The Atlanta Falcons took advantage of three Vikings first-half fumbles to storm into the break with a 17-7 lead. Now they’re just 30 minutes away from a playoff berth.
Atlanta silenced the home crowd immediately. Michael Turner led the way with 24 yards rushing on a 12-play, 74-yard drive for a touchdown. He finished off the possession by plunging into the end zone from 1 yard out for his 16th touchdown of the season. The drive also ate up 6:13 of clock.
But the Vikings came right back on their first drive of the game. Tarvaris Jackson and Visanthe Shiancoe hooked up on a crucial third-and-8 to keep the drive alive early, and they connected again on a 21-yard play-action pass for a touchdown to deadlock the game with 2:11 left in the quarter.
The Vikings made their first major mistake late in the first quarter. Bernard Berrian muffed a punt from Michael Koenen and Michael Boley recovered it at the Vikings 22-yard line, giving the Falcons good field position late in the first quarter.
Jerious Norwood scored on a shovel pass five plays later from 8 yards out, giving Atlanta the 14-7 lead with 14:11 left in the second quarter.
The Vikings drove down the field on the next drive. But they killed themselves once again when Lawyer Milloy stripped Adrian Peterson at the Atlanta 17-yard line as he fought for more yards, Chris Houston recovered the fumble with 10:35 to go in the half.
Peterson fumbled again later in the quarter when he mishandled a hand-off from Jackson in the backfield, and Chauncey Davis fell on the ball at the Minnesota 46 with four minutes remaining. That led to a 20-yard field goal from Jason Elam as time expired to finish off the scoring.
Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com.
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