Winfield does a little bit of everything

NEW ORLEANS - Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield gave his team one touchdown and put it in perfect position to score another one.

That was just in the first half.

Winfield had a superb individual performance Monday, helping the Vikings beat the New Orleans Saints 30-27 at the Superdome.

Winfield's first half included a little of everything. He returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown; recorded a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery on one play; collected five tackles; made three tackles for loss, and broke up one pass.

He also had a celebration that drew a 15-yard penalty. That was about his only mistake in the first half.

Winfield made his biggest play on Kevin Williams' block of Martin Gramatica's 46-yard field-goal attempt in the first quarter. Williams batted the ball in the middle of the line and Winfield caught it on the fly with a clear path to the end zone. His 59-yard return tied the score 7-7.

"I was coming off the edge and I heard the block," Winfield said. "I looked up and the ball was in the air. I caught it and ran as fast as I could to the end zone."

It was the first time the Vikings have returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown in the regular season. The Vikings returned one against the Los Angeles Rams in the 1976 NFC Championship Game.

Winfield celebrated by jumping onto the goalpost support and sliding down, throwing the ball in the air as he landed. He drew an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty.

Winfield made another game-changing play on the first play of the second quarter. On third-and-5, he came on a blitz, drilled Saints quarterback Drew Brees and knocked the ball loose, then picked it up and returned it 9 yards to the Saints 5.

The Vikings scored three plays later on Chester Taylor's 4-yard touchdown pass to Visanthe Shiancoe.

Winfield's sack/strip/return looked strikingly similar to his momentum-shifting play against Carolina in Week 3. In that game, Winfield blitzed from the same side, sacked Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme, caused a fumble and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown.

"It was kind of that same feeling as Carolina," Winfield said. "I was just hoping [Brees] held the ball one more second for me to get there. I got there and went for the strip."

The only difference Monday is he didn't score, but he left the Vikings offense only 5 yards shy of the goal line.

Winfield made other important but less dramatic plays. On the Saints' final possession of the second quarter, he had a pass breakup and two tackles for loss alone.

Winfield finished with eight tackles, including five tackles for loss.