Shortly after the half, the signal calling was turned to Christian Ponder, who managed a pair of first-down passes of 17 and 15 yards early on, but produced little thereafter.

The Vikings' defense excelled in keeping the Titans to a minimal score, and recorded a strip sack by Corey Wootton and an interception by Julian Posey.

The Rams struck back early in the third quarter with a field goal from Greg Zuerlein before Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson made the play of the game with a 67-yard touchdown run.

Zuerlein added another field goal late in the game to make the final score 34–6 to the Vikings, their first road victory since week 16 of the 2012 season against the Houston Texans.

The Vikings began their opening home game of the season without Adrian Peterson, who was deactivated after being charged with negligent injury of a child for allegedly beating his four-year-old son with a tree branch.

The second occurred with six minutes left in the game, and the Patriots were able to hang onto possession until the two-minute warning before turning the ball over on downs at the Minnesota 19-yard line.

After initially stating that Adrian Peterson would return to the active roster for their Week 3 game at New Orleans, the Vikings later placed the running back on the inactive list indefinitely, pending the outcome of the court case against him.

Despite coming into the game at 0–3, the Saints started well, scoring two touchdowns on their first two drives, although DE Everson Griffen was able to block the extra point attempt on the second.

The Vikings responded to going 13–0 down with two field goals from 25 and 30 yards respectively, but an injury to Matt Cassel meant a debut for rookie QB Teddy Bridgewater.

K Blair Walsh hit a 40-yard field goal to open the second half for the Vikings, but New Orleans closed the game out with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees to Marques Colston early in the fourth quarter.

Roddy White leveled the scores with a 24-yard catch from Matt Ryan, but a 49-yard kickoff return from Cordarrelle Patterson set the Vikings up with a short field on the next drive, which Asiata finished with a 6-yard run to restore Minnesota's seven-point lead.

Steven Jackson thought he had tied the scores again on a 3-yard run with six minutes to go in the half, only for the touchdown call to be overturned on review; however, Ryan was able to find FB Patrick DiMarco in the flat on the next play.

However, Bridgewater himself restored Minnesota's advantage on the ensuing possession, capping an 80-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run as the game entered its first two-minute warning.

After forcing Atlanta into a quick three-and-out, Bridgewater led the Vikings downfield to the brink of another touchdown, but a lack of time meant they had to settle for an 18-yard Blair Walsh field goal to give them a 24–14 lead at the half.

Walsh scored another field goal on the opening drive of the second half, but long touchdowns for Devin Hester and Antone Smith gave the Falcons a one-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Vikings defense forced Green Bay to punt on the first possession of the game, but soon kicked the ball back to the Packers, allowing Eddie Lacy's running to set up an 8-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Randall Cobb.

Two plays later, Ponder was picked off again, this time by LB Jamari Lattimore, leaving a short field for Rodgers to work into before throwing an 11-yard TD pass to WR Davante Adams.

The second half began in much the same vein, as the Packers forced a Vikings punt on the first possession before marching downfield to set Lacy up for an 11-yard scoring run.

CB Marcus Sherels returned the ensuing kickoff 46 yards, and Ponder was able to pass downfield to the Green Bay 6-yard line, from where he ran into the end zone for the Vikings' first points of the game.