VIKINGS HEAD COACH LESLIE FRAZIER

Opening statement:: “Well I’ll tell you, it doesn’t get a whole lot better than that. To come here on the road and get a win against a divisional opponent, a game that meant so much to our players because of the way our season has started. Had tremendous meaning for every one of us and I’m just so proud of the way our guys played and competed for four quarters. Just the fact that they never blinked. They just kept fighting and kept fighting and kept making plays when we need to have plays made. Our offense, our defense, our special teams, just a tremendous team win. Very, very pleased with the way our guys came in and the way they approached. Opened the game with a kickoff return and opened the second half with a punt return. Man, that started fast. You talk about starting fast, that’s exactly what happened on both of those occasions. From an injury standpoint, we came out pretty good. We had a couple guys leave the game, I know Michael Jenkins left, but we’re going to do some x-rays and make sure everything is fine, but he came back in the game. Other than that everybody continued to play and played well for the most part. So just a great win for our football team.”

On the play of his special teams unit:: “Our special teams obviously were huge today. I mean, that last punt. Downed that ball inside the five yard line. You know, make them have to go 99 yards for a game-winning, or at least a game-tying touchdown. Great stuff by our special teams. Great job by Coach (Mike) Priefer.”

On the key of the opening kickoff return touchdown:: “Well, just our guys being able to get the correct blocks. We talked all week long. I remember in our first special teams kickoff return meeting we saw some things and we pointed out that if everybody holds their blocks, Percy’s (Harvin) going to score. I mean, it was obvious. There were some things that we saw if we just held our blocks and our guys did it. They leveraged the football. They got where they needed to be and Percy did the rest.”

On the defense making big plays when they needed it:: “It’s huge. You know, our offense has done a great job of really not turning the ball over. Adrian (Peterson) for 100 yards today. Not sure how we did on third downs, but I still believe you win on defense. I really do. And we have some players with a lot of pride and really want to set the table from a defensive stand. At the end of the day, there’s going to be some days where you may struggle on offense, but it’s hard to defense and win in this league. Especially the way offenses are now. So it’s great for our team the way our defense is playing and our special teams as well. To win the way we did is great.”

On currently being in first place in the division:: “It’s a good feeling. We talked about it with our leadership group on Wednesday about the fact that we were in first place and we talked about what we had to do to stay in first place. It’s not something that we want to run away from or hide from. We want to embrace it. It was one of our goals when the season began to win the NFC North and right now all our goals are still in place for us. It’s good for our football team. These guys have worked extremely hard and our coaching staff has busted their tails to put together good game plans every week. There’s a lot of football to be played, we know that. Celebrate this win, but we know when we come back on Wednesday to begin and prepare for our next opponent this game will be behind us.”

VIKINGS QUARTERBACK CHRISTIAN PONDER

Opening statement:: “Great team win. Huge for us. Not only the first road win, but the first win in the NFC North in a while for the Vikings. It’s a big time for us. Special teams to defense came up huge. Obviously as an offense we wish we could be more productive, but we didn’t have to today and we decided to run the ball and keep the clock moving and keep us in it. Defense and special teams, again, they came up huge and, you know, I don’t know what the stats look like, but as long as we’re winning, I’ll keep handing it off to Adrian and Toby back there and they’re going to keep chugging along. As an offense, we’re going to keep doing what we’re supposed to be doing to win games. I mean, the feeling this time as opposed to last time in Detroit is a lot different. I got to say, it feels a lot better and we’re excited with such a young team that we have that we’re really moving forward every week and to win a game like this is huge and we’re going to keep getting better and we’re going to enjoy this win today and tomorrow and then focus on Tennessee next week.”

On how important this game was to back up last week’s win:: “Huge, huge. And obviously there’s still a lot of things we can get better at but to come out and get a win on the road against a great team, a playoff team, is huge. We had a great week of practice. Everybody had the right mindset and right attitude going into this week, or last week, and work hard and move on from last week and we showed that.”

On how big the pulse of energy was when WR Percy Harvin ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown:: “Huge, huge. We always talk about starting fast and that’s the fastest start you can get. Immediately put up seven on the board and Percy’s such an integral part of this offense, but this whole team, again, special teams was huge. Between him bringing that back and (Marcus) Sherels having that punt return, those points were huge for us.”

On if RB Adrian Peterson looked to have his burst back:: “He looked good. I don’t know if he’s going to say he’s 100 percent, but he looks 100 percent to me. You see a progression every week. He’s just getting more comfortable with what he’s doing. He keeps getting better and was over 100 yards again today .he’s fantastic. He makes my job a lot easier.”

VIKINGS RUNNING BACK ADRIAN PETERSON

On how important it was to play well this week to back up last week’s victory:: “It was extremely important. You know, we knew they would come in with the same mindset, to come in and beat us, so just through the week, it all started during the week, the preparation leading up to the game, we just came in focused. Offensively, kind of got out of tink a little bit. Defense stepped it up. Special teams stepped it up. And we came out here and got a big win.”

On if he felt 100 percent during the game:: “Yeah, I felt real good. I feel myself just continue to get stronger each week, man. So, I’m just blessed, thank God.”

On how close he was to breaking a long run:: “Oh, man. Five or six times it felt like, to me. But, you know, it’ll come, you know. That’s what I kept telling myself. I’m not focusing on it. I want to get in the end zone every time I touch the ball, but just be patient and it’ll come eventually. We got the W, that’s all that matters to me.”

On how big the win is:: “It’s big, you know, especially being the first division opponent we play. They count double. And it’s at home here, we came into their house and got this W. So, it’s huge for us. Enjoy it, and then get ready for Tennessee.”

On if he’s back:: "I feel like I can get better, that’s what I can say.”

On if he sees something building and a change in attitude:: “Yeah, definitely seeing a difference in attitude from all phases, man. Young guys all over are stepping up and they really know what our goal is. Like I said, during the week, that’s when you start seeing it. You see how these guys approach practice and the things they’re doing, the focus. And then they come out here and they do it in the game. So, that’s what it’s all about.”

VIKINGS DEFENSIVE TACKLE JARED ALLEN

On what it is like to take down a quarterback at the end of the game:: “It’s great. They beat me to him. We ran a pass rush game to get him flushed that way, I got caught up with (LT Jeff) Backus for a half second otherwise I probably would have beat him there, but you know, no one was open, obviously we were bearing down on him, he gave himself up and it was great to end a game like that. It’s great for now two weeks to be able to defensively hold a team at the end of the game to win it.”

On how important it was to win this game:: “Oh huge, this is a bigger game than last week. It’s easy to come off a loss and get ready for a big game at home. But to come on the road, a division game; we haven’t won a division game in awhile, and to play the way we played…and just control the game. I felt that we just controlled the game the entire game. I mean this was a huge team win. I can’t remember the last time we had a punt return for a touchdown so that was dope.”

On how important it was as a defense to show you could handle both the 49ers and the Lions offense:: “Very important. I mean they have some big-time players on offense so coverage-wise this was a tough week for us. And then the scoring drive they had, they used their short passing game just to pick us apart because we don’t want to give up any big plays and so their run game turned into their short passing game. We rallied to it and they gave up a little bit and then we came back and we shut down the next drive. That was the most important thing.”

On the difference in this Lions’ team and the Lions from last year that were able to come back and win:: “I think it’s the same team. They’re very talented obviously. I think the difference was A: we got a healthy secondary and B: we remembered last year and we weren’t about to let that happen again. Detroit is always a tough game and I think this year we harped that around the place. And don’t think just because they were 1-2 and lost in overtime or whatever it was last week, that they’re an easy team. Even when they went 0-16 they came and played us tough. So Detroit is always a tough game and this is a huge win for us.”

On having 13.5 sacks:: "The matchup was good for me. They do some things; they pass the ball a lot so I had a lot of opportunities and they trust in their guys. They run a spread offense, so they get a lot of one on ones and I’m forced to do some things and I’ve just been honestly truly blessed. The good Lord blessed me with some luck like today. My best rushes that I had today I didn’t get home on and I got a scramble sack in the second quarter and then almost got a scramble in at the end there. So my best rushes, where I beat him clean he got the ball out. But I don’t know, I just played well in this division and pays when you play people so many times. You get a feel for them.”