NORSE NOTESWEEK 17 // VS. CHICAGO BEARS // JAN. 1

• Earned 2nd-consecutive Pro Bowl nod with 58 tackles (39 solo), 8 sacks, 10 TFL, 66 QBHs, 1 PD, 2 FF and 2 FR in 2016

• Notched 2 multi-sack games this season – 3 at Carolina (9/25) and 2 at Jacksonville (12/11) – helping Minnesota DEs lead the NFL with 5 such performances

SACKS BY DEs / NFL 2+ SACK GAMES BY DEs / NFLRk. Team Sacks Rk. Team Games1. Seattle Seahawks 28.0 1. Minnesota Vikings 52. Minnesota Vikings 27.0 2. New England Patriots 4

3. Miami Dolphins 22.0 New York Giants 4

DE EVERSON GRIFFEN

• Received his 2nd-career Pro Bowl birth with 24 KORs for 757 yards (NFL-best 31.5 average) and 1 TD in 2016

• On pace to lead the NFL in KOR average a league-record 3rd time in his 4-year career

2016 KOR AVG. / NFL SEASON KOR AVG. / VIKINGSRk. Player (Team) Avg. Rk. Player (Team) Avg.1. Cordarrelle Patterson (Min) 31.5 1. Cordarrelle Patterson (2013) 32.42. Alex Erickson (Cin) 28.4 2. Cordarrelle Patterson (2015) 31.83. Benny Cunningham (LA) 27.2 3. Cordarrelle Patterson (2016) 31.54. Tyler Lockett (Sea) 26.3 4. Aundrae Allison (2007) 28.7

WR CORDARRELLE PATTERSON

• Named to his 1st-career Pro Bowl with 49 tackles (38 solo), 2 TFL, 4 INTs (1 returned for TD), 12 PD and 1 FF in 2016

2016 INTERCEPTIONS LEADERS / NFCRk. Player (Team) INTs Yards Avg. Long TD1. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (GB) 5 75 15.0 27 0 Landon Collins (NYG) 5 72 14.4 44t 13. Xavier Rhodes (Min) 4 129 32.3 100t 1 Kurt Coleman (Car) 4 57 14.3 37 1 Marcus Cooper (Ari) 4 95 23.8 60t 1 Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (NYG) 4 0 0.0 0 0 Richard Sherman (Sea) 4 37 9.3 31 0

CB XAVIER RHODES

• Earned his 2nd-career Pro Bowl bid with 101 tackles (67 solo), 2 sacks, 4 TFL, 3 PD, 5 QBHs and 2 FRs in 2016

• Helps lead the NFL’s 2nd-ranked defense, allowing 314.3 YPG TOTAL YPG ALLOWED NET PASSING YPG ALLOWEDRk. Team YPG Rk. Team YPG1. Houston Texans 305.7 1. Denver Broncos 187.2

2. Minnesota Vikings 314.3 2. Houston Texans 206.2

3. Arizona Cardinals 317.3 3. Jacksonville Jaguars 210.3

4. Jacksonville Jaguars 317.5 4. Minnesota Vikings 212.55. Baltimore Ravens 318.9 5. Arizona Cardinals 219.6

S HARRISON SMITH

MR. MANKATOEntering Week 17, Thielen has totaled the most receiving yards by an undrafted player in Vikings franchise history. With 40 yards against Chicago, the Minnesota State product would become the 1st undrafted player to reach the 1,000-yard mark in team history.

SINGLE-SEASON RECEIVING YARDS BY UNDRAFTED VIKINGS

Rk. Player (Season) Yards 1 Adam Thielen (2016) 960 2 Leo Lewis (1984) 830

3 Jermaine Wiggins (2004) 705

4 Leo Lewis (1986) 600

5 Jermaine Wiggins (2005) 568

SAM ON POINTWith 4 INTs on 519 passing attempts this season, Bradford’s INT percentage (0.8) ranks as the 5th best single-season mark in NFL history. Bradford is also the only QB in league history to have thrown fewer than 5 INTs while attempting more than 500 passes in a season.

ALL-TIME SINGLE-SEASON INTERCEPTION PERCENTAGE / NFL (MIN. 224 ATTEMPTS)

Rk. Player (Season, Team) INT Pct. 1 Damon Huard (2006, KC) 0.4

2 Josh McCown (2013, Chi) 0.4

3 Tom Brady (2016, NE) 0.5

4 Nick Foles (2013, Phi) 0.6

5 Sam Bradford (2016, Min) 0.8

EXTRA SPECIAL TEAMSJeff Locke, Cordarrelle Patterson and Marcus Sherels are the Vikings all-time leaders in career net punting average (39.1 yards), kickoff return average (30.4 yards) and punt return average (10.5 yards), respectively. Since Special Teams Coordinator Mike Priefer joined the Vikings in 2011, Minnesota leads the NFL with 7 kickoff return TDs and 12 total kick return TDs.

NOTE THE QUOTEBears QB Matt Barkley on the Vikings defense: “They’re still playing at a very high level, and I just think their front seven – how physical they are, the pass rush and how they set the edge – it’s really impressive. They just have a lot of physical guys who make plays, and I think on the back end, it’s just a sound secondary. They’ll give some funky looks to try to try to mess with you, but overall just a sound group of players that has been playing in the defense for a while.”