Historic day: Vikings block two punts, return both for TDs

The Vikings hadn't blocked a punt since 2006 and hadn't returned one for a touchdown since 1986, but special teams coach Mike Priefer spent all of last week telling his players the streaks would end on Sunday against the Panthers at TCF Bank Stadium.

"He knew somebody was going to come free, but he wasn't sure who," receiver Adam Thielen said after Sunday's 31-13 win. "He just said, 'Lay out and try to get one.' "

Or two.

The Vikings became the fifth team in NFL history to return two blocked punts for touchdowns. Both came in the first half, making the Vikings and the 1975 Lions the only teams to pull it off in one half.

"1975?" linebacker Chad Greenway said. "Even I wasn't born then. What a cool stat."

A day filled with cool stats began when Thielen slipped through the gap between the long snapper and the left guard, blocked Brad Nortman's punt, picked up the ball and raced 30 yards for a 14-0 lead at the 7:00 mark of the first quarter.

"It was unbelievable," defensive end Everson Griffen said. "He blocked the kick. He picked up the kick. And he scored. He got like 10 points in one play."

With the base defense lined up as the punt return unit at midfield, linebacker Jasper Brinkley rushed from the left side and blocked Nortman's punt. Griffen picked up the loose ball and ran a franchise-record 43 yards for a 21-3 lead.

Just like that, Thielen was knocked out of the team record books. Nate Allen's 28-yard return had stood since 1976. Thielen's 30-yarder stood for less than a quarter.

Meanwhile, it was Priefer who had an idea early last week that something like this would happen.

"There were a couple of things we thought we could exploit," Priefer said. "And the way you block punts in this league is you have to believe you're going to block punts. Our guys believed."

Meanwhile, Panthers coach Ron Rivera disagreed with the notion that there was something wrong with the protection schemes.

On the first block, Priefer loaded the guard-center gaps with Thielen to the right and safety Andrew Sendejo to the left. When both players shot through their gaps, Thomas DeCoud was forced to choose one or the other.

"I didn't think Thielen would get free based on what we saw," Priefer said. "We thought Andrew might have a shot. But Adam got through so quick."

The second block was a call Brinkley has been begging for. Priefer likes the call, but it's risky to dial up a block scheme when the base defense is being used to execute a special teams play to guard against a fake near midfield.

"We practice that five minutes a week," linebacker Chad Greenway said. "Maybe five minutes. … It's a 'be aggressive, but if you hit the punter, you're going to get your butt kicked' type of deal."

The Vikings outflanked the punt team with Brian Robison wide and Brinkley to his inside. When Robison got a good jump to the outside, blocker Ed Dickson chose to block him, leaving Brinkley unblocked.

Later, punt returner Marcus Sherels broke returns of 26 and 19 yards.