• Recap
• Bleachers

Pennington struggles as Vikings top Jets

Aug 18, 2007 - 3:10 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Chad Pennington finally threw some passes in the preseason, but the Minnesota Vikings took two of them back the other way for scores.

Darren Sharper and Chad Greenway intercepted Pennington and returned them for touchdowns as the Vikings forced four turnovers and cruised to a 37-20 preseason victory over the New York Jets.

Rookie Adrian Peterson carried eight times for 70 yards and a score and Minnesota added a third defensive touchdown on a fumble return by Brian Robison in the third quarter.

Pennington was the starter in last week's preseason win over Atlanta, but did nothing but hand off the ball in his brief appearance. Pennington played the first quarter on Friday and completed 7-of-10 passes for 40 yards, but also made two costly mistakes.

Sharper stepped in front of a pass intended for tight end Chris Baker and raced 40 yards for a score just 3:36 into the contest. Two possessions later, Greenway stepped in front a pass for running back Leon Washington and coasted into the end zone for a 16-yard score.

Minnesota (1-1) has returned three interceptions for scores in its first two games.

The Vikings pushed their lead to 21-6 early in the second quarter when Peterson had a 43-yard burst up the left side to set up his three-yard TD run.

Kellen Clemens threw a 35-yard TD pass to Justin McCareins and Mike Nugent kicked field goals of 19 and 34 yards for the Jets (1-1) in the first half.

The Jets' Pete Kendall, being tried at center, snapped the ball over the head of Clemens in the third quarter and Robison picked the ball up and fell into the end zone to make it 31-13. Kendall had another errant snap out of shotgun formation in the fourth quarter.

Minnesota's Tarvaris Jackson started at quarterback and played just a few series, completing 2-of-4 passes for 12 yards.

Ryan Longwell kicked a 54-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter to give Minnesota a 24-13 halftime lead. He added field goals of 22 and 27 yards in the second half.

Marques Tuiasosopo, the Jets' fourth quarterback, threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jason Pociask with 2:22 left.