James Cook III had 31 carries for 107 yards and a touchdown, and the Buffalo Bills outlasted the Minnesota Vikings for a 23-6 victory on Monday night in Minneapolis.
Josh Allen completed 21 of 31 passes for 234 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Buffalo (7-1). Tight end Keleki Latu caught Allen’s lone touchdown pass.
Carson Wentz completed only eight of 25 passes for 81 yards and two interceptions for Minnesota (6-2), which has lost back-to-back games after starting the season with six consecutive wins. Justin Jefferson had three catches for 58 yards on 11 targets.
Max Brosmer replaced Wentz at quarterback late in the fourth quarter and was 6-of-7 passing for 58 yards.
The game remained scoreless until late in the first quarter, when Buffalo inched to a 3-0 lead. Tyler Bass made a 39-yard field goal one play after the Vikings defense stuffed Cook III in the backfield on third-and-2 from the Minnesota 19-yard line.
The Vikings evened the score at 3-all with 4:02 remaining in the second quarter. Will Reichard connected from 43 yards as coach Kevin O’Connell opted not to go for a first down on fourth-and-1 from the Buffalo 25-yard line.
Allen and the Bills’ offense showed a spark on the next possession. Allen led a hurry-up offense down the field and capped the eight-play drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Latu to make it 10-3 with 44 seconds left in the half.
Latu celebrated his first career touchdown by forcefully spiking the ball, and he grinned as a slew of teammates including Allen came over to congratulate him. The 24-year-old is the younger brother of Indianapolis Colts pass rusher Laiatu Latu.
The Vikings cut the deficit to 10-6 on Reichard’s 53-yard field goal five seconds before halftime.
Bass added a second field goal, this time from 25 yards, to increase Buffalo’s lead to 13-6 with 6:03 remaining in the third quarter. The kick capped a 14-play, 83-yard drive.
Cook made it 20-6 when he powered through the middle of the line of scrimmage for a 5-yard rushing touchdown with 6:17 to go in the fourth. He finished off another mammoth drive for Buffalo that covered 15 plays and 84 yards.
Bass completed the scoring with a 52-yard field goal with 4:40 remaining.