ATLANTA -- With the Falcons faltering and a 70-degree Sunday begging for outdoor activity, wide swathes of empty seats turned the Georgia Dome into general admission Minnesota.
Hundreds of purple-and-gold-clad Vikings fans swarmed the lower level behind the visitors' bench late in the fourth quarter. "Defense! Defense!" they howled, drowning out Atlanta's middling faithful and serenading the NFC North leaders.
Call off the bloodhounds hunting the NFL landscape for Mike Zimmer's signature victory. The Vikings' 20-10 triumph over the freefalling Falcons was not their best performance of 2015. It merely was their finest.
Down two starting safeties and facing the league's toughest run defense, Minnesota's secondary had two interceptions while running back Adrian Peterson chiseled 158 rushing yards out of 29 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns.