LONDON — It's perhaps fitting that the first Vikings players who got to celebrate the 28-25 win over the Saints, after Wil Lutz's 61-yard field goal attempt bounced off the left upright and the crossbar, were the members of Minnesota's field goal block unit. The Vikings' special teams made so many game-changing plays on Sunday it's difficult to imagine the team winning the game without them.
Greg Joseph hit five field goals. Kris Boyd forced and recovered a fumble on Deonte Hardy's third-quarter punt return to keep a third-quarter field goal drive alive. Ryan Wright connected with Jalen Nailor for 13 yards on a fake punt that set up another third-quarter field goal. Jalen Reagor returned a punt 23 yards in the first quarter. Brian Asamoah downed a 51-yard Wright punt on the Saints' 6; the Vikings got their first field goal after forcing the Saints to punt deep in their own territory.
Two weeks ago, Patrick Peterson blocked a field goal against the Eagles. The Vikings' average starting field position is 69.4 yards from the goal line (the 12th-best figure in the league). Their opponents are starting, on average, 76.4 yards from the goal line; only the Packers have been better at pinning opponents deep.
In his first year with the Vikings, special teams coordinator Matt Daniels has put together aggressive, creative units that have covered well for the most part and turned in a series of big plays. The Vikings, according to Pro Football Reference, have already created 13.11 expected points in four games on special teams; they created only 8.52 during the entire 2021 regular season.
While a group of experienced skill position players works to master a new offense, and the Vikings' defense continues adjusting to a scheme change with a handful of new players, it's not a stretch to say the special teams are working more effectively than any other Vikings group right now.
That's happened, to this point, without many major contributions from the return units. The Vikings rank just 18th in the NFL in average punt return yardage. They are seventh in average kick return, at 23.5 yards per attempt, but that's without a return of more than 33 yards this season. Kene Nwangwu brought two kicks back for touchdowns last season, and Reagor's career average of 9 yards per punt return includes a TD in 2020, so the Vikings have return men with the resumes to suggest they can make big plays.
For now, the groups are doing the job without penalties — the Vikings have yet to be flagged on special teams this season — and finding ways to affect the game through punt coverage and field goal block units. Those are among the least glamorous special teams units in football (and that's saying something, given how much special teams players already toil in relative obscurity).
Daniels' groups, so far, have made their presence felt in multiple ways. On Sunday, they might have made the difference between a Vikings loss and a win.
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