All season long, Kevin O'Connell has been waiting for Kene Nwangwu to break one.
"All year long, I hit him at pregame meals," O'Connell said. "Is today the day? Is today the day? He's just so talented, such a special athlete."
Nwangwu, the second-year kick returner who led the league with two KR touchdowns as a rookie, had gone the first ten games of this season without one. He had a few solid returns, but his average was way down from his ridiculously efficient 2021, when he took two of his 18 kickoff returns all the way to the house.
The Patriots decided to tempt fate on Thursday night. Kicking the ball short of the end zone and forcing Nwangwu to return it worked out early on, with his first three run-backs ending at the Vikings' 20, 21, and 16 yard-line. But they were playing with fire.
Early in the third quarter, following a Hunter Henry touchdown that gave the Patriots at 23-16 lead and sucked some life out of the U.S. Bank Stadium crowd, Nwangwu finally got loose. He caught the ball at the 3 and took it 97 yards up the left sideline for a touchdown that electrified the building. It was an immediate response that tied the game and sparked the Vikings to an eventual 33-26 victory.
"Our special teams units have had game-defining plays for us all season long," O'Connell said. "I just thought in that moment for Kene, even when it looked like maybe they were closing in on him there, he's just so explosive, to get that thing going. Then to finish that in a moment where it was a huge play for our team."
"We had great blocks," Nwangwu said. "Saw the sideline, got to the sideline, saw the kicker was blocked, and was like 'Oh yeah, we're scoring.' It was a good play, great feeling just to be a momentum starter for our offense."
Last season, Nwangwu returned kickoffs for touchdowns against the Ravens and 49ers. Both of those went down the right sideline. This time, the Iowa State product stuck to the left sideline, followed his blocks, and went all the way. He now has three of them, trailing only Cordarrelle Patterson and Percy Harvin (five each) in Vikings history. And he's done it in just 42 career returns.
"Really is the difference in the game," Bill Belichick said.
Nwangwu has the speed to take a kickoff to the crib every time he catches one. Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels has been waiting for him to break one, and actually changed up some things on that unit from a scheme and personnel standpoint about a month ago. On Thursday night, it paid off with a huge play. If Nwangwu doesn't return that kickoff for a touchdown, who knows if the Vikings end up coming out on top?
"We had a good scheme from our leaders. (Daniels) drew up a really good scheme against this team. It's just my job to read our blocks. Everything was set up perfectly. My job's to put it in the end zone."
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