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It was a day of injuries, frustration, and one big quarter which was enough for the Raiders to send the Vikings to their 8th loss in 10 games in the 2011 season.

Carson Palmer threw for a touchdown and ran for another during a big second quarter, which the Raiders used to hold off the Vikings, 27-21, at the Metrodome.

Palmer passed for 164 yards and Michael Bush ran for 109 with a touchdown for the AFC West-leading Raiders (6-4), who have won their last two games. They also intercepted Minnesota quarterback Christian Ponder three times, including once in the end zone.

Ponder threw for 211 yards and two scores for the Vikings, who dropped their second consecutive game and lost running back Adrian Peterson to an ankle injury in the first quarter.

Oakland wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey left the game on a stretcher during the fourth quarter, after receiving a hit to his head.

The Raiders faced a 7-3 deficit after the first quarter, but Matt Giordano’s interception of Ponder early in the second jump-started a 21-point period.

The interception gave the Raiders the ball at their own 47, and they initially went backward because of a holding penalty and rushing loss. But Palmer sparked the drive with his 21-yard pass to Brandon Myers, and later found Denarius Moore for a 14-yard gain.

Then, on 3rd-and-8 from the Minnesota 11, Palmer connected with Chaz Schilens for a touchdown that was upheld after review.

The Vikings lined up for a field goal during the ensuing drive, but Chris Kluwe didn’t handle the snap correctly and was tackled for a 12-yard loss. That set the Raiders up at their own 43, and they again took advantage of the short field.

Palmer hit Marcel Reece with a 12-yard throw on 2nd-and-9 from the Minnesota 14, and Bush ran it into the end zone on the next play. The touchdown gave Oakland a 17-7 lead with just 1:20 left in the half, and a fumble by Lorenzo Booker on the kickoff gave the Raiders another scoring chance.

They started at the Vikings’ 16 and used an 11-yard pass by Palmer to move to the one. After calling timeout with 12 seconds to go, Palmer plunged up the middle and across the goal line.

Armed with the 24-7 halftime lead, Oakland’s defense held on during the second half.

It forced the Vikings to punt on their first two possessions of the third quarter, and Ponder was intercepted by Tommy Kelly on their third.

But after Oakland’s Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 26-yard field goal, Minnesota did get a second touchdown thanks to two big gains. Ponder hit Devin Aromashodu with a 42-yard pass on the final play of the third quarter, and Percy Harvin scored on a 26-yard catch-and-run during the opening play of the fourth.

Heyward-Bey was injured during Oakland’s following drive, when he caught the ball across the middle and was tackled. As he fell to the ground, the back of his head hit the leg of Vikings linebacker E.J. Henderson.

Heyward-Bey’s helmet popped off and he lay on the field, visibly in pain. Trainers examined him on the field for several minutes before a cart drove the receiver, strapped to the backboard, off the field.

That third-down play preceded Janikowski’s blocked field-goal try, which gave Minnesota the ball at its own 40 with more than 11 minutes to play. The Vikings marched into Oakland territory and were in position to score, with a 1st-and-goal at the 10.

But on third down from the five, Ponder tried to connect with Aromashodu in the right-front corner of the end zone, where Stanford Routt picked off the ball.

Bush’s fumble four plays into the ensuing Raiders drive gave Minnesota another chance, and this time the Vikings capitalized. Ponder’s 37-yard pass to Visanthe Shiancoe put the ball at the one, and he completed a touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph on the next play.

That score brought the Vikings within 27-21 with 5:08 left on the clock, and they got the ball back with three minutes to go after forcing Oakland the punt. But they didn’t cross midfield, and the Raiders ran off all but two seconds to secure the victory.

Peterson’s 12-yard touchdown run with 5:17 left in the first quarter opened the scoring, but he injured his left ankle later in the frame during another 12-yard rush. He was helped off the field by trainers, rode a cart into the tunnel and did not return to the game.

Janikowski kicked a 29-yard field goal with 57 seconds left in the first to put Oakland on the board.

WHEN THE RAIDERS HAVE THE BALL

Oakland’s philosophy under Jackson of running the ball with authority and stretching the field with deep passes was fully on display against the Chargers, and executed to near perfection as well. The diverse backfield tandem of the 245-pound Bush (490 rushing yards, 14 receptions, 5 total TD) and rookie speedster Taiwan Jones (70 rushing yards) combined for 196 rushing yards, while half of Palmer’s 14 completions on the night went for gains of 20 or more yards. Most of those were hauled in by Moore (23 receptions, 4 TD), with the first-year find finishing with 123 yards and two scores on his five catches, and he’ll be the main target again this week with fellow big-play threat Jacoby Ford likely out after spraining his foot in the critical win. Though Palmer (747 passing yards, 5 TD, 7 INT) has clearly become more comfortable with the playbook and the game-breaking McFadden isn’t expected to suit up, the Raiders remain a run-first operation. Oakland is third in the NFL in rush attempts and fourth overall in yards gained via the ground (156.2 ypg), and 41 of its 62 plays versus San Diego were of the run variety. That figures to mean another heavy load for Bush, whose 242 yards from scrimmage in Week 10 was the most by a Raiders player since 1963.

Bush may find the yards a bit tougher to come by this week, however, as the Vikings rank sixth in the NFL in run defense (93.9 ypg) and are holding opponents to a modest 3.7 yards per carry on the season. Minnesota fields a strong trio of linebackers in the brother combo of E.J. Henderson (46 tackles, 1 sack) and Erin Henderson (42 tackles, 1 sack) and 2010 Pro Bowl alternate Chad Greenway (73 tackles), and they’re backed by a five-time All-Pro honoree in veteran tackle Kevin Williams (13 tackles). Stopping the pass has been another matter altogether, though. The Vikings are permitting 272.8 yards per game through the air (30th overall) and have given up 10 passing touchdowns over their last three tests, and the team was powerless in its attempts to slow down Rodgers and his cast of weapons on Monday. Not having the savvy Winfield or Cook further compounds the problem, and Abdullah (49 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) is the team’s best safety and second-leading tackler. Minnesota will try to get by at the corner spots with the struggling Cedric Griffin (48 tackles, 8 PD) and Asher Allen (33 tackles, 1 INT), while journeyman Bennie Sapp was signed for a second go-around with the organization on Wednesday to provide needed depth. At least the Vikings have the league’s best pass rusher this season to rely on in lineman Jared Allen (41 tackles, 1 INT). The relentless end has compiled an astounding 13 1/2 sacks on the year and has notched at least a half-sack in a club-record 11 straight games.

WHEN THE VIKINGS HAVE THE BALL

Like the Raiders, Minnesota’s plan is to pound the ball on the ground with its own workhorse back, which makes sense considering the team possesses one of the game’s premier runners in Adrian Peterson (846 rushing yards, 16 receptions, 11 total TD) and a rookie quarterback who’s still learning the ropes in 2011 first-round choice Christian Ponder (744 passing yards, 3 TD, 3 INT). The Vikings stand just behind Oakland in the league rankings in rushing with an average of 145.2 yards per game (5th overall), while Peterson’s 180 carries are the second-most of any individual player this season. Though the four-time All- Pro was less of a factor in Monday’s loss due to Minnesota falling behind by double-digits early on, he still scored a touchdown for a fifth straight game and is clearly the best playmaker on the offense. Ponder’s three starts since supplanting the ineffective Donovan McNabb under center have gone about as expected, with the 23-year-old displaying flashes of great promise but often scuffling as well, and he enters Sunday’s clash having completed just 50.5 percent of his throws. The Florida State product also hasn’t gotten much support from a pedestrian group of receivers, as dangerous wideout Percy Harvin (37 receptions, 1 total TD) hasn’t been as explosive as in years past due to a series of injuries and both opposite-side starter Michael Jenkins (32 receptions, 3 TD) and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe (24 receptions, 2 TD) are more possession-types. The Vikings are just 28th overall in passing offense, averaging 180 yards per game.

Peterson will be going up against an Oakland defense that’s allowing a subpar 5.2 yards per rush attempt on the season, tied with New Orleans for the worst mark in the league, and was shredded for 299 yards on the ground by Denver’s unconventional read-option scheme two weeks back. The unit has had its moments, however, as it limited Houston’s potent running game to a harmless 70 yards on 25 carries in a Week 5 road win and yielded just 75 rushing yards to San Diego last time out. The Raiders have been very good at pressuring the quarterback, and their pass rush was simply overwhelming in the club’s recent win over the Chargers. With Wimbley (37 tackles, 6 sacks) leading the charge with a dominant showing, Oakland recorded six sacks of Rivers and harassed the accomplished quarterback into a host of hurried throws, and the ability of tackles Richard Seymour (24 tackles, 5 sacks) and Tommy Kelly (27 tackles, 3.5 sacks) to collapse the pocket is another reason why enemy passers have completed a mere 52.1 percent of their attempts on the Silver and Black, the second-lowest rate against an NFL team this season. Another is the solid play of cornerback Stanford Routt (31 tackles, 1 INT, 8 PD), who’s made Raider nation quickly forget about Nnamdi Asomugha’s free-agent departure in the offseason by turning in an excellent campaign.

KEYS TO THE GAME

Oakland’s success this season has been predicated on whether or not the defense is able to adequately contain the run, In the five games in which the Raiders have allowed 100 rushing yards or less, they’ve won each time. Conversely, they’ve given up a troubling average of 211 rushing yards per game in their four defeats. The Vikings are a good running team and have a true difference- maker in Peterson, and keeping him from going ballistic will be a challenge for Oakland’s inconsistent group.

The Raiders will be sure to attack a Minnesota secondary that’s been beset by injuries and off-field issues throughout this season and was hardly an air- tight crew when it was at full strength. Oakland isn’t a dink-and-dunk sort of team — it prefers to swing for the fences when throwing the ball — and the Vikings won’t have much of a chance if their defensive backs let the Raiders’ lightning-fast receivers get behind them for big plays.

Quarterback play. Minnesota is capable of winning this game if Ponder performed like he did in a victory at Carolina two weeks back, when the rookie threw for 236 yards on a sharp 18-of-28 passing and didn’t have a turnover. It’ll be tough to come out on top if he’s hitting on half of his attempts, however. Likewise, Palmer needs to be the guy who skillfully bombed away on the Chargers and not the quarterback who was giving the ball away at will in his first two games as a Raider.

Prediction – The Raiders are the better of these two teams and have played well on the road, and a repeat of their most recent effort would surely get the job against a Minnesota outfit that has it’s share of liabilities. They’ve also been wildly erratic, however, as the back-to-back home losses to the Chiefs and Broncos will attest, and Peterson could pose a major problem for a defense that’s been suspect against the run. The Vikings won’t be as overmatched as they were on Monday and should be eager to atone for a brutal performance, and it’s unlikely Bush will have quite the impact he did in the San Diego game this time around. In a matchup in which neither participant inspires a great deal of confidence, Minnesota’s potent running game and Oakland’s tendency to throw in a clunker may give the home team an ever-so-slight edge. Vikings 31 Raiders 27