One of the inequities of the player of the week system is that it picks out one guy, when many people contributed to the award.
So instead of giving this week’s special teams player of the week award to the Panthers’ punt team, they were forced to single out Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen.
Thielen blocked a Brad Nortman punt and scooped it and returned it for a touchdown, the first of two blocked punt touchdowns for the Vikings last week.
It was a special display, on both sides of the equation.
Thielen, originally an undrafted rookie from Minnesota State, spent last year on the Vikings practice squad. He made the 53-man roster this year, and made the Panthers pay for it Sunday.