Carolina Panthers vs. Minnesota Vikings: Full Report Card Grades for Minnesota
The Minnesota Vikings blocked two punts and returned them both for touchdowns en route to an easy 31-13 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Playing in biting temperatures that hovered around 14 degrees for most of the afternoon, the Vikings special teams provided the biggest bites of the day, staking Minnesota to a 21-3 lead by the second quarter after both Adam Thielen and Everson Griffen returned punts for touchdowns.
Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater didn't light up the stat sheet, but he played very effectively in helping the Vikings improve to 5-7 on the season. The Panthers, who are still right in the hunt for the sorry NFC South division, fall to 3-8-1 on the year.
Bridgewater threw for two touchdown passes and Minnesota's defense came up with big plays when they needed them in order to keep the Carolina offense from mounting any type of comeback.
The cold-weather heroics of the Vikings special teams harkened back to the Bud Grant era, when Minnesota dominated teams in the cold weather and specialized in blocking kicks when they were piling up division titles in the 1970s.
The Vikings will be at home in the cold again next week when they host the New York Jets.
Quarterback
1 of 10
The way things played out at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon, all the Vikings needed from their rookie quarterback was for him to avoid making any major mistakes.
He didn't.
Not only did Bridgewater play mistake-free football, he was also quite efficient in taking what was given to him by the Panthers defense in leading the Vikings to 17 points on offense, which was far more than they needed against the Panthers.
Bridgewater finished the afternoon 15-of-21 for 138 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions, which added up to a career-best 120.7 quarterback rating.
Bridgewater was 3-of-3 during the Vikings' first possession and capped off the drive by hitting tight end Kyle Rudolph with a four-yard touchdown pass.
Then late in the first half, Bridgwater led a quality drive that he capped off with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings that put the Vikings up 28-6 at the break and all but sealed the deal for Minnesota.
No, 138 passing yards isn't a great game by any stretch, but the way things unfolded on Sunday, it was far more than enough for Minnesota to get the win. Bridgewater was smart with the ball and made short, accurate throws that extended drives in the second half when Carolina needed to pile up points to have any chance.
You could chalk it up as an exercise in "game management" for Bridgewater, and he did nearly exactly what was required of him.
No, it was not spectacular, but it was very good.
Grade: B+
Running Back
2 of 10
Rookie running back Jerick McKinnon, who's become the Vikings' best running back, wasn't active for Sunday's game as he rested his lower back, which has been bothering him for about a month now, according to Master Tesfatsion of the Star Tribune.
He wasn't needed.
On a brutally cold day in Minneapolis, the Vikings didn't get much production out of their running backs, but they got all they needed.
Minnesota running backs rushed for just 92 yards on 24 carries, but they didn't fumble the ball which is basically all the Vikings needed out of them to secure the victory on Sunday.
Matt Asiata led the way with 52 yards on 14 carries and also caught four passes.
Ben Tate got his first carries as a Viking, picking up 15 yards on five carries, including a nine-yard run that extended a key drive in the second half.
Certainly nobody wrested the starting job away from McKinnon, but it's nice to have some big, strong backs like Asiata and Tate in cold, December games like Sunday's.
Grade: C-
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
As far as the Vikings' passing game went on Sunday, it was certainly nice to see some guys getting open.
Tight end Kyle Rudolph found himself all alone in the back of the end zone to cap off Minnesota's first drive with a four-yard touchdown.
Greg Jennings found himself wide-open on the left hash mark late in the second quarter and took it 17 yards for a touchdown that staked Minnesota to a huge halftime lead.
It wasn't a huge game for Minnesota's receiving corps, but players learned that if they can get open, Bridgewater can get the ball to them, and they can move the ball down the field.
Jennings led the way with five catches for 45 yards and a touchdown, while Charles Johnson and Jarius Wright also had over 40 yards. Pretty modest numbers but the flow of Sunday's game didn't require Minnesota to air it out much.
Jennings had the touchdown, Johnson had a 24-yard reception and Wright had a 35-yard reception, which were all big plays that helped the Vikings keep the hammer down on Carolina all afternoon. The Vikings dominated the field position game, and even when the offense didn't get points, it gained enough yards to keep putting the Panthers on long fields.
The yardage numbers aren't going to help out Minnesota's woeful numbers on the season, but it was a game where the Vikings receivers did what was asked of them in an easy victory.
Grade: B-
Offensive Line
4 of 10
We'll call it baby steps for the Vikings' offensive line. No glaring errors for a unit that's made far too many of them this season.
Bridgewater was sacked three times on the day, but for the most part, he had enough time to find open receivers.
It was a Sunday, so left tackle Matt Kalil did have one complete whiff, when Mario Addison blew by him to force Bridgewater to dump the ball off to Asiata for a loss of yards on what could have been a key third-down play.
It turned out not to matter.
Gifted with a huge cushion by the special teams, the Vikings offense got to play a safe game where getting a first down here and there was all that was needed out of it.
Just 210 yards of total offense and only 12 first downs sounds like a bad game for the offensive line, but it wasn't. It didn't play a spectacular game, but it did what it needed to do to get the win.
Grade: B-
Defensive Line
5 of 10
He's baaaack.
Vikings' defensive end Everson Griffen had a couple of off weeks against the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, but he returned to a starring role on Sunday, picking up two sacks, five tackles and returning a blocked punt for a Vikings' record 43 yards for a touchdown.
Griffen tormented Panthers left tackle Byron Bell all afternoon, whipping him off the line of scrimmage and beating him with superior strength and speed to get in Cam Newton's face all afternoon.
Griffen now has 11 sacks on the season and scored his second career touchdown.
Defensive tackle Linval Joseph helped plug up the middle of the line and registered four tackles on the day, including one for a loss and also batted down a pass.
Sharrif Floyd picked up a sack and another quarterback hit while only playing the first half. Zimmer said after the game that Floyd had his knee "tighten up" on him, and that's why he missed the second half, according to Derek Wetmore of 1500ESPN.com:
"Sharrif Floyd has his knee "tighten up" today, Zimmer said. Anthony Barr has dealt with nagging injury for a few weeks, Zimmer said.
— Derek Wetmore (@DerekWetmore) November 30, 2014"
Rookie Shamar Stephen had four tackles on the day, and Tom Johnson had three. Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart had some success gashing the Vikings through the middle, picking up 85 yards on just 12 carries.
Overall, the Vikings did a great job of pressuring Newton and limiting his room to take off and hurt them with his legs.
It wasn't a dominant performance by the defensive line, but it was more than enough to bottle up a Panthers offense that never really got going on Sunday.
Grade: B+
Linebacker
6 of 10
Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway played his best game of the season on Sunday, playing from sideline to sideline and making big tackles and plays all over the field.
Greenway led the Vikings with 10 tackles, including one for a loss, and broke up a key pass that took the life out of a Panthers drive that could have given the team hope.
You'd expect a guy like Greenway, who grew up in South Dakota and played at Iowa in college to thrive in the cold-weather conditions, and he did just that. Greenway seemed to have a spark on Sunday that carried over to his teammates as the Vikings defense seemed to come up with big plays every time it had to.
Jasper Brinkley also had his best game of the season, making seven tackles and providing strength in the middle, especially early on in the game.
Rookie Anthony Barr had four tackles before sitting out most of the second half with an injury. Gerald Hodges filled in nicely for Barr, getting two tackles and batting down a pass.
The Panthers had some success on the ground, picking up 178 yards and averaging almost 5.5 yards per carry, but the linebackers, like the defense as a whole, made plays when they had to.
When you hold an NFL team to just 13 points, you've played an excellent game.
Grade: B+
Secondary
7 of 10
Vikings safety Harrison Smith continues to be a dominant force that leads the Minnesota defense.
Smith was all over the field on Sunday, getting eight tackles, a sack, and two tackles for loss. He led a Vikings secondary that held the Panthers to just 194 passing yards on a day when it looked like Carolina would have to air it out early and often in order to catch up.
There aren't any safeties playing at a higher level than Smith is.
Cornerback Xavier Rhodes might have been jazzed up by facing Kelvin Benjamin, his former teammate at Florida State, but he played one of his best games as a Viking. Rhodes leads the Vikings in passes defensed and added three more on Sunday.
Rhodes is sort of quietly becoming an excellent press corner and has learned the art of being physical with receivers while not getting flagged for interference.
Safety Robert Blanton has been a tackling machine all season, but has been vulnerable against the pass. He made an excellent play in the second quarter on a third-down pass that held the Panthers to a field goal on a drive where a Panthers touchdown could have changed the complexion of the game.
Cornerback Josh Robinson got beat a couple of different times on Sunday, but he kept battling and made a nice play to get an interception in the fourth quarter. Robinson was with receiver Philly Brown, but he just fell down shortly before the ball arrived to give up a big touchdown in the third quarter.
Captain Munnerlyn made five tackles and was a physical presence all day long against his former teammates. You knew Munnerlyn was looking forward to playing the team he spent five seasons with, and he didn't disappoint, making some big hits against the run and the pass.
The Vikings secondary did a great job on rookie Kelvin Benjamin and tight end Greg Olsen, who have been whipping people all season long. They both had their moments, but Minnesota held them both under 60 yards.
A great day for Minnesota's quickly improving secondary.
Grade: A
Special Teams
8 of 10
The Vikings hadn't blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown since 1986, when Isaac Holt did it, a stretch of 493 games.
They did it twice in a stretch of just over 10 minutes on Sunday.
When you're playing a football game in 14-degree temperatures, you need big plays to win; it's that simple.
With Minnesota leading 7-3 midway through the first quarter, the Panthers set up to punt from their own 43-yard line. Adam Thielen broke through the line and blocked Brad Nortman's punt, then got up, scooped up the ball and returned it a Vikings' team-record 30 yards for a touchdown.
It was a huge play that swung every bit of momentum the Vikings' way on a day that momentum would mean a lot.
He'd only hold that particular Vikings' record for about 10 minutes.
Early in the second quarter, with Minnesota now up 14-3, the Panthers faced a 4th-and-5 from the 50-yard line. With the regular defense still on the field, linebacker Jasper Brinkley broke through the line and blocked Nortman's punt, and this time Everson Griffen scooped it up and the former high school star running back took it 43 yards for another touchdown.
Unbelievable.
It doesn't happen for 493 games, and then it happens twice in a 12-minute span.
The two teams finished playing out the game, because the rules state that they have to, but for all intents and purposes that game ended after Griffen's touchdown.
Marcus Sherels had two very nice punt returns for 45 yards, and Walsh nailed a 39-yard field goal. Punter Jeff Locke had a good day, not averaging much on his punts, but doing his job effectively on a brutal day to have to punt the football.
None of it really mattered after the punt-block team struck jackpots twice.
Grade: A+
Coaching
9 of 10
Under brutal 14-degree temperatures and nothing to play for but pride and competitive spirit, the Vikings showed up Sunday afternoon ready to play and dominated the Carolina Panthers 31-13.
It was a Panthers team that, despite its 3-7-1 record, was only a half-game out of first place in the brutal NFC South division.
Kudos go out to all of the Vikings coaches who had their team ready to go during a weird, holiday week that can be especially distracting to a team that's no longer in the playoff hunt.
A special tip of the cap needs to go out to special teams coach Mike Priefer, as the Vikings took two blocked punts back for touchdowns on the day.
The Vikings defense looked completely ready for anything Cam Newton was going to try to do. While Newton isn't having a great season, he's not an easy guy to game-plan for, as he can kill you with his legs and has a rocket of an arm.
The Vikings' offensive line didn't play spectacularly, but it didn't need to. It played relatively mistake-free football, which was far more than enough on Sunday.
It was a tough day to play football, but you got the feeling that Mike Zimmer loved it. He's old-school, and Sunday's game looked like a throwback to the Vikings' dominant days of the 1970s.
Expect more of the same next Sunday against the New York Jets.
Grade: A
Overall Grade
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| Quarterback | B+ |
| Running Back | C- |
| Wide Receiver and Tight End | B- |
| Offensive Line | B- |
| Defensive Line | B+ |
| Linebacker | B+ |
| Secondary | A |
| Special Teams | A+ |
| Coaching | A |
Overall Grade B+
Would you call getting two blocked-punt returns for touchdowns luck? No. Improbable for sure, but you make your own luck there.
As we mentioned earlier, the Vikings had gone 493 games, dating all the way back to 1986 without taking a blocked punt back for a touchdown, so to do it twice in a 12-minute span was pretty insane.
The Vikings, a team playing for nothing but pride and a will to win, jumped a Carolina Panthers team that, despite its sorry record, is right in the thick of things in the NFC South division.
The Vikings defense, led by stars Harrison Smith and Everson Griffen, manhandled the Panthers offense.
Minnesota's offense, which has struggled for productivity all season long, didn't dominate, but it played pretty mistake-free, which was more than enough to get an easy win on Sunday.
The Vikings were mentally strong on a day where it would have been very easy to be mentally weak. That says a lot about the direction this team is going.
Very good performance for the Vikings.
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