Counting Snaps: Vikings 31, Panthers 13

While counting snaps from Sunday's 31-13 victory over Camsickle and the chilled-to-the-bone Panthers at TCF Bank Stadium …

OFFENSIVE SNAPS: 48.

QUARTERBACK: Teddy Bridgewater 48, Christian Ponder DNP.

Thoughts: Two blocked punts returned for touchdowns makes it a strange game for everybody. But throw in 12-degree weather and rookie status and, well, Sunday's game had to be extremely bizarre for the Floridian Bridgewater. But he seemed to embrace the situation and the warmth of spending more than 21 minutes of game time on the sideline in the first half. Completing that first pass for seven yards on third-and-five to Greg Jennings might have looked easy. If so, go back to the Packers game and see how many "easy" passes Bridgewater butchered early on.

RUNNING BACKS: Matt Asiata 36, FB Jerome Felton 11, Ben Tate 7, Joe Banyard 5, FB Zach Line INA, Jerick McKinnon INA.

Thoughts: With McKinnon out because of a lower back injury and Adrian Peterson, well, you know, the Vikings put together the dullest running attack we've seen in years. Not to say it didn't serve a purpose. The 24 carries kept the Panthers' pass rush honest, but the 3.8 average and long run of just nine yards lacked any sort of explosion. Asiata was his usual admirable plow horse self. Tate got his first carries since being claimed off waivers two weeks ago and had the nine-yarder. The biggest surprise was Banyard getting only five snaps a week after his eight touches produced five first downs and three third-down conversions. A head-scratcher considering there really wasn't a hot hand going and McKinnon was out.

OFFENSIVE LINE: LT Matt Kalil 48, LG Charlie Johnson 48, C John Sullivan 48, RG Joe Berger 48, RT Mike Harris 48, G David Yankey INA, T J'Marcus Webb INA.

RECEIVERS, TIGHT ENDS: WR Charles Johnson 47, TE Kyle Rudolph 44, WR Greg Jennings 38, WR Jarius Wright 28, TE Rhett Ellison 20, WR Cordarrelle Patterson 3, WR Adam Thielen 1.

Thoughts: Well, it's pretty much official. Patterson is firmly positioned in coach Mike Zimmer's dog house. The last time we checked, a guy with a knee injury that's too bad to play receiver doesn't line up and return kickoffs. So it wasn't injury-related. Zimmer also essentially spelled out the situation when he revealed that Patterson missed some practice time to attend a funeral and then adding the Zimmer Zinger by saying, "Then you have to do stuff when you're here." Hopefully, Patterson gets the message. Not sure he will, to be frank. The fact that Johnson, who wasn't even with the team until late September, played all but one snap in Week 13 and was targeted three more times (four) than Patterson (one) is absolutely stunning in its condemnation of Patterson's season. This isn't a coaching problem. This is a player problem that Patterson needs to work on. The good news is it doesn't appear to be an attitude problem, which is key. So there's a chance Patterson will catch on because he's less likely to tune the coaches out. But if the Vikings keep the same system next year and Patterson still hasn't progressed, then chances are good that he'll never get it. So we'll remain cautiously patient with CP84.

DEFENSIVE SNAPS: 74.

DEFENSIVE LINE: DE Everson Griffen 65, NT Linval Joseph 59, DE Brian Robison 57, DT Tom Johnson 41, DT Shamar Stephen 37, DE Corey Wootton 26, DT Sharrif Floyd 7.

Thoughts: It's a shame Floyd's nagging knee continues to be a problem. He's showing signs of being worthy of that first-round draft pick and taking his spot alongside Xavier Rhodes, Anthony Barr, Harrison Smith and Everson Griffen as a core young player who could make this defense something special next season. Floyd's first snap was the third snap of the game. He was brought in to rush the passer. He sacked the passer and then played only six more snaps. Good for him, but durability ranks high in the NFL, too. To have six linemen play between 65 and 26 snaps is a nice rotation for what's a particularly demanding role in Zimmer's defense

Thoughts: The more we watch Greenway this season, the more it seems like maybe this won't be his last season with the Vikings. Greenway is the kind of professional who won't sulk about the Vikings cutting his pay by a million bucks this season. That will make it easier for the team to bring him back. He has overcome the broken ribs and the broken hand to become a player who never leaves the field in Zimmer's defense. With Barr going down because of his knee injury, Greenway was back atop the team's tackle chart with 10. He also had a pass defense on third-and-long while in tight coverage against a tight end. Gosh knows a lot of people have questioned his ability to run with tight ends. But at a critical moment in the game, he did it as well as it can be done. Barr played a season-low 72 percent of the snaps. The Vikings will no doubt be careful about risking him having a serious injury that could affect his offseason development. This guy is future All-Pro material and Hodges can handle the position fairly well if Barr has to sit.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: CB Xavier Rhodes 74, SS Robert Blanton 74, FS Harrison Smith 74, CB Captain Munnerlyn 74, CB Josh Robinson 41, S Andrew Sendejo 4, CB Shaun Prater INA.

Thoughts: We'll agree that Zimmer's defensive schemes and aggressive nature is better than former coach Leslie Frazier's Tampa 2 scheme, although Leslie looked a lot smarter and less predictable when he had a dominant D-Line in 2009. But here is something Zimmer has that Frazier never had: While Frazier always battled against injuries in the secondary, Zimmer made it through Week 13 with all four opening-day DB starters playing all 74 snaps. Sendejo played four snaps as a third safety in what's another interesting twist to Zimmer's schemes.

SPECIAL TEAMS LEADER: Ellison 21 snaps.