Fansided

Minnesota Vikings Return Second Blocked Punt For TD, Set Franchise Record (Video)

By Josh Hill

Nov 30, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph (82) celebrates his touchdown against the Carolina Panthers with tight end Rhett Ellison (85) in the first quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 30, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph (82) celebrates his touchdown against the Carolina Panthers with tight end Rhett Ellison (85) in the first quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Minnesota Vikings hadn’t returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in a very long time, but they already have two in one game against the Carolina Panthers. 

Carolina Panthers fans were hoping that their team could travel north and beat a sub-.500 Vikings team to get further playoff footing. That’s not happening though, as even though the Vikings had the ball for little over five minutes through one-and-a-half quarters, they amassed 21 points.

More from Carolina Panthers

That’s all thanks to two blocked punts the Vikings housed, setting a franchise record in the process. Minnesota blocked the Panthers second punt of the afternoon and brought it back fora touchdown but they weren’t done there.

The Vikings followed that up by blocking and returning a second punt for a touchdown a few drives later.

It’s hard to say what is so great about this punt return — the fact that the Vikings actually scored points or the fact that they scored a special teams touchdown with their defense on the field. As pointed out after the touchdown, the Vikings didn’t swap out their punt return unit and left their defense on the field.

This caught the Panthers off guard and led to the blocked punt. That’s the story on paper, but the Panthers special teams just might be so putrid in the cold that even a unit that doesn’t specialize in blocking punts can manage to do it and turn it into points.

More from FanSided

Home/Carolina Panthers