The Minnesota Vikings lost a lead on two occasions before earning a 21-14 advantage over the Atlanta Falcons at half time at TCF Bank Stadium.
The home side started the game well as quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who was making his first NFL start, found Jarius Wright for 52 yards which allowed Matt Asiata to run into the endzone at the end of the drive.
Atlanta rallied and Matt Ryan drove his side down the field with a series of short passes to his wideouts, which culminated in the quarterback finding Roddy White for a 24-yard score.
However, the Vikings showed fight and Cordarrelle Patterson ran for a huge gain on the kickoff return for 49 yards to set up his side in a good field position. Bridgewater used that to good effect as he found Greg Jennings for 29 yards and Asiata scored his second touchdown of the game from six yards out.
Patrick DiMarco levelled the scores midway through the second quarter by finding enough space to collect a short pass from Ryan for the touchdown.
Minnesota were back ahead before the break when Teddy Bridgewater finished off a nine-play drive by rushing over from 13 yards, before extending their advantage with a Blair Walsh field goal.
Callum Mulvihill
