Frazier enjoys London success

Adrian Peterson scored two touchdowns
1 October 2013

The Minnesota Vikings were happy to claim a home win away from home after kick-starting their season with a 34-27 victory over Pittsburgh Steelers at Wembley Stadium.

The NFL's reigning MVP Adrian Peterson scored two touchdowns and quarterback Matt Cassel threw for two more before the Vikings held off a last-ditch effort from the Steelers.

Both teams had arrived in London 0-3 on the season and desperate for something, anything, to get themselves going.

For the Vikings, who had given up a home game to be here, the need was even more pressing.

"It feels great to get a first 'home' win of the season even if we had to come all the way to London to get it," said Minnesota coach Leslie Frazier. "I think I'll always have a special place in my heart for Wembley Stadium.

"Thank you London for helping us get that first win. With all the noise we felt at times like we were back at home. All that purple was terrific."

Peterson's first touchdown was a wonderful 60-yard surge down field while his second was the first in two quickfire scores which put the Vikings up 34-17 before Pittsburgh began to rally.

"The atmosphere was electric," Peterson said. "Coming out of that tunnel, looking at all that purple yellow, I feel like we trumped them a little, and all that energy it felt like a home game."

Cassel, thrust into the starting quarterback role for Minnesota after an injury to Christian Ponder, threw for 248 yards with two touchdowns, helping the Vikings overcome a huge effort from Pittsburgh's Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who at times looked to be fighting a lone battle for the Steelers with his offensive line collapsing around him.

Pittsburgh, the NFL's most successful team of the Super Bowl era, will fly home at 0-4 and facing a first losing record in the seven-year reign of coach Mike Tomlin, while the Vikings are hoping to get back on track after losing their previous two games inside the final minute.

It almost happened again as Pittsburgh drove to within six yards of the end zone with 22 seconds left, but Everson Griffin sacked Roethlisberger to seal the win.

"I didn't let my mind go there," Peterson said of the prospect of another later loss. "Instead of thinking that I was focused on thinking the defence is going to be able to stop them."

The night also belonged to the NFL itself as they boasted a crowd of 83,519 with next month's meeting of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the San Francisco 49ers nearing a sell-out too, perhaps bringing closer their dream of a London franchise.

Frazier might volunteer to coach any such team, given his mood at the end of this game, but for now he is simply happy to have a win on the board.

"There is a sense of relief for sure," he said. "We had some tough losses. In the fourth quarter of those games we were right there, so to come away with a win in the fashion we did, knowing what it takes to keep the team together through tough losses, I'm very happy."

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