TAMPA – Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson wore a leopard print designer shoe on his right foot. His left foot was a little less "flashy" though, as Patterson sported a bulky, gray walking boot after the 19-13 victory over the Bucs on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
"I couldn't find my other shoe," Patterson joked.
Patterson said he injured his left ankle on his final kickoff return with 1:57 left in the game. He thinks it won't be a significant issue and said the boot was placed on the foot as a precaution.
He remained in the game on the final drive to help the Vikings force overtime on kicker Blair Walsh's 38-yard field as time expired in the fourth quarter. Patterson was targeted twice on the final drive, drawing a defensive pass interference penalty and making a 12-yard grab on the first two plays.
Patterson finished with a season-high six catches for 86 yards. Patterson led all receivers with 12 targets from rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
"I tell Teddy don't tease me this week," Patterson said. "Give me six catches this week and next week don't give me the ball, so it does feel good to get the ball — not just to me, but to all the other receivers."
Captain's pick
It took eight games, but cornerback Captain Munnerlyn recorded his first interception with the Vikings.
"It's the first game I can really look back and say, 'Man I did my job,'" Munnerlyn said. "I did what I was supposed to do."
Munnerlyn felt that way for reasons beyond the interception he snagged on the opening drive. He sat on a comeback route by wide receiver Mike Evans on a bootleg play. Quarterback Mike Glennon underthrew the pass to Evans, and Munnerlyn was the only player capable of making a play on the pass.
"It just felt great to get my hands on the ball," Munnerlyn said. "It's been a long time. I feel like it's been forever. Just to get the win and get my hands on the ball, I felt better.
The interception was Munnerlyn's eighth in six NFL seasons.
Munnerlyn was part of a secondary that held Glennon to 19 of 28 for 171 yards and one touchdown.
Berger starts at guard
The Vikings made a switch at right guard, starting Joe Berger and deactivating Vlad Ducasse, who injured a knee in last week's lost to the Bills.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer explained that "part of it was Vladdy wasn't quite ready yet." He didn't say whether the other part of the decision to sit Ducasse was performance-related.
Berger held his own against Buccaneers Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, though he acknowledged he could do better. But he isn't sure if he did enough to remain at right guard.
"That's up to them. I don't know. I don't know Vlad's situation," Berger said. "We've got some guys who can play right guard, so that will be up to them."
Not so special
Walsh nailed a 38-yard field goal to force overtime as time expired, but it was one of the few positives on special teams.
Walsh missed a 56-yard field goal on the Vikings first offensive series, punter Jeff Locke had three touchbacks while averaging 35.1 net yards on eight punts and the Vikings recorded three more penalties on special teams.
"We have to learn how important field position is, especially when we're playing good defense," Zimmer said. " It was disappointing. … It's even more disappointing, the penalties we had in the kicking game. … We got a punt return and we got a penalty on it. All these young guys, I'm just about fed up with it."
The "young guys," as in cornerback Jabari Price and safety Antone Exum, have been repeat offenders since the Vikings have relied on the rookies on special teams recently. Exum has been penalized once in each of the past three games.
Time stops for no one
On the team's game-tying drive at the end of regulation, the Vikings lost 36 seconds after wide receiver Greg Jennings made a 10-yard catch for a first down.
Jennings was forced out of bounds, but the clock did not stop.
"I believe because he was going backward," said Zimmer, who seemingly had no objections with the ruling.
Bye not a big help
Tampa Bay had a bye last week, but fell to 1-6 overall and 0-4 at home under first-year coach Lovie Smith.
"Ideally that's not how we wanted to start it, as simple as that. We let one slip away. But after the disappointment, you still analyze where we are, and looking at our division we're still in it," Smith said.
Odd ending
Referee Craig Wrolstad thought, even though the Vikings won the game in overtime on a touchdown, that the extra point must be attempted. So after an official review confirmed Anthony Barr's 27-yard fumble return for a score was good, and after many of the players shook hands, Wrolstad had the teams line up for an extra point before realizing there was no need for one.