The Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers traded offensive blows all day in an entertaining game starring a pair of emerging rookie quarterbacks. But the Vikings would have the last say in the matter, as kicker Ryan Longwell's 31-yard field goal with 2:43 remaining in the game would be the difference, pushing the Vikings to a 24-21 road win.

The game went back and forth much of the day as the Vikings quickly felt the presence of Percy Harvin back in the lineup after a rib injury. Harvin took a handoff and ran it in from ten yards out late in the first quarter to start the scoring.

After a pair of Cam Newton touchdown passes put Carolina in front, the Vikings tied it at 14-14 when Christian Ponder threw a touchdown pass of his own to Adrian Peterson. Peterson would tie the game up at 21-21 late in the third quarter in more familiar fashion by popping a run up the middle for a 9-yard touchdown.

After Longwell's field goal put the Vikings up for good, the Panthers had one more chance to at least push the game into overtime. A costly penalty negated a first down run by Newton with less than a minute to play which eventually led to a 31-yard field goal attempt to tie the game, but Olindo Mare couldn't convert.

The win moved the Vikings to 2-6 on the season.