Week 13 Thoughts

The Minnesota Vikings offense scored 17 points. Their special teams scored 14 points. The Vikings defeated the Carolina Panthers 31-13.

The Vikings blocked two Panthers punts and returned each for touchdowns. Adam Thielen did the blocking and the returning on the first one. Jasper Brinkley blocked the second and Everson Griffen returned it for the touchdown.

It's been a while since the Vikings blocked a punt. The last time was New Years Day 2006 when Jim Kleinsasser got one against the Chicago Bears. It's been nearly 30 years since the Vikings returned a blocked punt for a touchdown. That last happened on October 12, 1986 against the San Francisco 49ers. Issiac Holt blocked that punt and recovered the ball in the endzone.

The blocked punts gave the Vikings a 21-3 lead in the second quarter. The Panthers never really threatened after that.

The Vikings offense opened the scoring when Teddy Bridgewater hit tight end Kyle Rudolph with a 4-yard touchdown pass. The offense took advantage of great field position. A poor Panthers punt gave the Vikings the ball at the Panthers 45-yard line.

The Vikings best drive/possession of the day closed out the first half. 11 plays, 80 yards. Bridgewater found Greg Jennings for a 17-yard touchdown. 28-6 Vikings at the half.

The Vikings only added a field goal in the second half. That came with about nine minutes to play and made it a three score game.

The Vikings didn't have to do much on offense. The special teams scores gave them a comfortable advantage and they basically played to preserve that lead. The offense gained only 210 yards. Bridgewater attempted only 21 passes, completing 15 for 138 yards and two touchdowns. It was a safe, efficient game for the rookie quarterback. He had accuracy issues early in the Packers game last week so it was important to get off to a good start against the Panthers. The touchdown on the first possession did just that. The two special teams gave Bridgewater a comfortable lead.

"He's a veteran in a rookie body."
   -Vikings receiver Charles Johnson on Bridgewater

Bridgewater did what he had to do yesterday. It was a nice game and another step forward.

It was a good thing that the Vikings got a quick, early lead. The defense had some difficulties with the Panthers running game. 33 carries for 178 yards. Jonathan Stewart did most of the damage with 85 yards on 12 carries. If the Panthers were in a position to control the game rather than play catch up, the Vikings would have been in trouble. Instead, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton had to throw and the Vikings secondary did well. Except for one play.

On their first possession of the second half the Panthers had a 4th and 4 from the Vikings 32-yard line. Newton lofted the ball deep and Vikings corner Josh Robinson slid to the ground in the end zone allowing Philly Brown a fairly easy 32-yard touchdown catch. Fortunately, that was the only real breakdown in coverage on the day. And, Robinson had an interception late in the game to sort of make up for it.

The Vikings sacked Newton four times. They hadn't applied much pressure the last two weeks so it was good to see them get to the quarterback a few times. Defensive end Everson Griffen had two of the sacks. Add that to his touchdown return off of Brinkley's punt block and Griffen had a terrific, stat-filled day.

Vikings rookie linebacker Anthony Barr left the game in the second half with an apparent knee injury. Sharrif Floyd left the game after aggravating a knee injury. That's worrisome but it sounds like neither injury is serious.

It was refreshing to watch a football game with few penalty flags. The Vikings had 5 for 25 yards. The Panthers had 4 for 35 yards. I like this officiating crew. I want to see more of this officiating crew. I want to see other officiating crews learn from this officiating crew.

The best that the Vikings can do is 9-7. They have the Jets, at Lions, at Dolphins, and Bears. 9-7 may not be good enough for a playoff spot but the possibility is still there. A whole host of things have to go their way.

It's amazing that the Panthers, at 3-8-1, are only 1.5 games out of first in the NFC South. That's a sad division. The Vikings would be tied for first in that division.

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt caught another touchdown pass! He has five touchdowns on the year. Three while moonlighting on offense. Two sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a touchdown catch yesterday. If I had a vote for MVP, and I should have a vote for MVP, that vote would go to Watt.

Watt's touchdown was only one of the six touchdowns thrown by Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick is, at least, the third quarterback to throw six touchdowns in a game this season. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did it twice. The record of seven touchdown passes in a game is held by seven quarterbacks. That record is going to fall soon.

Each week, I feel like the talking heads want to write off the San Diego Chargers. They keep hanging in there. After a big, close win (34-33) against a very good Baltimore Ravens team they are 8-4. They have a brutal schedule ahead of them. New England, Denver, at San Francisco, at Kansas City.

The New Orleans Saints hung on to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-32. They stay on top of the NFC South with a 5-7 record. Nice.

The big game of the day was a battle between the two best teams in the league. New England Patriots at Green Bay Packers. Thankfully, it lived up to it's potential. There was a playoff atmosphere throughout the game.

The Packers outplayed the Patriots in the first half scoring on all five of their first half possessions. The Patriots did a great job at limiting those scores to three field goals and only touchdowns. The Packers could have had a blowout. Instead it was 23-14.

It was close to being only 16-14 at the half. A 45-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to Jordy Nelson with 14 seconds to play was huge. It may have been the play of the game.

No scoring in the third.

7-3 Patriots in the fourth quarter wasn't enough for the Patriots.

The Patriots failed to convert their last third down. The Packers did. 26-21 Packers.

If the Vikings don't make the playoffs, I wouldn't mind seeing a replay of this game at the end of the year.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is a beast. No surprise there. He was targeted 12 times. He caught 7 for 98 yards. He's so difficult to defend that it feels like the Patriots can go to him at any time. Once he has the ball he's tough to get on the ground. Packers rookie safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix learned that the hard way. He went high on one attempted tackle and paid for it.

It's an absolute treat to watch Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady play quarterback.

The Denver Broncos will be a tough team to beat if they can continue to run the ball like they did against the Kansas City Chiefs last night. Former Cal runner C.J. Anderson has looked great the last two weeks. Peyton Manning throwing and an ability to pound the ball on the ground is frightening.

It's a damn shame that the Vikings allowed the Buffalo Bills to convert that 4th and 20 a few weeks ago. Nearly every team that misses the playoffs has a play that haunts them. That play haunts the Vikings.