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Frerotte lifts Vikings over Panthers

Sep 21, 2008 - 10:20 PM By Brian Hall PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Vikings' early-season woes were not rescued by a change at quarterback. Instead, it was another score from their vaunted defense that provided the shot in the arm.

Antoine Winfield's 19-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown helped awaken the Vikings en route to a 20-10 over against the Carolina Panthers.

The score snapped a string of five straight quarters without a trip to the end zone for Minnesota (1-2), which promptly scored on its next possession to avoid its first 0-3 start since 2002.

"I thought he was going to release it before I got there," Winfield said. "I think it gave us confidence. It tied the score 10-10 going into halftime. We know it's a four-quarter game. We learned that last week when we lost to the Colts.

"You can't afford, in this league, to go 0-3. We put ourselves in a tough situation, but I think we got it back today and made a statement."

Carolina (2-1), which welcomed star wide receiver Steve Smith back from suspension, was stifled by the Vikings defense all day. The Panthers turned the ball over twice, committed 12 penalties for 67 yards, and had just 73 yards in the second half.

"I think Minnesota did a fine job as far as creating pressure," Carolina coach John Fox said. "They kind of limited our pass game to some degree. Steve, I thought he had a good week of practice and a good week of preparation. We had some problems getting the football out of the quarterback's hand."

Winfield's turnover gave Minnesota the momentum it had been searching for all season.

After Minnesota had to settle for a field goal for its first points at 1:46 of the second quarter, Winfield sacked Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme on the third play of the subsequent drive and stripped the ball. The veteran cornerback picked up the ball and toted it 19 yards for the touchdown to tie it at 10-10 with 1:04 left in the first half.

It was the Vikings' 10th defensive touchdown since the beginning of the 2006 season, most in the NFL.

"We don't just talk about turnovers on defense, we talk about turnovers and scoring with the football," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "It's a good feeling as a coach to know the defense is going out there with an offensive mentality."

The Panthers got a 43-yard field goal by John Kasay on their first possession. Jonathan Stewart capped an 11-play, 84 yard drive in the second quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Minnesota's offense got going in the second half.

Gus Frerotte, who took over at quarterback for the benched Tarvaris Jackson this week, hit Visanthe Shiancoe for a 34-yard touchdown on the first drive of the second half for Minnesota. The Vikings went 80 yards in five plays for their first offensive touchdown since the fourth quarter of the season opener.

"It was just one of those things," Frerotte said. "I didn't see anybody's head down, anybody cowering or upset in the locker room. We have a lot of winners on this team, and we have a lot of people that want to win really bad."

Frerotte, who often misfired with his receivers in the first half, found his rhythm and finished 16-of-28 passing for 204 yards. Minnesota also chopped time off the clock with a 19-play, 75 yard drive that took 11:34 off the clock and ended in a 32-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell.

Adrian Peterson ran 17 times for 77 yards and Chester Taylor added 11 carries for 44 for the Vikings.

Smith found his connection with Delhomme, but the Panthers had little else on offense. The Vikings sacked Delhomme five times.

"That's our goal on defense, make a team one-dimensional and let our pass rush get loose up front," Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen said. "(Starting 0-3) would have been a huge hole to get out of. It wouldn't have been the end of our season, but that's a big hole. People start getting a little uptight.

"This is a good feeling, a little sigh of relief."

Delhomme was 17-of-29 for 191 yards and Smith caught four passes for 70 yards. Carolina rushed for just 47 yards.

"I don't have any idea how (the Vikings) are a 1-2 football team," Delhomme said. "Certainly, Gus (Frerotte) gave them a spark today and he did a good job. But we didn't make any plays. We didn't give our defense any breathers today, that's for sure."