NEW ORLEANS — There is little doubt Brad Childress will find plenty of flaws in his team’s performance as he watches film of the Vikings’ 30-27 victory over New Orleans on Monday night.

But in the aftermath of a hard-fought game that wasn’t won until Ryan Longwell hit a 30-yard field goal with 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Childress’ focus was on one thing. The victory.

“I thought our guys did a great job of fighting,” he said. “We talked about how we would have to fight all the way through this thing.  ...  It’s as good of a win as it gets. I don’t know if I’ve ever been in one quite that way.”

The win puts the Vikings back into the thick of the race in the extremely mediocre NFC North. The Vikings and Green Bay Packers are both 2-3 and one-game behind the Chicago Bears (3-2). Minnesota’s final two games before its bye on Oct. 26 will be Sunday against Detroit at the Metrodome and Oct. 19 at Chicago.

It’s probably a safe bet that those two contests won’t end up being as entertaining as what a national television audience and an announced crowd of 70,015 saw on Monday night in the Louisiana Superdome.

The game featured numerous big plays, including outstanding and embarrassing efforts from the Vikings special teams. Cornerback Antoine Winfield returned a blocked field-goal attempt by Martin Gramatica 59 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

But in the second half, the Saints’ Reggie Bush returned punts 71 and 64 yards for touchdowns to tie an NFL record. It could have been worse but Bush barely got tripped up on another return sandwiched between the two touchdowns.

There also was a 4-yard halfback option pass from Chester Taylor to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe that gave the Vikings their first lead of the night, 17-10, in the second quarter. Shiancoe had failed to hang onto two such passes in 2007, including a perfectly thrown ball by Taylor.

The Saints also had four turnovers — two interceptions, two fumbles — committed five fumbles and were assessed 11 penalties by referee Ed Hochuli and his crew. In addition, Gramatica’s miss wide left on a 46-yard field-goal attempt with 2:04 left in the fourth quarter enabled Minnesota to begin what would become the winning drive.

Despite the many storylines, the single-biggest factor for the Vikings might have been the play of veteran quarterback Gus Frerotte. Frerotte improved to 2-1 as the Vikings starter and just as importantly showed the leadership the Vikings so desperately need from the quarterback position.

The key moment came with 9 minutes, 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Frerotte dropped back to pass on first-and-10 from his own 37-yard line. He waited for receiver Bernard Berrian to get open and then let fly with a cross-field pass. As Frerotte let go of the football, he was drilled by Saints defensive end Will Smith.

Berrian managed to make the 36-yard catch at the Saints 27. Frerotte, who was hit hard on several occasions in the Vikings’ loss at Tennessee last week, did not get up. He was finally helped off the field and, for the second week in a row, replaced by Tarvaris Jackson.

But after running back Adrian Peterson lost 3 yards on a rushing attempt — Peterson was held to a season-low 32 yards on 21 carries  — Frerotte returned.

“He’s a tough guy,” Childress said. “He didn’t just come back just to play tiddly-winks. He came back because he likes to compete. That’s what you like best about him. He is flat-line, he doesn’t get bent out of sorts but he wants to get out there and find anyway possible to help our team. That’s what I appreciate most about him.”

Three plays after his return, Frerotte found himself facing a third-and-16 from the Saints 33. With the Saints sending a blitz, Frerotte threw a ball toward the end zone and Berrian made the catch to tie the score at 27 with 7:10 left.

The only issue was Berrian wasn’t supposed to be in that spot and as a result came close to colliding with teammate Aundrae Allison.

“To be real honest, I ran the wrong route on that play,” he said. “I was supposed to run a post corner. It was actually thrown to Aundrae.  ...  But I was just determined to go up there and catch it. It just hung up there and I made the play.”

For the first time this season, Berrian looked like a player worthy of the $16 million in guarantees the Vikings gave him to sign as a free agent last March. Bothered all season by soreness in the big toe on his right foot and having injured a knee in practice last Thursday, Berrian still finished with six catches for a career-high 110 yards.

Frerotte, meanwhile, sounded as if he feels this is becoming his team.

“I love this team, the feeling we have in the huddle,” he said. “All of the guys here, they’re looking at me and have trust in what we are doing and have trust in me. It was a tough game, a lot of three and outs. But we hung in there and got it done. With all of the things we experienced — the Reggie Bush punt returns, the penalties, and on and on. We did what we had to do to win this game.”

While Childress seemed pleased with his team’s effort, he wasn’t at all happy with punter Chris Kluwe. Childress made it clear that Kluwe was supposed to kick the ball out of bounds on both punts that Bush returned for touchdowns. This led to an obviously irate Childress chastising Kluwe on the sideline after the second score.

“When we say to somebody to kick the ball out of bounds that’s what you expect to get,” Childress said. “That’s what I expect to happen from a professional football kicker. It’s no different than kicking away from the guy in Chicago [Devin Hester]. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to get that done.”

Childress was then asked if Kluwe is capable of handling a directional punt that is supposed to land anywhere but near the field of play. “If he can’t do that, I will somebody who can kick the ball out of bounds,” Childress said.

While Childress aimed his anger at Kluwe, the Saints and their fans were irate at Hochuli. The veteran referee, who found himself under heavy fire this season after his blown call helped to cost San Diego a game against Denver, made a few questionable decisions that went against the home team.

The worst one might have been in the second quarter when Bush lost a fumble after linebacker Chad Greenway clearly grabbed the running back’s facemask. Several replays on the Superdome scoreboard left fans seething at Hochuli.

Late in the second quarter, Hochuli also did not overturn his decision after Peterson appeared to fumble a ball the Saints recovered. That drive ended with Longwell hitting a 33-yard field goal to give Minnesota a 20-10 halftime lead.

The Vikings, of course, were more than happy to take any help they could get. “It was Monday night, the lights were on and we pulled it out,” receiver Bobby Wade said. “I love playing with these guys. At the end you can see we never gave up and we hung in there and pulled out a victory. And we did it on the road, in a tough place. So we’re really happy right now.”