jersey , including the playoffs since it opened. The last player to emerge from the tunnel during pregame introductions, Cousins said the honor was undeserved and should have been reserved for Diggs, wide receiver Adam Thielen, left tackle Riley Reiff or running back Dalvin Cook.“It’s just an example of the team welcoming me with open arms, and I’m so grateful for this opportunity that I’ve been given,” Cousins said, “and I just want to make good on it with every chance I get.”Here are some other key angles that emerged from the game:GETTING TO GAROPPOLO: Garoppolo finished 15 for 33 for 261 yards and a touchdown pass to rookie Dante Pettis late in the third quarter, but the Vikings sacked him three times. Mike Hughes returned the first pick 28 yards for a score.“There’s not one word to put on it. We went against a very good defense, and we all didn’t play as good as we could,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Lots of quarterbacks struggle against that defense. Jimmy did some good things, but by no means was he perfect.”COMEBACK COMPLETE: Cook had 16 carries for 40 yards and six catches for 55 yards, a productive return to live action after tearing the ACL in his left knee about 11 months earlier. He lost a fumble at the San Francisco 29 after spinning and muscling his way through a crowd of defenders for a 15-yard gain.Cook declared his knee and body fit for a full season, but his mind was also on his family. His uncle and childhood confidant, Anthony Jones, a running back for Florida International University, was wounded in a drive-by shooting in Miami on Thursday. Cook’s grandmother raised him and Jones, her son.“Just going out there, competing, playing my heart out, that’s what he wanted,” Cook said.KITTLE’S DROP: Garoppolo and the 49ers had their hands full against the league’s leading defense of 2017, losing wide receiver Marquise Goodwin to a first-quarter quadriceps injury and two right guards to foot injuries. They had success rolling Garoppolo out on misdirection plays, and tight end George Kittle was the biggest beneficiary with five catches for 90 yards.The one he didn’t make stood out. Wide open up the seam, Kittle had what would’ve been a 30-yard completion fall off his fingers at midfield. The third-down interception by Hughes came on the next play to give the Vikings a 17-3 lead.“It didn’t end the way we wanted,” Kittle said L.J. Collier Jersey , “but I feel like we definitely had some momentum going and if we can do that we’ll be a pretty good offense.”DEFENSE DIGS IN: The 49ers gave Garoppolo an opportunity with three straight three-and-out possessions by the Vikings in the fourth quarter. Rookie Fred Warner, starting at middle linebacker with Reuben Foster suspended, led the team with 12 tackles, including one for loss. He also had one quarterback hurry, one pass breakup and the forced fumble on Cook.“Middle linebacker is one of the toughest positions to come in as a rookie and play and be effective,” said cornerback Richard Sherman, who made his 49ers debut. “I think he did an admirable job.” Visitors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame can see both the football Drew Brees threw in becoming the NFL’s all-time passing yards leader and the uniform the Saints quarterback wore while making history.Hall of Fame officials had been monitoring Brees’ chase of Peyton Manning’s record, hoping the quarterback would set the mark Oct. 8 at home in New Orleans. Brees did just that before halftime — with a touchdown no less — allowing the game to be stopped. Brees walked to the sideline and handed the ball to David Baker, the hall’s president and chief executive officer.“It was perfect,” said Saleem Choudhry, vice president of exhibits and museum services. “He threw a 62-yard touchdown and eclipsed a record. We stopped the game. He comes over, shakes David’s hand, hands him the ball. It was a very unique moment. I just kick myself sometimes that I was right down there to observe that, but those are some great moments that occur . . . that you can plan for it.”Some NFL records, such as Tennessee running back Derrick Henry matching the longest touchdown run at 99 yards last December, mean a quick email to the team asking for an item to commemorate the moment. Henry and the Titans sent his No. 22 jersey, just one of approximately 50 significant moments in the 2018 season marked by the hall.“The great part of a football uniform, there’s lots of pieces and parts,” Choudhry told The Associated Press.Displaying all those items is both the task and challenge of the Pro Football Hall of Fame , the museum for a game in which the NFL enters its 100th season this fall with both history and records made regularly. Since opening in 1963 in Canton, Ohio, the hall just keeps growing, with a now 135,000-square foot building still not enough space to display all the jerseys, helmets Johnathan Abram Jersey , balls, gloves, Super Bowl rings and, of course, Hall of Fame busts.“We have a massive exhibit area but have probably close to 97% of the information, documentation and artifacts that we preserve here not on display,” archivist Jon Kendle said.The Hall of Fame has more than 40 million pages of documents, including one showing the birth of pro football in 1892 in Pennsylvania with a $500 payment by a team called the Allegheny Athletic Association to play in a game against a big rival. It was found in a closet of the Pittsburgh Steelers. There are more than six million photos in a collection that keeps growing.As a museum, the hall’s mission includes preserving the history of pro football and the game’s big moments. And yes, officials know exactly where every piece is, especially those in storage; everything is catalogued and accessible.“We constantly are plucking things in and out from our collection to feature in an exhibit if we’re developing something, or in a traveling exhibit, or as we continually refresh our exhibits in the hall itself,” Choudhry said.Preservation comes first. An item such as a leather helmet that may be more than 75 years old might need to be stored in a box away from light and avoid being put on display for the 363 days the hall is open each year; it’s closed for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Or a jersey that’s been on display for a couple of years could need some time to simply rest on a shelf.“We’re fortunate enough that we have several Johnny Unitas jerseys, so we could just swap it out for another, or we showcase another player that we’d like to bring into the limelight,” Choudhry said.Approximately 250,000 visitors tour the hall annually, a group that includes rookies from the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles this year alone. Small groups can go behind the scenes touring the Ralph Wilson Jr. Pro Football Research and Preservation Center with an archivist.An additional 700,000 are expected to attend at least one of the events at this year’s enshrinement ceremonies, which feature a new locker exhibit with items from the inductees , such as two Super Bowl commemorative jackets owned by the late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. Or Tony Gonzalez’s Kansas City Chiefs jersey worn Jan. 1, 2005, when he broke the NFL record for most catches in a season by a tight end.Gonzalez has been to the hall four times, including for the inductions of Warren Moon Maxx Crosby Jersey , Marcus Allen and Michael Strahan. The coolest place? The Hall of Fame gallery with all the busts where no music is piped in and voices stay low as if in a church.“When you walk in there and see all the busts with the stories underneath, that’s the goose bumps,” Gonzalez said. “That’s the ‘Oh my God, this is where it’s at.’ And to be sitting there when I was younger and I went to Warren’s or Marcus’, I didn’t even let my mind go there because I knew getting wrapped up in the future is not going to help me now. When I think of my family, my mom, I can’t wait for them to see that part of it.”Other galleries at the museum include one on the NFL’s first century, the Game For Life holographic theater detailing the values football helps build and featuring stories of Jim Kelly’s fight against cancer, and the Lamar Hunt Super Bowl area highlighted by Super Bowl rings and a Lombardi Trophy, perfect for photos.Items also are featured in smaller exhibits around the hall, shared with teams for events, and in exhibits sent around the country. A 6,000 square-foot exhibit showcasing the best of the Hall of Fame has been touring the country since 2012 and will open next in September in Miami, where it will remain through the Super Bowl in February. The hall also has a showcase at the draft and each season’s kickoff celebration, including Sept. 5 before Green Bay opens in Chicago.Chris Johnson has had several items sent to the hall during his playing career. The former Tennessee running back will be attending the induction of his star teammate, center Kevin Mawae, on Aug. 3.“That’s definitely something on my bucket list where I want to go through there and see what I have actually in there, honestly,” Johnson said.He may need an assist from someone such as Choudhry, Kendle or curator Jason Aikens.“The story never ends,” Choudhry said.