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In Teddy Bridgewater's first start at quarterback, the rookie was joined by fellow first-year player Jerick McKinnon in leading Minnesota to a huge home victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
The Minnesota Vikings turned to rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater against the Atlanta Falcons and the rookie came through with a promising performance, leading the Vikings to a 41-28 win over the Falcons.
A week after they decimated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta was unable to repeat that performance and dropped to 2-2 on the season. The game was close through three quarters with Atlanta taking a 28-27 lead into the final quarter. It was all Vikings from there with Minnesota rattling off 14 unanswered points to seal the victory.
Injuries played a big role for both sides. Bridgewater was forced out late in the game while Atlanta had to play with a makeshift offensive line. It all added up to an interesting back-and-forth affair.
1.) Teddy Bridgewater can play. But can he survive?
Before leaving the game with an apparent ankle injury (returning to the sidelines after x-rays came up negative), Bridgewater was throwing and running the ball exceptionally well. He was 19-of-30 for 317 yards and also had a rushing touchdown. He had more yards in his first start than any Vikings quarterback in history -- only Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III had more yards in their first starts under center. His playmaking contributed to the most offense -- 351 yards -- the Vikings have had in the first half since 2004. Not bad, though the ankle injury is concerning.
2.) Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon contributed a huge day in the running game.
Sure, Asiata may have had just 78 yards, but he managed to score three touchdowns and carry the ball 20 times as the Viking's inside runner. Rookie McKinnon blew away the Falcons' front seven with 135 yards rushing, with his longest run going for 55 yards. Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson was relatively kept in check today, but he still made his presence known with a 22-yard catch in the third quarter.
3.) Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Falcons.
Though the Falcons did briefly lead the game, they were hit by some devastating losses. First and foremost, the Falcons were left without three offensive linemen after center John Hawley was carted off the field.
Joe Hawley has been ruled out of today's game with a knee injury. #ATLvsMIN
— Atlanta_Falcons (@Atlanta_Falcons) September 28, 2014That meant that the Falcons were forced to put in a tight end, Levine Toilolo, in at right tackle. Despite some solid running by Antone Smith and Steven Jackson, the Falcons were left scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Matt Ryan's road woes continued (he's now 24-26 on the road), going 25-of-41 for 298 yards but having a pass picked off by Harrison Smith, killing any hopes for a comeback. Ryan's second interception came on a Hail Mary in the game's final seconds.
