ATLANTA, GA – With Green Bay stumbling Thanksgiving night versus the Chicago Bears, the Minnesota Vikings entered Sunday’s contest with a chance to take over sole possession of first in the NFC North, a title Green Bay had wrestled away from them on their home turf in a disappointing loss just a week before.
Facing a struggling 6-4 Atlanta team, the Vikings leaned on running back Adrian Peterson’s 158 rushing yards and a stout defense to dispatch the plummeting Falcons. While Atlanta’s run defense bottled up Adrian Peterson early on, he eventually came on strong in the second half, culminating in a 35 yard touchdown that effectively iced the game. The defense came up huge, forcing three turnovers and holding Julio Jones to just 5 catches for 56 yards, en route to a Viking victory despite missing their two starting safeties for much of the game.
It was a continuation of a worrisome red zone turnover trend for Matt Ryan, as the Falcons once again struggled offensively despite having arguably the best receiver and running back tandem in Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman. The Falcons fell to 6-5 and tied (technically out) of the second wildcard spot thanks to a Seattle win.
Minnesota moved its record to 8-3, one game ahead of the Green Bay Packers for the NFC North crown. It was an important win for Minnesota, which faces tough homes games against the streaking Seattle Seahawks and the improving Chicago Bears, sandwiched around a prime-time test out in the desert against the NFC West leading Arizona Cardinals.
Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater played a decent game, throwing both a touchdown and an interception. Bridgewater’s performance has been serviceable this season, but he won’t need to be a world beater with Adrian Peterson in the backfield and a hungry Vikings defense smothering opponents. Many wondered if Peterson could rebound after essentially missing all of last season due to off-the-field misconduct, and the star running back has done exactly that and more, leading the league in rushing through Week 12.
If Peterson can continue his dominant streak, Bridgewater stays relatively mistake free, and the Viking defense continues to play at such a high level, the Vikings will be hard to knock off the top of the NFC North.
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