Vikings punter Chris Kluwe angered coach Brad Childress two years ago when he kicked the ball to Saints punt returner Reggie Bush twice in the second half after being instructed not to do so.

Fast forward to this season and Childress has already praised Kluwe on separate occasions for how he's kicking the ball and executing the coaches plan to focus on hang time and placement.

Kluwe neutralized Bush in the season opener by getting terrific hang time and placing the ball perfectly, which allowed his cover guys to get in position.

On Sunday against Detroit, Kluwe placed four punts inside the 20 and had a net average of 43.2 yards.

"Great hang time," Childress said. "Typically the people that you see lead in that category in terms of returns not coming up the field are teams that can hang the football high and allow their coverage to get down there. He's doing a tremendous job and he's doing a tremendous job with that directional kicking." Kluwe entered the bye week ranked third in the NFL in net average at 41.9. By comparison, he's 17th in the league in punting average at 43.9. Kluwe also is tied for sixth in balls inside the 20 with six. Kluwe has always possessed a strong leg but the coaching staff wants him to focus on his hang time. "Not just taking it and bombing it," Childress said. Said special teams coordinator Brian Murphy: "He's really worked on becoming a hang-time punter. He's done an excellent job at it. He's continuing to develop. That's what you need. The punter can beat the return team. Hang time is everything. If you give guys a chance to cover with hang time, your unit will be successful and that's what Chris is allowing us to do. ... Everyone has different philosophies. I wouldn't say it's revolutionary. There's a million ways to skin a cat, and our way to do it is to make sure we play with great hang time and allow our coverage players to cover."