There was no getting around the fact that Monday night's Saints-Vikings game would be all about Adrian Peterson's return to Minnesota ... until it wasn't, thanks to Saints coach Sean Payton's game plan. At least one former Vikings great got his time to shine in his return — Randy Moss, who was honored at halftime of the season opener at U.S. Bank Stadium.

As for the game itself, a 29-19 Vikings win, New Orleans' boosted offense had its hands full with Minnesota's stingy defense. The Vikings had their own new faces, namely rookie running back Dalvin Cook, to break in against the Saints.

STEELE: Diggs give Vikings the spark they needed against Saints

Sporting News provided live scoring updates during Monday night's Saints-Vikings game. Here's how it went down.

Saints-Vikings: Scores, results, highlights

(All times ET)

10:06 p.m.: Game. Rookie running back Dalvin Cook rushed for 127 yards and broke Adrian Peterson's record (107) for rushing yards by a rookie running back in his Vikings debut. Peterson ironically watched from the opposite sideline, where he was most of the game rather than on the field. The future Hall of Famer carried the ball just six times for 18 yards in his Saints debut. We don't think he was happy about it.

Sam Bradford (27 of 32, 346 yards, 3 TDs, 143.0 rating) managed to outplay Drew Brees (27 of 37, 291 yards, 1 TD, 104.7 rating) in a game in which the Vikings out-gained the Saints 470-344 in total yards.

10 p.m.: Touchdown. The Saints scored their first touchdown of the game way too late, in garbage time and down three scores against the Vikings. Drew Brees naturally refused to quit, though, and found Coby Fleener for an eight-yard touchdown pass with 1:56 to play in the game. 29-19, Vikings.

9:50 p.m.: Field goal. Kai Forbath's 45-yard field goal with four minutes to play put the Vikings up by three scores and presumably sealed the game. Minnesota was able to milk 3:49 off the clock during its eight-play, 48-yard drive. 29-12, Vikings.

9:39 p.m.: Field goal. Four field goals of 25 yards or less generally is a good sign of red-zone woes. That was the case for Saints on Monday, as they failed to score a touchdown deep in Minnesota territory yet again. But they at least were able to cut the Vikings' lead to 14 at the five-minute mark with Wil Lutz's 20-yarder. 26-12, Vikings.

9:27 p.m.: Touchdown. The Vikings took a commanding lead early in the fourth quarter when Sam Bradford found Kyle Rudolph on a corner route at the goal line for a touchdown. The score capped another long drive for Minnesota — nine plays, 89 yards, including a 32-yard run by rookie Dalvin Cook. 26-9, Vikings.

9:25 p.m.: Start of fourth quarter.

9:15 p.m. Field goal. An eight-play, 83-yard New Orleans drive that included a 52-yard pass from Drew Brees to Tommylee Lewis stalled at the Minnesota 6-yard line, where Wil Lutz connected on a 24-yard field goal, his third successful kick of the game. 19-9, Vikings.

8:54 p.m.: Field goal. A seven-play, 54-yard drive on the Vikings' first possession of the second half, which almost ended with a Latavius Murray fumble (recovered by offense), instead ended with a 32-yard field goal by Kai Forbath. 19-6, Vikings.

8:48 p.m.: Start of third quarter.

8:34 p.m.: Halftime. Minnesota held a 229-118 total yards advantage over New Orleans after the first 30 minutes. The Vikings had just three 80-plus-yard drives throughout the entire 2016 season — they had two before halftime Monday, not including a 74-yard drive in the second quarter. Sam Bradford had a great first half: 17 of 20 for 197 yards and two touchdowns, both to Stefon Diggs.

8:30 p.m.: Touchdown. Sam Bradford to Stefon Diggs. Again. The Vikings' QB put the ball where it needed to be, and the receiver made an impressive catch while getting both feet down in-bounds on the side of the end zone. The score capped a massive 10-play, 95-yard drive that took just 1:40 and left three seconds on the first-half clock. 16-6, Saints.

8:07 p.m.: Touchdown. It was all Sam Bradford. The Vikings needed just three plays to march 74 yards for the first touchdown of the game. An incredible completion into a tight window by Bradford set up the score on the next play: an 18-yard completion off play-action to Stefon Diggs on a corner route in the end zone. 10-6, Vikings.

8:02 p.m.: Field goal. Wil Lutz nailed his second field goal of the first half, a 21-yarder, to give the Saints the lead after another long drive — 13 plays, 74 yards. Veteran New Orleans right tackle Zach Stief was injured on the drive, but he was able to walk off the field on his own power. 6-3, Saints.

7:39 p.m.: End of first quarter. Two drives — one for each team — took up almost all of the first 15 minutes. New Orleans had run two plays on its second drive before the end of the quarter. The Saints held a 62-48 total yards advantage over the Vikings.

7:35 p.m.: Field goal. The Vikings saw the Saints' impressive opening drive and raised them an even more impressive opening drive. Kai Forbath made a 24-yard field goal after Minnesota's 14-play, 78-yard drive stalled at the New Orleans 7-yard line. 3-3, tie game.

7:21 p.m.: Field goal. An impressive first drive of the season for the Saints stalled at the Vikings' 25-yard line, where Wil Lutz made his 43-yarder to give New Orleans the lead. The 13-play, 56-yard drive took 6:39 off the first-quarter clock. 3-0, Saints.

7:11 p.m.: Kickoff. The Vikings won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Saints running back Trey Edmunds returned the kick to his own 19-yard line.

6:35 p.m.: Drew Brees pregame hype speeches never get old.

"It's the first game of the season

Monday Night Football on the road

it doesn't get any bigger and better!"



-@drewbrees' pregame huddle! pic.twitter.com/jkEIF16Vgd — New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 11, 2017

5:43 p.m.: Vikings and Saints inactives were announced.

5:23 p.m.: Welcome back to Minnesota, Adrian Peterson.