Vikings rout Falcons, 24-3

MINNEAPOLIS -- Somewhere, Michael Vick must have been shaking his head.

The Minnesota defense overwhelmed Atlanta’s Joey Harrington with six sacks and two interception returns for touchdowns, and rookie running back Adrian Peterson finished off the Falcons, 24-3, in Sunday’s season opener.

Kevin Williams returned an interception 54 yards for a first-quarter score, and Antoine Winfield ran one back 14 yards in the fourth quarter for Minnesota. Peterson made an amazing catch out of the backfield that he turned into a 60-yard touchdown reception, and he finished with 103 yards rushing in 19 carries after starter Chester Taylor hurt his hip.

Harrington? He was doing all right, until imploding down the stretch. But he certainly didn’t do anything to make Atlanta forget about Vick, whose indefinite suspension and probable jail time for his role in a dogfighting ring stunned the Falcons this summer. Harrington finished 23 for 32 for 199 yards but failed to lead his team to the end zone.

Quoteworthy: “Do we miss that one guy? Listen, man, we prepared ourselves to move the football. We didn’t get it done. You have to tip your hats to the Minnesota Vikings defense.” -- Joe Horn, Atlanta receiver, on Michael Vick