Excitement was in the air as the Minnesota Vikings returned to Minneapolis for their first home game of the season, following a 34-6 win over the Rams last week. That excitement would ultimately be tempered by a rebounding Patriots team that fell 33-20 to the Dolphins the week before.

While Adrian Peterson was out for the game, the offense moved fluidly down the field early on a 7-play, 80-yard drive that would end in a 25-yard passing touchdown from Matt Cassel to Matt Asiata. From there, Minnesota's home opener at TCF Bank Stadium turned ugly.

Stevan Ridley would even things up with a 1-yard run on the following drive, and New England wouldn't look back from there. The Patriots took advantage of five Vikings turnovers, which included four Cassel-thrown interceptions and a blocked Blair Walsh field goal that was returned for a touchdown.

Minnesota turnovers would account for 17 of New England's 30 points, as the Patriots continued to prove that they rarely lose back-to-back games. Along with turnovers, generally poor quarterback play by Cassel and inconsistent defensive play by the Vikings defense rounded out what was all-around a bad game on almost every front for the Vikings.

Following Cassel's third interception, the "Teddy!" chants were growing quite loud from the remaining fans in the stands at 'The Bank'. Zimmer and his staff stuck with Matt, opting not to throw Bridgewater late into a losing game. While Cassel had a solid preseason and opened the regular season in St. Louis with a decent performance, the excessive turnovers have fans wondering how long of a leash he has before Norv and Zimmer bench him in favor of Teddy Bridgewater.

Next week, the Vikings will face another challenge as they hit the road to take on Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. The Saints are 0-2 after narrowly falling to the Cleveland Browns in a 26-24 loss in Cleveland.

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