Vikings visit woeful Titans, looking to stay perfect against AFC this season

Minnesota (7-2) at Tennessee (2-7)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Vikings by 6.

Against the spread: Vikings 6-3; Titans 1-8.

Series record: Vikings lead 9-5.

Last meeting: Titans won 31-30 at Minnesota on Sept. 27, 2020.

Last week: Vikings beat Jaguars 12-7; Titans lost 27-17 at Chargers.

Vikings offense: overall (13), rush (16), pass (12), scoring (10).

Vikings defense: overall (11), rush (3), pass (26), scoring (3).

Titans offense: overall (27), rush (10), pass (31), scoring (27).

Titans defense: overall (1), rush (13), pass (1), scoring (29).

Turnover differential: Vikings plus-4; Titans minus-11.

QB Sam Darnold. After throwing only five interceptions over the first seven games, Darnold has been picked off five times in the past two games. He is tied for the most in the NFL with 10 interceptions. Still, Darnold has already matched his career high with seven wins as a starter.

QB Will Levis. The 33rd pick overall out of Kentucky in 2023 is back after missing three straight games. He's still looking to start and finish a game the Titans win. He also has to show he can get rid of the ball and avoid piling up sacks after being taken down seven times by the Chargers. Now he will have Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel chasing him.

Titans secondary vs. Vikings WR Justin Jefferson. Opponents have been employing a split-safety scheme to slow Jefferson more than ever this season, and last week the Jaguars used that two-high alignment on 92.9% of the snaps, according to NFL NextGen Stats. That was the highest rate by any team in a game since 2018, until the Rams (93.5%) topped it against the Dolphins on Monday night. Jefferson had a season-low 48 yards on five receptions.

Vikings: RB Aaron Jones (ribs) missed part of the previous game, but returned to action. LT Cam Robinson (foot) was dealing with soreness midweek and limited in practice. Both will play with no injury designation. OLB Gabe Murphy (knee) is out after practicing fully the past two days.

Titans: CB L’Jarius Sneed (quadriceps) remains week to week and is out a fourth straight game. ... RT Leroy Watson IV (back) also is out with Nicholas Petit-Frere back in the starting lineup. ... Rookie CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. was limited Friday by an ankle injury.

This is the first game between these teams in Tennessee since the 2016 opener. Minnesota won that 25-16 with two defensive touchdowns. ... The Vikings have won two of the past three. They also are 2-3 on the road in this series and 2-1 in Tennessee. ... The previous time they met was Week 3 of the 2020 season and part of then-rookie Justin Jefferson's breakout. Jefferson had seven catches for 175 yards and one touchdown. The average of 25 yards per catch still is the fourth-highest mark of his career.

The Vikings are 4-0 against the AFC after going 1-4 last season. … The Titans are 0-3 against the NFC North this season. ... The Vikings are 7-0 when they outrush their opponent this season. … Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson had eight catches for 72 yards on nine targets against the Jaguars in his heaviest workload in a year, after missing the first seven games of the season and the last two of last season following a torn ACL and MCL. … The Vikings lead the NFL in takeaways (20) and interceptions (15). … The Vikings are 23-2 under coach Kevin O’Connell in games when they’re even or ahead in the turnover margin. … Vikings rookie John Parker Romo, subbing for the injured rookie Will Reichard, went 4 for 4 on field goals in his NFL debut last week. ... The Titans are trying to string together back-to-back home wins for the first time since last season when they won Oct. 29 in Levis' NFL debut as a starter Oct. 29 and again Nov. 26 after a three-game road trip. ... Levis completed a career-best 78.3% of his passes last week. ... Titans CB Roger McCreary leads all NFL DBs with eight TFLs. ... Tony Pollard has 334 yards from scrimmage and ranks fourth in the NFL among RBs over the past three weeks. ... WR Calvin Ridley ranks fourth in the NFL with 342 yards receiving over the past four games. ... RB Tyjae Spears led the Titans with a season-high 47 yards rushing last week.

Jefferson. He has more catches (53), yards receiving (831) and TD receptions (5) than anyone on the Titans. He also will be targeting a secondary missing the two veterans brought in to help Tennessee's defense with Chidobe Awuzie still on injured reserve and Sneed still trying to return.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Tennessee Titans linebacker Ali Gaye (99) runs past a Salute to Service sign as he warms up before an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) runs with the football during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) looks to throw a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell talks with officials during the second half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears (2) and quarterback Will Levis (8) greets each other before an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Minnesota Vikings safety Camryn Bynum (24) celebrates after intercepting a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan yells at an official during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Minnesota Vikings celebrate a defensive stop after tackling Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram (17) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An 18-year-old girl dreaming of becoming a nurse, a single mother, a father of two and a former Princeton football star suffered fatal injuries when the driver of a white pickup truck sped down Bourbon Street, packed with holiday revelers.

Officials have not yet released the names of the 14 people killed in the New Orleans New Year's Day truck attack, but their families and friends have started sharing their stories. New Orleans Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna said in a statement late Wednesday that they will release the names of the dead once autopsies are complete and they've talked with the next of kin. About 30 people were injured.

The parents of Matthew Tenedorio told NBC News that their son was one of the people killed in the attack.

“He was 25 years old. He was just starting life. He had the job of his dreams,” Cathy Tenedorio said. “It’s just very sad.”

A GoFundMe page created by a cousin says he was an audiovisual technician at the Superdome.

“He was a wonderful kid,” Louis Tenedorio added. “He loved people. He loved animals. He always had a smile. So many friends. He had so many friends.”

Cathy Tenedorio said she had spent New Year’s Eve with Matthew and another one of her sons.

“We had dinner and we did fireworks outside, and just laughing and hugging each other and telling each other we loved each other,” she said. She added that they had tried to dissuade him from going into the city.

“They don’t think about risk,” she said.

Zion Parsons of Gulfport, Mississippi, had been celebrating New Year’s Eve at his first night on Bourbon Street when a vehicle appeared and plowed into his friend, 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux, who he said had dreamed of becoming a nurse.

“A truck hit the corner and comes barreling through throwing people like in a movie scene, throwing people into the air,” Parsons, 18, told The Associated Press. “It hit her and flung her like at least 30 feet and I was just lucky to be alive."

As the crowd scattered in the chaos he ran through a gruesome aftermath of bleeding and maimed victims, hearing gunshots and explosive sounds.

“Bodies, bodies all up and down the street, everybody screaming and hollering” Parsons said. “People crying on the floor, like brain matter all over the ground. It was just insane, like the closest thing to a war zone that I’ve ever seen.”

Dedeaux was a responsible daughter — shorter than all her siblings but the one who helped take care of everyone, Parsons said. Dedeaux had a job at a hospital and was set to start college and begin working towards her goal of becoming a registered nurse.

“She had her mindset — she didn’t have everything figured out but she had the plan laid down,” Parsons said.

A 37-year-old father of two from Baton Rouge, Reggie Hunter had just left work and headed to celebrate New Year’s with a cousin when the attack happened, his first cousin Shirell Jackson told Nola.com.

Hunter died and his cousin was injured, Jackson said.

A former high school and college football player from Louisiana was among those who died, according to an education official.

Tiger Bech, 27, died late Wednesday morning at a New Orleans hospital, according to local media outlets citing Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Lafayette. Bech attended the high school, where he played wide receiver, quarterback, punt returner and defensive back, NOLA.com reported.

Bech played football at Princeton University before graduating in 2021. Most recently he was working as an investment trader at a New York brokerage firm.

Marty Cannon, STM principal and former Bech coach, said he was an incredibly talented football player, but also charismatic and intelligent. After graduating from Princeton and working in the city, he regularly returned to visit his tight-knit family, close friends and people at the school. He was home over Christmas.

“We live in a relatively small community here where not a lot of people leave but many do," Cannon said. “I'm not surprised at all that Tiger could take off from south Louisiana and go off and get an amazing education at a place like Princeton and then lock himself into a community up there and just flourish. He’s that kind of guy.”

Princeton football coach Bob Surace said Wednesday that he had been texting with Bech’s father, sharing memories of the player, who was a school kick returner and receiver from 2017 to 2019. He earned All-Ivy League honors as a returner.

“He might be the first Tiger to ever play for us, and that nickname kind of described him as a competitor,” Surace told ESPN. The school’s nickname is the Tigers. “He was somebody that somehow, like in the key moments, just excelled and was full of energy, full of life.”

Bech has been working at Seaport Global, where company spokesperson Lisa Lieberman could not confirm his death. But she told The Associated Press that “he was extremely well regarded by everybody who knew him.”

Bech’s younger brother, Jack, is a top wide receiver at Texas Christian University.

In a response to a KLFY-TV report posted on X about Tiger Bech’s death, a post from an account for a Jack Bech on the social media site said: “Love you always brother ! You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us.”

Nicole Perez was a single mother to a 4-year-old son working hard to make life better for her family when she was killed, according to her employer.

Perez, who was in her late 20s, was recently promoted to manager at Kimmy’s Deli in Metairie, Louisiana, and “was really excited about it,” deli owner Kimberly Usher said in a phone interview with AP. Usher confirmed Perez’s death through her sister, who also works for her.

Usher said Perez would walk in the morning to the deli, which opened at breakfast time, and would ask lots of questions about the business side of the operations. She also was permitted to bring her son, Melo, to work, where during breaks she taught him basic learning skills.

“She was a really good mom,” said Usher, who started a GoFundMe account to cover Perez’s burial costs and to help with expenses for her son that “he will need to transition into a new living situation,” the donation request says.

Heaven Sensky-Kirsch said her father, Jeremi Sensky, endured 10 hours of surgery for injuries that included two broken legs. He was taken off a ventilator Thursday.

Jeremi Sensky was ejected from the wheelchair he has used since a 1999 car accident and had bruises to his face and head, Sensky-Kirsch said in a phone interview from a hospital intensive care unit.

“He’s talking right now,” Sensky-Kirsch said late Thursday morning.

Sensky, 51, who works in the family’s tree service business, had driven from his home in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, to New Orleans to celebrate the holiday.

He and his wife, his daughter, his son-in-law and two friends stopped for a few days in Nashville before arriving in New Orleans, a place they just always wanted to visit.

Before the attack, Sensky and the two friends had been having pizza, his daughter said. Sensky left them to return to his hotel on Canal Street because he felt cold, she said.

Sensky-Kirsch said others could see the attacker coming and were able to run out of the way, but her father “was stuck on the road.” His wheelchair can been seen in some images lodged against a crane.

When he didn’t return to the hotel, they went to look for him, she said.

“We thought he was dead,” Sensky-Kirsch said. “We can’t believe he’s alive.”

Also injured:

— University of Georgia President Jere W. Morehead said on “X” that a student was critically injured in the attack and is receiving medical treatment. He did not name the student.

— The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on “X” that two Israeli citizens were injured in the attack.

— University of Mississippi Chancellor Glenn Boyce said Thursday that one of the university’s students was critically injured in New Orleans. Boyce did not identify the student.

The story has been updated to correct Tiger Bech’s age from 28 to 27, and to correct the spelling of Metairie, Louisiana, from Metarie.

Jack Brook in New Orleans, Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, Travis Loller in Nashville and Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.

Trevant Hayes, 20, sits in the French Quarter after the death of his friend, Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians on Bourbon Street followed by a shooting in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

Zion Parsons, 18, talks about the death of his friend, Nikyra Dedeaux, 18, and the scene after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians on Bourbon Street followed by a shooting in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)