The Associated Press
NEW ENGLAND (0-1) at MINNESOTA (1-0)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
OPENING LINE — Patriots by 3
RECORD VS. SPREAD — Patriots 0-1, Vikings 1-0
SERIES RECORD — Patriots lead 7-4
LAST MEETING — Patriots beat Vikings 28-18 on Oct. 31, 2010
LAST WEEK — Patriots lost to Dolphins 33-20; Vikings beat Rams 34-6
AP PRO32 RANKING — Patriots No. 8, Vikings No. 20
PATRIOTS OFFENSE — OVERALL (25), RUSH (21), PASS (18)
PATRIOTS DEFENSE — OVERALL (14T), RUSH (29), PASS (6)
VIKINGS OFFENSE — OVERALL (20), RUSH (5), PASS (30)
VIKINGS DEFENSE — OVERALL (10), RUSH (7), PASS (20)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Vikings RB Adrian Peterson will sit out, with a child abuse charge pending against him in Texas. … Vikings QB Matt Cassel starts opposite friend and former mentor Tom Brady for first time. Cassel’s previous team (Kansas City) played against Brady and Patriots in 2011, but Tyler Palko started game while Cassel was out with injured throwing hand. Cassel, seventh-round pick by Patriots in 2005, led them to 11-5 record while Brady missed 2008 season with knee injury. … Brett Favre was QB last time Vikings played Patriots, getting knocked out of game in fourth quarter on hard hit to chin. … Patriots have won 11 straight vs. NFC North since losing to Green Bay on Oct. 13, 2002, longest current streak by NFL team vs. another division. … Patriots coach Bill Belichick one regular-season win away from being sixth to 200 in league history. … Patriots were outscored 23-0 and outgained 222-67 in by Dolphins in second half, snapping a 10-game winning streak in season openers. … Patriots gave up 191 yards rushing to Dolphins, 134 by Knowshon Moreno. … Patriots backup DE Zach Moore played at Division II Concordia University in St. Paul, less than 5 miles from TCF Bank Stadium, where Vikings will play on University of Minnesota campus with new venue under construction until 2016. … With 78 yards, Vikings RB Adrian Peterson will pass Cris Carter’s net total (12,410) for most in franchise history. … Vikings WR/KR Cordarrelle Patterson, taken with first-round draft pick in 2013 that originally belonged to Patriots, has TD in six straight games. … Vikings were only team in NFL last week to not allow TD. … Vikings DE Everson Griffen had two sacks vs. Rams in second career start.
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