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Vikings thwart Bush, Saints

Oct 7, 2008 - 6:02 AM NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Ryan Longwell kicked a 30-yard field goal with 13 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Vikings overcame an impressive performance by Reggie Bush to record a 30-27 triumph over the New Orleans Saints on Monday.

After his counterpart Martin Gramatica was unable to connect from 46 yards out with 2:04 remaining, the Vikings quickly made their way down the field.

Benefiting from a pass interference call, Minnesota positioned Longwell for his third field goal attempt of the night. After tying his season long with a 53-yard kick in addition to making a 33-yarder, the veteran kicker calmly nailed the game-winning kick for Minnesota (2-3).

Before Longwell's heroics, Bush seemed to have stamped his mark on this one by becoming the 12th player in NFL history to return two punts for touchdowns in the same game.

With the Saints trailing, 20-10, with 1:46 remaining in the third quarter, Bush reeled in a punt from his own 29-yard line, sidestepped a few would-be tacklers before racing down the right sideline for a 71-yard touchdown.

After Gramatica booted a 53-yard field goal to tie the game at 20-20, Bush duplicated his previous feat shortly thereafter.

The second overall pick of the 2006 draft, Bush reeled in the booming punt of Chris Kluwe, made a quick step to right before cutting upfield. Bush then split a pair of would-be tacklers and raced up the left sideline and into the end zone.

"Great blocking by my teammates," Bush said. "It was obviously a huge play at a time of need. It would have been even sweeter if we had won this game."

Bush now has three punt returns for touchdowns this season, and four in his career - which marks the most in Saints' history.

Heroics aside, Bush recognized that the end result was still a loss.

"It's tough to lose games like this," Bush said. "We had a terrible first half, we kinda felt like we were in quicksand, sinking and sinking. The three losses we have, we haven't been able to close things out."

Drew Brees completed 26-for-46 for 330 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for New Orleans (2-3), which failed to move into a three-way tie for second place in the NFC South with the Atlanta Falcons (3-2) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2). The Carolina Panthers (4-1) are in first place in the division.

"It's probably one of the weirdest games I've ever been involved in," Brees said. "Just the ebb and flow, the way this thing kind of went back and forth. I'm trying to digest it all right now and in the end it's a loss. That's extremely disappointing, especially when once again we have a chance to win it at the end."

Bernard Berrian reeled in a 33-yard touchdown from quarterback Gus Frerotte to tie the game at 27-27 for Minnesota.

"I saw the ball go up and I said I'm going to score a touchdown no matter what," Berrian said.

It's that aggressiveness which was mirrored by the Vikings' defense and special teams.

In the first half alone, Minnesota produced four fumbles - two were recovered - an interception, a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown to claim a 20-10 lead at the half. New Orleans was also penalized 11 times for 102 yards in the contest.

"This is as good a win as it gets," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "I don't know if I've ever been involved in one that went that way."

The Saints were clicking on all cylinders early as Brees found Devery Henderson with a 17-yard scoring strike just 4:47 into the first quarter to cap an eight-play, 47-yard drive.

New Orleans seemed poised to up the advantage nearly five minutes later, but a 46-yard field goal by Gramatica was blocked by defensive tackle Kevin Williams. Cornerback Antoine Winfield scooped up the ball at the Minnesota 41 and scampered 59 yards untouched to record the first blocked field goal for a touchdown in Vikings' regular-season history.

After the teams traded field goals, Winfield made his presence felt again by sacking and stripping the ball from Brees.

The turnover gave Minnesota the ball on the Saints' 5-yard line, and three plays later, running back Chester Taylor lofted a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe to give the Vikings a 17-10 advantage just 1:41 into the second quarter.

Last season's NFL Rookie of the Year, running back Adrian Peterson rushed 21 times for 32 yards.