The Vikings had their first goal and the Packers’ goal on Day 7 with 1:19 remaining in a draw on Sunday. The packer has a timeout left, so the Vikings have two options. They can either try to score a goal with as little time left as possible, or they can run almost past time and try to score the winning goal.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer chose the latter. Kirk Cousins knelt on the backstrokes to bring the clock down two seconds. They then tried to hit the target, which striker Greg Joseph did when the time expired.
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Why did the Vikings decide to aim on the field instead of making a touchdown? Zimmer gave a simple explanation after the game.
“I figured the best way to win the game was [Packers QB Aaron Rodgers] on the bench,” Zimmer told reporters.
It was a reasonable decision. After all, the Vikings just saw Rodgers and the Packers quickly respond to one of their scores.
Minnesota scored first and scored a 2-point conversion to take a 31-24 lead with 2:17 remaining in the fourth half. Rodgers and Packers only needed 9 seconds to respond.
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Rodgers launched a deep pass to receive Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the first play of the Green Bay driveway. Valdes-Scantling caught up and then sped up from full-back, going into the box with 2:08 left. A 75-yard touchdown allowed the Packers to end the game 31-31.
Zimmer doesn’t want that to happen again. So he decided to burn out almost all of the remaining time after the Vikings sent the ball deep into Packers territory at the later possession. He trusted Joseph to make the short goal.
The decision did come with some risks. Joseph missed a 37-yard winning attempt when time expired in the Vikings’ 34-33 loss to the Cardinals in Week 2, so there’s a chance he could fail again.
But Zimmer made the right choice. Vikings improved to 5-5 with a 34-31 win and are now the 6th seed in the NFC playoffs. They are also only 2 1/2 games behind the First Class Packers in NFC North.
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