Win Over Raiders Gives Vikings Top Spot In NFC North

By Carl Knowles

image courtesy of vikings.com

Cordarrelle Patterson’s 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 1:52 seconds to play in the first half gave the Vikings a 20-14 advantage allowing the Vikings to reclaim the lead and the momentum. Adrian Peterson rushed for 203 yards on 26 carries and Terence Newman’s interception of a Derek Carr pass in the end zone with just over two minutes to play in the game helped the Vikings to a 30-14 road victory over the Oakland Raiders.

Terence Newman had two interceptions on the day as the Vikings held the Raiders’ high-octane offense in check limiting them to 287 net yards passing with 2 touchdowns. Captain Munnerlyn played a good game in the slot collecting 8 combined tackles as the secondary held Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree to 9 total receptions for 134 yards and no touchdowns.

Linval Joseph put together another good performance with 8 combined tackles, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble.

The Vikings got off to a fast start marching the opening possession 80 yards on 8 plays as Teddy Bridgewater hit Rhett Ellison on an 11-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead. Blair Walsh kicked a 20 yard field goal late in the first quarter as the Vikings extended the lead to 10-0.

The Raiders answered with the next 14 points on a 10-yard touchdown pass to TE Clive Walford and a 34-yard touchdown strike to WR Andre Holmes. Patterson then stole the show with his electric return down the left side line for the go-ahead and eventual game winning score late in the first half.

In the second half, the Vikings defense forced three punts and the big Newman interception as Minnesota controlled the clock and the game behind a stellar power running attack led by Peterson.

The Vikings are 7-2 on the season and alone atop the NFC North standings thanks to a Detroit Lions 18-16 win over the stumbling 6-3 Green Bay Packers.

Carl Knowles

Carl Knowles (Contributor) is a former member of the Professional Bowler Association and an avid lifelong Vikings fan. When he is not bowling you can find him on websites and forum pages sharing his creative insight and enthusiasm for the Minnesota Vikings any chance he gets. Carl was a Phoenix Institute of Technology and Purdue University standout who currently enjoys the challenge of being a graphic director in the printing business. You can follow him on twitter @carlknowles_vt.

Tags: adrian peterson Cordarrelle Paterson minnesota vikings

View Comments

Ole says:

Nov 15, 2015 at 8:27 pm

The block by Zach Line spung Patterson on the kick off return for a TD.

Vikings in first place thanks to the efforts of Zach.
luvvikings says:

Nov 15, 2015 at 8:48 pm

I noticed that too, the kid is a gamer that always gives and gives when he is on the field. Good over all effort by Minny. Defense again stout, held another high powered offense in check, bent some but did not break other than on the two drives in second quarter. Go Vikes!! Next week's game is huge.
WTFVikesfan says:

Nov 15, 2015 at 9:21 pm

Rudolph sucks. Drops a wide open touchdown. Overrated.
- ccarterhof says:
  
  Nov 16, 2015 at 12:07 am
  
  I don't think he sucks...I mean he is in NFL and all. But yeah I'm a bit disappointed in Rudy. Maybe time for Pruitt to get more playing time.
- Time Man says:
  
  Nov 16, 2015 at 12:14 pm
  
  That's rare though. He's a good tight end and he usually has very reliable hands
Franciscan Viking says:

Nov 15, 2015 at 11:57 pm

Great team victory. The difference is Zimmer. We finally have a coach who knows how to coach through adversity. We get down and all the momentum is on the Raiders' side, and the very next play, Flash is returning the kickoff for a 93-yard TD. Who knew? Well, Zimmer knew. Many have been calling for Patterson to be benched, traded, waived, etc., but Zim kept him in and it paid off.

Similar to the way Zim took the wind and gave the ball to the Rams last week.....
- ccarterhof says:
  
  Nov 16, 2015 at 12:17 am
  
  Good comment Franciscan! Gave it a thumbs up. But you must be under 40, because we had a coach who knew how coach through adversity. His name is Grant....Bud Grant.
  - Franciscan Viking says:
    
    Nov 16, 2015 at 12:50 am
    
    Thanks for the compliment, ccarterhof. Actually, I'm quite a bit over 40 and I remember the Grant years well. In fact, my name on this site was inspired by Sir Francis Tarkenton himself, so I obviously do remember those years well, but it's been so long ago that I have well nigh forgotten them. Thanks for reminding me!
    
    Incidentally, you've got an interesting name yourself. it means "House of Cris Carter" in German, I believe. How did you come by that one?! Very clever....
    - ccarterhof says:
      
      Nov 16, 2015 at 9:06 am
      
      Well cool name Franciscan! ccarterhof is actually Cris Carter Hall of fame. At that time, 2008 or so, I couldn't believe he didn't get in.
      I'll have to look up the house of Cris Carter thing. I like that better...makes me look clever.
      - Franciscan Viking says:
        
        Nov 20, 2015 at 11:47 am
        
        Well, according to this link, it means "yard, court, farmyard, or farm." I like all four meanings in relation to your name: Cris Carter's Yard, Cris Carter's Court, Cris Carter's Farmyard, Cris Carter's Farm--quite an illustrious name!
      - Franciscan Viking says:
        
        Nov 20, 2015 at 11:49 am
        
        https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hof
      - Franciscan Viking says:
        
        Nov 20, 2015 at 11:51 am
        
        By the way, congratulations on Cris Carter finally getting into the Hall of Fame and finally reflecting the TRUE meaning of your name!
Matt Russ says:

Nov 16, 2015 at 1:03 pm

The autumn wind is a VIKING who'll knock you 'round and knock you down and laugh when he's done