New England 30, Minnesota 7
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, September 14, 2014
Where: TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature:
58°
Head Official:
Tony Corrente
Attendance:
52350
By SportsDirect Inc.
Patriots 30, Vikings 7: Tom Brady threw for 149 yards and a touchdown as New England bounced back from an opening loss by crushing host Minnesota.
Defensive end Chandler Jones blocked a field-goal attempt and returned it for a touchdown while Stevan Ridley ran for 101 yards and a score for the Patriots (1-1). Devin McCourty, Darrelle Revis, Logan Ryan and Dominique Easley each recorded an interception and Jones joined Dont'a Hightower with two sacks to highlight the defensive effort.
Matt Cassel went 19-of-36 for 202 yards with one TD and four interceptions in his first start against his former team as the Vikings (1-1) were held to 54 yards rushing with Adrian Peterson inactive. Matt Asiata ran for 36 yards and added five catches for 48 yards and a TD in place of Peterson.
Minnesota scored on the opening possession as Cassel found Asiata for a 25-yard touchdown and forced a three-and-out on the Patriots' first possession before McCourty turned the momentum with a 60-yard interception return. Ridley punched it in with a 1-yard burst to tie it and a 48-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski put New England on top before the end of the first quarter.
Brady went 5-of-5 on a seven-play drive in the second quarter that ended with Julian Edelman’s 9-yard TD catch, and Jones broke through the line to block Blair Walsh's 48-yard field-goal attempt before scooping up the ball and rumbling for a 58-yard score with nine seconds left to send New England into the break up 24-7. The Vikings managed 35 yards in the second half as the Patriots closed it out.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Peterson was deactivated by Minnesota on Friday after news broke that the Pro Bowl RB was indicted on one count of negligent injury to a child in Texas. … New England CB Alfonzo Dennard, who participated fully in practice this week, was inactive due to a left shoulder injury after going through pregame tests with the training staff. … The Patriots were called for 15 penalties - their most ever under coach Bill Belichick, who became the sixth NFL coach to reach 200 career wins.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
New England |
|
Minnesota |
Stevan Ridley
|
Player |
Matt Asiata |
25 |
Attempts |
13 |
101 |
Yards |
36 |
4.0 |
Avg Yards |
2.8 |
1 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
16 |
Long |
7 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
New England
|
292 |
150 |
142 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
6.0 |
1 |
Minnesota
|
217 |
54 |
163 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1.0 |
0 |
Upcoming Games
-
Minnesota will play their next game on the road against New Orleans. The Vikings have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .000 after a loss.
-
New England will play their next game at home against Oakland. The Patriots have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .500 after a loss.