Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen puts pressure on St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford in the first quarter against the St. Louis Rams at
Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen puts pressure on St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford in the first quarter against the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. Vikings won 36-22. (Pioneer Press: Ben Garvin)

ST. LOUIS -- For one afternoon, the meek inherited the earth. Or the football game, anyway.

Sure, Adrian Peterson ran for 212 yards. What's new? But Everson Griffen, Christian Ballard, John Carlson, Stephen Burton and Jerome Simpson were among the background players that stepped front and center against the St. Louis Rams. The result was a 36-22 shellacking of the host team.

"We just had a bunch of guys who contributed to our success today," an obviously pleased Leslie Frazier said. "It's hard to win if you say, 'We're just going to be Adrian Peterson.' "

Well, it's really not that hard, but the Vikings didn't have to worry about it against the Rams because they got power boosts from several unexpected sources. Take Griffen, for example, a decent enough player who usually works in the shadows of fellow defensive linemen Jared Allen, Brian Robison and Kevin Williams.

But midway through the second quarter, there was Griffen stomping around in the end zone like a sumo wrestler going through warm-ups.

"It's called the Sack Daddy," Griffen explained of his moves. "Me and Chris Cook did it one day during a Saturday walk-through when I just came up with it."

"We knew it was coming. He's been perfecting it all season after every sack," Williams said. "What better chance to do it than on a touchdown?"

Yes, it's Griffen's own special dance and usually is reserved for when he nabs a quarterback behind the line of scrimmage. Those moves have zero chance on "Dancing with the Stars." But the Sack Daddy went on full display after a startling Griffen touchdown.

Griffen dropped into pass coverage, picked off a Sam Bradford throw and returned it 29 yards to the end zone, where the celebration began. It was a striking, unexpected play that put the Vikings in control for the rest of the afternoon.

"I'm just reading the quarterback's eyes the whole way," Griffen recounted. "And he's staring me down. I caught the ball and I just took it to the house."

Griffen, who hadn't been in the end zone -- any end zone -- since high school, couldn't believe his good fortune. Bradford hit him perfectly.

"I asked him about it, and he said he seen me but he thought I was going through," Griffen said. "And I just stayed right in the middle, and he just threw it right to me."

Wait, you asked Bradford?

"Yeah, during the game," Griffen said.


"I'm just happy I caught this one," Griffen continued. "I been dreaming that I was going to do something like that, and it just came true.'

The touchdown put Minnesota up 24-7. On St. Louis' next series, Ballard charged in and nailed Bradford on third down. That was just in case the Rams had any ideas of regaining momentum.

"We needed a play to get off the field," Ballard said. "We're always talking about negative plays, about getting off the field. It was a good team effort. I hope we can just keep it going."

"It's just the young guys finding it now, figuring it out and stepping up in a game that we had to have," linebacker Chad Greenway said.

Meanwhile, Simpson caught four passes and, according to Christian Ponder, appeared to be having fun for the first time in a long time. Carlson caught not one, not two but three passes. Burton also caught three as the receivers showed no signs of the dropsies that have plagued them all season.

"It was just a complete team win," said Frazier. "A big contribution from our receivers, our quarterback did a good job, John Carlson was involved ..."

When was the last time you heard any of those things?

Ponder probably did a little bit more than just manage the game. He was very good on the team's first drive, spraying short passes and eventually scoring himself. There were a couple of oh-my-God moments during the game, but he avoided making any sort of catastrophic errors. After that first drive, his day was pleasantly uneventful.

The Vikings now can continue to play in meaningful football games late in the season. Their chances of success are greatly enhanced when several members of the choir start singing lead vocals. That's just what happened against the Rams. Plus, we got an encore performance of the Sack Daddy.

"I was just happy we were able to get the big team win; that's all that matters," Griffen said. "We're 8-6 going into Houston, and we just got to keep it rolling, baby."

Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpress.com.