Vikings Win a Thriller in London
Ben Roethlisberger marched the Steelers down to the 6-yard line in the final drive looking to tie the game with a touchdown. With 19 seconds left in the game and the Vikings clinging to a 34-27 lead, Everson Griffen strip-sacked Big Ben and Kevin Williams recovered the ball to seal the first win of the season for Minnesota.
The 83,518 fans that packed Wimbley Stadium in London saw a hard-fought exciting football game that was full of big plays.
Greg Jennings made two touchdown grabs, Adrian Peterson had two touchdown runs, Matt Cassel was 16 of 25 for 248 yards and no turnovers, and the defensive line lead by Jared Allen’s 2.5 sacks put pressure on Roethlisberger all game.
It’s hard to get excited after just one win in four tries, but the Vikings took five important steps forward:
A) The defense got the monkey off their back by making a play late in the game to preserve a win.
B) The offense didn’t turn the ball over or make costly mistakes.
C) The offensive line looked more like the O-line from last season.
D) The wide receivers finally found the end zone.
E) The defense was able to consistently put pressure on the QB.
If the Vikings can continue to do those things well… they will be a very difficult team to beat.