Jerick McKinnon of the Minnesota Vikings stiff-arms Rodney McLeod of the Philadelphia Eagles in the third quarter on Oct. 23, 2016.Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Josh Huff returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, Carson Wentz outplayed Sam Bradford and the Philadelphia Eagles beat Minnesota 21-10 on Sunday, handing the Vikings their first loss of the season.
The Eagles (4-2) snapped a two-game losing streak while the rested Vikings (5-1) hardly looked like an unbeaten team after having a bye.
"I thought we played embarrassing in two phases," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. "I'm very disappointed in the performance.
Bradford returned to Philadelphia for the first time since his trade to Minnesota eight days before the season opener paved the way for Wentz to start. Bradford was 7-7 in his only season with the Eagles and won his first four starts for the Vikings.
But the Eagles pressured and harassed their former quarterback all game, sacked him six times, and forced his first three turnovers this season.
"I thought he missed some throws that he normally makes, but he got hit a lot," Zimmer said. "It's probably hard to evaluate his performance when (the line) looks like a sieve."
Wentz also struggled early, tossing two interceptions. But he recovered to lead the Eagles on a couple of scoring drives, including a 5-yard TD pass to Dorial Green-Beckham in the third quarter for an 18-3 lead.
"That's a great defence we played," Wentz said. "I have to be smarter with the football. We found a way to win. That's huge for us."
Both teams had a sloppy start.
After combining for only three turnovers in 10 games, the teams traded giveaways on five consecutive series in the first quarter and totalled eight turnovers. The Vikings started two straight drives inside the red zone, but squandered both chances.
Blair Walsh hit a 48-yard field goal to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead before Huff broke loose for his second career touchdown return. Huff sprinted up the right side, ran through Walsh's attempted arm tackle at the 40, raced untouched to the end zone and capped it with a somersault. Wentz ran in from the 1 for the 2-point conversion to give the Eagles an 8-3 lead.
Bradford was 24-of-41 for 224 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Matt Asiata had 55 yards rushing. Cordarrelle Patterson had seven catches for 67 yards and a TD.
For the Eagles, Wentz was 16-of-28 for 138 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Ryan Mathews had 56 yards rushing. Huff caught four passes for 39 yards.
The Eagles have returned kickoffs for touchdowns in consecutive games for the first time in team history. Wendell Smallwood returned one 86 yards for a TD in last week's 27-20 loss at Washington. Huff had a 107-yard TD return as a rookie in 2014.