St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) – Sage Rosenfels threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 28-7 victory over the St. Louis Rams in each team’s first preseason game.
Rosenfels relieved starter Tarvaris Jackson early in the game and completed 23-of-34 attempts, including touchdown passes of 65 and 71 yards to Garrett Mills and Marko Mitchell, respectively. The Vikings, currently playing without last year’s starting quarterback, Brett Favre, are looking to build on a season that saw them lose in overtime in the NFC Championship to New Orleans.
Rookie Toby Gerhart led the team in rushing with 24 yards on eight carries, and Mills ended with four catches for 106 yards.
Top overall pick Sam Bradford made his Rams debut and completed 6-of-13 passes for 57 yards. Bradford was given one of the richest contracts in league history as a rookie, and it will be up to him to lead the Rams to an improvement on last year’s 2-14 mark.
“It was exciting,” Bradford said. “Obviously, it’s the first time I’ve been in a game situation for a long time. It was fun to get out there, get hit a couple times, get knocked down, get back up. You know, just getting back into the flow of a football game was fun.”
Danny Amendola accounted for St. Louis’ lone offense with a 93-yard punt return for a TD in the opening quarter.