Bill Parcells fully on Minnesota Vikings' bandwagon with Mike Zimmer's success

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Mike Zimmer has reached 3-0 while losing his franchise quarterback, a Hall of Fame running back and his starting left tackle. But the Minnesota Vikings coach still picks up the phone for outside advice when his caller ID says "Bill Parcells."

"He texted me right after the game, and he texted me again (Monday) morning, and then he called me after that," said Zimmer, whose team scored 22 unanswered points to end the Carolina Panthers' 14-game home winning streak with a 22-10 victory at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday. "So I talked to him three times I guess.

"He's giving me some advice. He's not real complimentary all the time, but he's telling me how we keep it going. I don't know if he even watched the game, but we just talked about how we go about moving forward."

Parcells has to be impressed by his former defensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys. The Panthers had averaged 40.4 points in their previous seven home games, but were shut out for the final 50 minutes of Sunday's game as the Vikings jumped to third in scoring defense (13.3) and first in sacks per pass play with eight punishing sacks of reigning league MVP Cam Newton.

A day later, as the Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles sat as the NFC's only undefeated teams, Zimmer sounded a lot like his Hall of Fame mentor when he talked about keeping his players grounded while the outside world jumps on board in proclaiming the Vikings the team to beat in the NFC.

"It's the same (approach) as when everybody says how bad we are," Zimmer said. "We don't listen to that. And we don't listen to how good we are."

But his team definitely has Parcells' attention. The defense has nine takeaways, including three interceptions of Newton, the offense has yet to turn the ball over and the special teams sparked Sunday's comeback by downing a 62-yard punt near the goal line - leading to a safety - and then returning a punt 56 yards for a touchdown moments later.

"(Parcells) was up at 5:30 (Monday) morning," Zimmer said. "He said he's so invested in this team that he had to go get a workout in to get some stress relief."

Next up: Parcells' old team, the New York Giants, at home on Monday Night Football.

REPORT CARD VS. PANTHERS:

PASSING OFFENSE: B-plus - Sam Bradford didn't dominate by any stretch of the imagination, but for the second straight game he didn't turn the ball over. In fact, the Vikings' offense has not turned the ball over all season. The only turnover the team has is safety Andrew Sendejo's fumble during a fumble return. The Vikings also protected Bradford extremely well considering they opened the game with left tackle Matt Kalil (hip) on injured reserve and played the final 2 1/2 quarters without left guard Alex Boone (hip). T.J. Clemmings played very well in his first career start at left tackle. Jeremiah Sirles stepped in for Boone and helped the offense play better than it did during the first half.

RUSHING OFFENSE: D - The Vikings are averaging only 51 yards rushing per game after being held to 58 on 24 carries. With Adrian Peterson (knee) on injured reserve, Jerick McKinnon stepped in as the lead back with 45 yards on 16 carries. His 2.8-yard average was 1.2 better than Peterson averaged in each of the first two games. McKinnon's 14-yard run was the team's longest rush of the year.

PASS DEFENSE: A-plus - The Vikings sacked reigning league MVP Cam Newton eight times, intercepted him three times and didn't allow him a passing touchdown. Everson Griffen had 3.0 sacks. Danielle Hunter destroyed the left tackle en route to the safety sack that made it a 10-2 game and jumpstarted the Vikings' run of 22 unanswered points. The Vikings rotated cornerbacks Trae Waynes, Terence Newman and Xavier Rhodes, who had missed the first two games because of a knee injury. Waynes and Newman had interceptions. Newman's led to a field goal and a nine-point lead. Defensive tackle Tom Johnson came down with a tipped ball for the other interception.

RUSH DEFENSE: B - Cam Newton scored an easy touchdown on a three-yard keeper around right tackle for a 10-0 first-quarter lead. But after that, the Vikings took away Carolina's league-leading running game. The Panthers averaged 3.8 yards on 28 carries, a full yard below their season average. Newton had an 11-yard run with the Panthers down 12 with three minutes left. Throw out that run and he was held to 15 yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A - Marcus Sherels jump-started the team when it had one first down and had given up 10 points in two Carolina possessions. Sherels swatted Jeff Locke's 62-yard punt backwards from the goal line to pin the Panthers deep. Three snaps later, the Vikings sacked Newton in the end zone for a safety. Sherels then made it a 10-8 game when he returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown. Locke has had the best two games of his Vikings career the past two weeks. A week after he tied a team record with five punts inside the 20, he had three more in seven punts against Carolina. That includes a 58-yarder that new gunner Cordarrelle Patterson downed at the 2. Patterson also tackled Ted Ginn Jr. for a 1-yard loss on a 50-yard Locke punt. Locke averaged 48.4 yards per punt with a net of 45.6. Blair Walsh missed an extra point, but made both of his field-goal attempts.

COACHING: A-plus - Instead of wondering what's wrong with Aaron Rodgers a week ago or Newton on Sunday, people should focus on what's right with coach Mike Zimmer and his stifling defense and complementary style of football. The Panthers had won 14 in a row at home. They had averaged 40.4 points in the past seven games at home. Yet they were held to 10 points, zero in the game's final 50 minutes. The defense destroyed Carolina's offensive line while the back end of the defense held Panthers receiver Kelvin Benjamin without a catch while being targeted only once. Offensively, Norv Turner made some halftime adjustments that worked. After only two first downs and 34 yards, the Vikings opened the second half with Bradford going 6-for-6 passing for 54 yards and a touchdown. Mike Priefer's schemes and calls on special teams is what sparked the defense's resurgence in the first half.