Percy Harvin proves a real pain to defend

MINNEAPOLIS -- It turns out that Percy Harvin can dish out headaches as well as get them.

Harvin, who missed two days of practice this past week because of migraines, is starting to give defensive and special team coaches fits.

Harvin made another big impact in the Vikings' 27-24 win over San Francisco on Sunday. In the third quarter, with the Vikings down 17-13, he returned a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown.

After the 49ers kicked a field goal, Harvin took a kickoff 1-yard deep in his own end zone. He cut to the middle of the field, then headed left, made one sharp cut back to the middle of the field and he was gone, going untouched for a touchdown.

"I stumbled a little bit," Harvin said. "I could have took it either way but the cutback was going to give me a cleaner alley so like I said, the blockers did all the work and I did the easy part."

Harvin became the first player in team history to score a touchdown in the first three games of his career. He also has the most kickoff return yards (358) after three games in team history.

He caught TD passes in his first two games. On Sunday he had four catches for 51 yards. He returned four kicks for 180 yards and lost eight yards on his only rushing attempt.

NOT SO SPECIAL: The Vikings had a chance to take a 16-7 lead when Ryan Longwell lined up for a 44-yard field goal on the final play of the half. But Ray McDonald split past rookie Phil Loadholt and Steve Hutchinson to block the kick. Nate Clements scooped the ball up and raced 59 yards for a touchdown. The 10-point swing gave the 49ers a big lift, and a 14-13 lead at the half.

"The guard fell down and I have to crack down more," Loadholt said. "I got to get down there faster than that. I have to make sure that I cover my guys better than that."

"All I know is that should be a fairly routine play, and it wasn't," Vikings coach Brad Childress said.

PLENTY OF OPTIONS: Vikings quarterback Brett Favre completed passes to seven players and four different wide receivers. Sidney Rice, Bernard Berrian and Greg Lewis all caught passes of 30 yards or more, with Rice and Lewis scoring TDs.

The Vikings threw a few more passes deeper down field than in previous games.

"We know we're capable of spreading the field and getting the ball down field," Rice said.

Favre was 26-for-48 for 301 yards. It marked the first time a Vikings quarterback had thrown for 300 yards in 63 games.

THE WALL: It looks The Wall has returned. The Vikings had allowed an average of 109 yards rushing a game in the first two games after leading the league in fewest rushing yards allowed the past three seasons. The Vikings returned to their stingy form against the 49ers.

San Francisco had top back Frank Gore for just one carry on Sunday, and he gained four yards before re-injuring his ankle. Glen Coffee took Gore's place, but the rookie managed just 54 yards on 25 carries. For the day the 49ers had 58 yards on 26 attempts, just 2.2 yards a rush.

"We obviously knew they wanted to run the ball," Vikings linebacker Ben Leber said. "We had to step up."

The Vikings topped the 49ers on a third-and-1 midway through the first quarter. In fact the defense forced four straight three-and-outs in the opening quarter.

"I think that up front we played well and really accepted the challenge of who was the more physical team," defensive end Jared Allen said.

The biggest stop by the defense came late in the game. The 49ers took over on downs at their own 47 with 1:49 left. The Vikings limited three rushing plays to six yards, and called a timeout after each stop. The 49ers were able to run just 20 seconds off the clock and had to punt, leading to the winning Vikings touchdown drive.

"Defensively at that time, we were just trying to get off the field," linebacker Chad Greenway said.

LITTLE RUSH: While the Vikings were stout against the run, they did allow a pair of touchdown passes. Ex-Viking Shaun Hill was 15-for-25 for 195 yards to a pair of TD tosses to tight end Vernon Davis.

The Vikings got on interception, by Cedric Griffin, but they managed just one sack, by Jared Allen on the first pass play of the game. Allen forced a fumble on the play, but the 49ers recovered.

"They hit the passes when they needed to," Allen said. "We knew that was their thing. Shaun Hill got rid of the ball quick, and was really good on the short and medium passes."

HAPPY, THEN SAD RETURNS: Darius Reynaud had a 32-yard punt return on the final play of the first quarter. But he suffered a left hamstring injury on a 10-yard punt return in the third quarter. Bernard Berrian took over for Reynaud and returned the final two punts by the 49ers for a total of 13 yards.

FIRST PICK: Favre threw his first interception of the season on a deflected pass with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter.

Shawntae Spencer picked off the pass. That led to a Joe Nedney field goal for a 17-13 San Francisco lead. Harvin returned the following kickoff for his touchdown.