NFL: ST LOUIS at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NFL ST LOUIS 10 MINNESOTA 10 13:02 LEFT, 4TH QTR MIN BALL ON MIN 28 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: ST LOUIS at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NFL ST LOUIS 10 MINNESOTA 10 9:51 LEFT, 4TH QTR STL BALL ON STL 7 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: ST LOUIS at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NFL ST LOUIS 10 MINNESOTA 10 6:42 LEFT, 4TH QTR MIN BALL ON MIN 31 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: ST LOUIS at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NFL ST LOUIS 10 MINNESOTA 10 2:52 LEFT, 4TH QTR STL BALL ON STL 32 YD LINE 1ST AND 10</div>
NFL: ST LOUIS at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NFL TWO MINUTE WARNING, 2ND HALF ST LOUIS 10 MINNESOTA 10 STL BALL ON STL 28 YD LINE 3RD AND 14</div>
NFL: ST LOUIS at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NFL FG STL KEVIN LOVELL 40 YD ST LOUIS 13 MINNESOTA 10 0:00 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>
NFL: ST LOUIS at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- ST LOUIS 0 7 0 6 13 MINNESOTA 0 3 7 0 10 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: NONE 2ND QUARTER: MIN - FG, RYAN LONGWELL 29 YD, 5:30. MINNESOTA 3-0 STL - TD, BRIAN LEONARD 10 YD RUN (KEVIN LOVELL KICK), 10:49. ST LOUIS 7-3 3RD QUARTER: MIN - TD, DONTARRIOUS THOMAS 82 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK), 5:11. MINNESOTA 10-7 4TH QUARTER: STL - FG, KEVIN LOVELL 39 YD, 1:52. ST LOUIS 10-10 STL - FG, KEVIN LOVELL 40 YD, 15:00. ST LOUIS 13-10 ATT: 62,666</div>
MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Vikings' defense, which<div class="pre">lost its starting middle linebacker from last season, got a</div>boost from backup linebacker Dontarrious Thomas in the preseasonopener. Thomas intercepted Ryan Fitzpatrick's pass and returned it 82yards for a third-quarter touchdown in the Vikings' 13-10preseason loss to the St. Louis Rams on Friday night. A pair of fourth-quarter field goals by rookie Kevin Lovell,including a 40-yarder as time expired, rallied the Rams tovictory. The Vikings had the league's top-ranked rush defense lastseason, and Napolean Harris - who left for Kansas City - was abig part of it. Harris was third on the team in tackles with96, and solidified the middle linebacker position. Minnesota's leading tackler last season, E.J. Henderson with142, has moved into the middle, while last year's first-roundpick, Chad Greenway, currently is the starter on the outside.Greenway missed all of his first season with a knee injury. They helped to hold the high-powered Rams' offense to just sevenpoints in the first half. Quarterback Marc Bulger was 6-for-7for 42 yards with an interception. Rams running back Steven Jackson, who led the NFL in total yardsfrom scrimmage last season, didn't record any carries butcaught two balls for eight yards. Trying to prove he is worthy of Minnesota's starting quarterbackposition, Tarvaris Jackson went 8-for-11 for 83 yards. He ledthe Vikings on a 13-play, 65-yard drive for the game's firstscore, a Ryan Longwell 30-yard field goal in the second quarter. Brooks Bollinger - Minnesota's other potential starter atquarterback - came on in the second quarter and completed4-for-6 passes for 23 yards. Minnesota also got its first look at running back AdrianPeterson, its No. 7 overall draft pick. Peterson played much ofthe first half and into the second, carrying the ball 11 timesfor 33 yards. Rams rookie running back Brian Leonard showed he is adjustingwell to life in the NFL. Leonard, a college fullback who is making the move to runningback, ran for 36 yards, caught five passes for 30 more andscored the game's first touchdown to put St. Louis up, 7-3. After Longwell's field goal, the Rams went 73 yards in 11 plays,ending in Leonard's 10-yard touchdown run up the middle. Despite the presence of Jackson, Leonard was a second-rounddraft choice in this April's college draft.
NFL: ST LOUIS at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- ST LOUIS 0 7 0 6 13 MINNESOTA 0 3 7 0 10 FINAL SCORING SUMMARY 1ST QUARTER: NONE 2ND QUARTER: 5:30 MIN - FG, RYAN LONGWELL 30 YD. MINNESOTA 3-0. 10:49 STL - TD, BRIAN LEONARD 10 YD RUN (KEVIN LOVELL KICK). ST LOUIS 7-3. 3RD QUARTER: 5:11 MIN - TD, DONTARRIOUS THOMAS 82 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (RYAN LONGWELL KICK). MINNESOTA 10-7. 4TH QUARTER: 1:52 STL - FG, KEVIN LOVELL 39 YD. ST LOUIS 10-10. 15:00 STL - FG, KEVIN LOVELL 40 YD. ST LOUIS 13-10. ST LOUIS - MINNESOTA Final Statistics TEAM STATISTICS ST LOUIS MINNESOTA FIRST DOWNS 21 13 Rushing 4 5 Passing 14 7 Penalty 3 1 THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 8-14-57% 5-13-38% FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 0-0-0% TOTAL NET YARDS 323 215 Total offensive plays 68 49 Average gain per play 4.8 4.4 NET YARDS RUSHING 87 87 Rushing attempts 22 23 Average gain per rush 4.0 3.8 Tackles for loss-yards 2-3 2-5 NET YARDS PASSING 236 128 Times sacked: Number-Yards 3-20 3-7 Gross passing yards 256 135 PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 43-30-3 23-15-0 Avg gain per pass play 5.1 4.9 KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 3-0-0 3-0-0 PUNTS: Number and Average 4-45.3 6-41.3 Had blocked 0 0 Net punting average 36.3 40.3 TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 36 91 Number-Yards: Punt Returns 2-36 2-6 Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 3-71 3-75 Number-Yards: Interception Returns 0-0 3-85 PENALTIES: Number-Yards 7-71 6-60 FUMBLES: Number-Lost 0-0 0-0 TOUCHDOWNS 1 1 Rushing 1 0 Passing 0 0 Interceptions 0 1 Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0 EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 1-1 1-1 Kicking: Made-Attempts 1-1 1-1 Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0 FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 2-2 1-2 FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 1-2-50% 0-1-0% GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 0-0-0% SAFETIES 0 0 TIME OF POSSESSION 32:31 27:29 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS ST LOUIS MINNESOTA RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- B LEONARD 9 36 4.0 11 1 A PETERSON 11 33 3.0 7 0 K HARRIS 3 25 8.3 17 0 T JACKSON 2 25 12.5 17 0 R ALEXIS 5 12 2.4 5 0 T THIGPEN 2 18 9.0 12 0 D THOMPSON 1 9 9.0 9 0 A PINNER 2 7 3.5 6 0 T MINOR 3 7 2.3 4 0 M MOORE 1 4 4.0 4 0 J WASHINGT 1 -2 -2.0 0 0 J DUGAN 1 2 2.0 2 0 C FASON 2 1 0.5 2 0 C WILLIAMS 1 1 1.0 1 0 C TAYLOR 1 -4 -4.0 0 0 PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- R FITZPATR 13-21-117 2 0 19 T JACKSON 8-11- 83 0 0 21 B BERLIN 6- 9- 65 0 0 21 T THIGPEN 3- 6- 29 0 0 18 M BULGER 6- 7- 42 1 0 13 B BOLLINGE 4- 6- 23 0 0 15 G FREROTTE 5- 6- 32 0 0 9 Sacked-Yards Lost: R FITZPATR 2-13, Sacked-Yards Lost: T THIGPEN 1-4, B BERLIN 1-7. B BOLLINGE 1-3, T JACKSON 1-0. RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- B LEONARD 5 30 6.0 10 0 T WILLIAMS 3 32 10.7 16 0 D STANLEY 4 61 15.3 21 0 B WADE 2 42 21.0 21 0 A WALKER 3 27 9.0 11 0 J CARTER 2 24 12.0 18 0 D BENNETT 3 15 5.0 7 0 N TAHI 1 15 15.0 15 0 T HOLT 2 26 13.0 13 0 V SHIANCOE 1 7 7.0 7 0 M HAGANS 2 25 12.5 16 0 C FASON 1 5 5.0 5 0 M ANELLI 2 11 5.5 6 0 B MCMULLEN 1 5 5.0 5 0 S JACKSON 2 8 4.0 5 0 A PETERSON 1 2 2.0 2 0 S SMITH 1 12 12.0 12 0 J DUGAN 1 1 1.0 1 0 M HEDGECOC 1 9 9.0 9 0 C TAYLOR 1 1 1.0 1 0 D LOOKER 1 9 9.0 9 0 S RICE 1 1 1.0 1 0 J KLOPFENS 1 8 8.0 8 0 J WASHINGT 1 8 8.0 8 0 D THOMPSON 1 4 4.0 4 0 T MINOR 1 3 3.0 3 0 INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- D THOMAS 2 82 41.0 82 1 D SMITH 1 3 3.0 3 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- D JONES 2 101 50.5 1 0 55 C KLUWE 4 167 41.8 1 1 56 F CAPSHAW 2 80 40.0 0 0 48 A REYES 2 81 40.5 1 1 43 T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20 PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- M HAGANS 1 25 25.0 25 0 M MOORE 2 6 3.0 3 0 D STANLEY 1 11 11.0 11 0 KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- D STANLEY 2 41 20.5 23 0 M MOORE 1 26 26.0 26 0 M HAGANS 1 30 30.0 30 0 T WILLIAMSON 1 26 26.0 26 0 J CARTER 1 23 23.0 23 0 KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------- K LOVELL 1/1 2/2 R LONGWELL 1/1 1/2 Dist.: 39 40 Dist.: 30 (42) O-D O-D FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ Fumbles: None DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ J CARTER 5 5 0 1-3 H FARWELL 10 8 2 1-4 - TEAM 4 4 0 0-0 V CIURCIU 5 4 1 1-7 T JOHNSON 3 3 0 0-0 D THOMAS 5 3 2 0-0 J ALSTON 3 3 0 0-0 B ROBISON 3 3 0 1-9 Q CULBERSON 3 2 1 0-0 - TEAM 3 3 0 0-0 T JOHNSON 2 2 0 1-0 S JOHNSON 3 3 0 0-0 C DRAFT 2 2 0 0-0 C GORDON 3 3 0 0-0 J BROOKS 2 2 0 0-0 D EDWARDS 3 3 0 0-0 J WADE 2 2 0 0-0 C GRIFFIN 3 2 1 0-0 R BARTELL 2 2 0 0-0 M MCCAULEY 3 2 1 0-0 T SANDIDGE 2 2 0 0-0 M DOSS 2 2 0 0-0 B CHILLAR 2 2 0 0-0 G BLUE 2 2 0 0-0 K JACKSON 2 1 1 0-0 M HAWKINS 2 2 0 0-0 A PETTWAY 1 1 0 1-4 K WILLIAMS 2 1 1 0-0 C CHAVOUS 1 1 0 0-0 J WISHOM 1 1 0 0-0 J DUKES 1 1 0 0-0 D SCOTT 1 1 0 0-0 A CARRIKER 1 1 0 0-0 E HENDERSON 1 1 0 0-0 W WITHERSPOON 1 1 0 0-0 H GREEN 1 1 0 0-0 C WROTEN 1 1 0 0-0 T WILLIAMS 1 1 0 0-0 T HILL 1 1 0 0-0 P BODY 1 1 0 0-0 P WILLIAMS 1 0 1 0-0 C GREENWAY 1 0 1 0-0 R EDWARDS 1 0 1 0-0 B LEBER 1 0 1 0-0 Att: 62,666 Time of Game: 2:48</div>
