1st block: Adam Thielen breaks through between Mario Addison and J.J. Jansen

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Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer:

“[We overloaded] both A gaps. Theilen was in one A gap, and Andrew [Sendejo] was in the other, and we’re fortunate that they both came free, … “You put a lot of stress on the long snapper when you do that, but we obviously beat the snapper, and the upback (Thomas DeCoud) had to choose one or the other.”

Panthers long snapper J.J. Jansen:

“I was on the right front side with Jason Williams, and I’m not 100 percent sure exactly where the rusher came from.”

Thielen:

“We knew someone was going to come free, and I just kind of came free. Nobody blocked me.”

Panthers coach Ron Rivera:

“That was a miscommunication, and part of it is, we practice it. There’s a lot of noise going on out there. The personal protector is trying to make corrections and adjustments for the movement that they had. They timed their movement up pretty good. We tried to counter it with the calls, and at that point, we’ve got to make sure that we get those communications out and that we hear it.”

2nd block: Jasper Brinkley slips past Ben Jacobs

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Priefer:

“The second was our base defense. We wanted to go after it. We change that up every now and then and Jasper Brinkley has been begging for that call for the last four or five weeks.”

Rivera:

“They overloaded one side, and we were in one of our basic protections, one that we work every time. Unfortunately, we missed it. They ran a nice up-and-under move, and the guy came clean.”

Panthers linebacker Ben Jacobs:

“I just needed to get more depth. That’s what it comes down to. I didn’t get the necessary depth, and it showed.”

Brinkley:

“It’s not just me. Everyone helped set that. Brian Robinson on the outside, another respectable pass rusher; I’m sure they looked at him over me.”

Robinson:

“They basically got to choose. They have to decide if they’re going to block Jasper underneath, or if they’re going to block me on the outside. I had a great get off on the ball, and it really allowed that guy to have to kick back a lot further which allowed Jasper to come underneath.”

Rivera:

“If it was a schematic thing, if it was a complete breakdown, if it was something like that we hadn’t worked on, believe me, I would be all over some other people. When it’s an individual not doing his job, not anticipating that every play is important, that every play no matter what happens, you‘ve got to believe they’re coming 100%. That’s on individuals, and that’s on us as coaches to make sure that these guys understand the significance and importance of every single individual play.”