MINNEAPOLIS -- When he surged through the Carolina Panthers' line, blocked Brad Nortman's punt, recovered the ball and raced 30 yards to the end zone, Minnesota Vikings receiver Adam Thielen had carved out a spot for himself in the annals of team history.

For about a half hour.

Thielen's 30-yard blocked punt return TD -- which was the longest in Vikings history and their first since Oct. 12, 1986 -- was eclipsed 29 minutes later by the 43-yard touchdown Everson Griffen scored off Jasper Brinkley's blocked punt. The two TDs gave the Vikings a 21-3 lead over the Panthers in one of the more unusual fashions you'll see.

We already mentioned Thielen's TD was the Vikings' first off a blocked punt in 28 years. Griffen's block made Sunday the first time since Dec. 11, 1983, that the Vikings have blocked two punts in the same game.

When was the last time they had two blocked punt TDs in the same game, you ask? It's never happened. In fact, the last time the Vikings had two blocked punt TDs in the same season was 1970, when Ed Sharockman scored twice that year.

Heck, the last time any team had two blocked punt TDs in the same game was Sept. 30, 1990, when the Kansas City Chiefs did it against the Cleveland Browns.

When that happened, Thielen was 39 days old.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, this is just the fourth time in NFL history a team has scored two touchdowns off blocked punts in one half. The last time it happened was Sept. 21, 1975, when the Detroit Lions did it against the Green Bay Packers. The other instances were back in 1920 -- the league’s first season -- by the Chicago Cardinals (vs. the Detroit Heralds) and the Rock Island Independents (vs. the Muncie Flyers).