SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 15, 2013
Vikings 48, Eagles 30: With Adrian Peterson watching from the sideline, Matt Cassel passed for a season-high 382 yards and two touchdowns and added a rushing score as host Minnesota ended Philadelphia's five-game winning streak.
Matt Asiata, playing in place of Peterson (foot) and primary backup Toby Gerhart (hamstring), scored his first three career touchdowns and finished with 51 yards on 30 carries. Greg Jennings caught a touchdown pass and set career highs with 11 catches for 163 yards while Jared Allen and Brian Robison each recorded a pair of sacks and Shaun Prater, a second-year cornerback released by Philadelphia in October, had an interception for Minnesota (4-9-1).
Nick Foles threw for 428 yards and three touchdowns while Alex Henery kicked three field goals - including a career-long 51-yarder - for the Eagles (8-6), who lead the Cowboys by one game in the NFC East. DeSean Jackson racked up 195 yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions and LeSean McCoy added 68 receiving yards, though the NFL's leading rusher was held to 38 yards on the ground.
Minnesota led 17-9 at halftime behind a 57-yard touchdown pass from Cassel to Jennings, a 21-yard field goal by Blair Walsh and a 1-yard TD plunge by Asiata - each of which was answered with a field goal by Henery. The Vikings pushed the advantage to 24-9 on Cassel's 6-yard TD run early in the third quarter, but the Eagles bounced back behind a pair of touchdown passes by Foles - a 30-yard strike to Jackson and a 3-yard score to a diving Zach Ertz to make it 27-22 after three quarters.
The five-point deficit was short-lived, however, as Minnesota drove back down the field, thanks in large part to a 37-yard completion to backup tight end Chase Ford, and Asiata plunged in from a yard out. The teams traded touchdowns midway through the final period before Asiata put an exclamation point on his performance with a 5-yard TD run with 1:09 to play.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Prater drew a starting assignment for the Vikings because the team had three other cornerbacks sidelined. ... Minnesota improved to 4-3 at home, compared to its 0-6-1 road record. ... The Eagles, who set a season high for points allowed, had yielded 21 or fewer in each of their last nine games.