Hartman: Special teams pave way to Vikings' win

If one didn't know the score of the Vikings' 31-13 victory over Carolina at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday and the only information available was the statistics, it would surely look like the Panthers won the game.

At one time in the first quarter, the Vikings had 61 total yards but still they led 14-0. They blocked two punts in the first half and returned both for touchdowns to take a 28-6 halftime lead.

The Panthers, in losing their sixth consecutive game, wound up with 348 net yards to 210 for the Vikings. They also had a 23-12 edge in first downs, a 178-92 margin in rushing yards and outpassed the Vikings 170-118 yards.

The one statistic in which the Vikings stood out was quarterback rating, where Teddy Bridgewater achieved a career-best rating of 120.7 by completing 15 of 21 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. The Panthers' Cam Newton had a QB rating of 65.7, completing 18 of 35 passes for 194 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Wide receiver Adam Thielen blocked one of the punts midway through the first quarter, recovered it and ran it back 30 yards for a touchdown. Linebacker Jasper Brinkley blocked another punt in the second quarter, with defensive end Everson Griffen running it back 43 yards for a touchdown to surpass Thielen's fresh record for the longest touchdown on a blocked kick in Vikings history.

Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer, who had reason to be proud of his squads, said when he was an assistant coach with the Giants in 2003, they blocked two punts in a game — also against Carolina — but neither went for a touchdown.

Priefer said the Vikings worked on blocking some Panthers kicks in practice after spotting some openings in game films.

Priefer was asked for the odds of a player blocking a punt and also scoring on it, the way Thielen did.

"That doesn't happen very often either," he said. "You have to have the right bounce, and he was in the right place and he did a great job."

As a coach, after your players block one kick, do you still think you're going to block two?

"No, I think you always know going in that they're going to try to get the ball off a little bit quicker, and that the second one we just called our base defense was out there," Priefer said. "I wanted to run a rush with them to put some pressure on their punter [Brad Nortman] because he's been very good going in, with the plus-50 punts. I wanted to put some pressure on him, and Jasper Brinkley came through for us."

How does Priefer think the special teams are playing overall?

The Vikings played Sunday with two starting offensive linemen out because of injuries. Joe Berger substituted at right guard for Brandon Fusco, who was hurt early in the season, and Mike Harris started his first game in place of regular right tackle Phil Loadholt, who tore a pectoral muscle in the Packers game and is out for the season.

"I thought we played physical," offensive line coach Jeff Davidson said. "There's a lot of things we have to clean up still."

How did the new guys play?

"They played OK," he said. "I know all of us, all five guys and myself included, have a long ways to go to get where we want to be though."

How much will the Vikings miss Loadholt?

Like coach Jerry Kill said before Saturday's 34-24 loss to Wisconsin, the Gophers weren't going to win unless they didn't turn the football over and make any mistakes. The Badgers, playing at home, were the toughest opponent the Gophers had met all year.

The Gophers also needed some breaks to win. And if one reviewed the game, it appeared the officials missed at least two plays that might have helped the Gophers squeeze out a victory.

One non-call occurred when the Badgers had 12 men on the field and made a good gain. The other was one that would be almost impossible for officials to miss, and it was a turning point in the game.

With the Gophers leading 17-3 in the middle of the second quarter, the play clock expired before the snap, but Badgers quarterback Joel Stave was able to complete a 70-yard pass to Alex Erickson to set up a touchdown three plays later to make the score 17-10.

And there might be a question about a third penalty when Gophers center Tommy Olson was called for an arm to the face of one of the Badgers. Instead of the Gophers having a first down at the Wisconsin 5-yard line and possibly taking a 21-3 lead, they had to settle for a field goal to go up 17-3.

Now the Gophers will show how good they really are, if they face, as expected, Missouri in the Citrus Bowl.

Those who have been critical of Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner should know he suffered an MCL sprain in the first game of the season with Eastern Illinois, missed the Middle Tennessee game and then played with pain in the remaining 10 games.

"Mitch is a tough kid," said Gophers physician Dr. Patrick Smith, who has been with the Gophers football program for 30 years. "Mitch played handicapped and with pain all season."

Smith also talked about how tough a kid running back David Cobb was. Cobb played after pulling a hamstring in the Nebraska game and not practicing all week.

"He worked hard in his rehab," said Smith. "I think [Gophers trainer] Ed Lochrie did a great job rehabbing him. He deserves all the credit for it, and got him ready to play."