Peterson, Vikings Down Bears 21-14

The Minnesota Vikings got 103 yards rushing and two touchdowns...in the first quarter! from star running back Adrian Peterson, and used plenty of solid defense to beat the Chicago Bears 21-14 at Mall of America Field in Minneapolis Sunday afternoon.

Peterson set the tone with a 51 yard run on the first play of the game, added a 15 yard run on the same drive, and capped it with a one yard td run just over three minutes into the game.

Peterson scored his second td of the quarter following an interception by rookie Josh Robinson who stepped out of bounds at the five.

Chicago got on the board in the second quarter when Jay Cutler his Alshon Jeffrey on a 23 yard touchdown pass, but the Vikings went back up by two scores in the 3rd quarter when rookie Harrison Smith picked off Cutler and returned it 56 yards for the score and a 21-7 lead.

Cutler was knocked out of the game late in the 4th quarter. Jason Campbell replaced him and threw a touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall. Marshall had ten catches for 160 yards on the afternoon and set a new Bears record with 101 catches on the season.

Peterson set a career high with 31 carries on the afternoon. He gained 154 yards to go with the two scores. The Vikings overcame another bad quarterbacking effort by Christian Ponder who completed 11 of 17 passes for just 91 yards and no touchdowns. He was intercepted once late in the first half.

For the Bears, Cutler completed 22 of 44 passes for 260 yards with the one score and two interceptions.

Minnesota improved to 7-6 to keep their play-off hopes alive to everyone's surprise, as they travel to St. Louis next weekend to face the Rams. The Bears fall to 8-5 and host Green Bay next Sunday.