The Minnesota Vikings can be known for losing all four of their Super Bowl appearances. But they also played in some of the most famous games in league history, including on Saturday, when they came back from a record 33-point deficit in the second half to beat the Indianapolis Colts, 39-36, in extra time.
The Vikings surpassed the previous comeback record set by the Buffalo Bills in 1993, who overcame a 32-point deficit to beat the Houston Oilers in extra time.
The Vikings, who won the NFC North, took the win when a 40-yard goal from striker Greg Joseph split the uprights with seconds remaining in extra time. The Vikings (11-3) have now won 10 of their games by a score of one, and none was more dramatic than Saturday’s.
The Indianapolis-Minnesota game was arguably the sleepiest of the NFL’s three games on Saturday, with six wins by a gap between the teams on the leaderboard. But the frantic finish is another reminder that even seemingly unrelated matches in the country’s most popular league can produce some of the most compelling results.
It may be a cliché, but games are really two games. The Colts (4-9-1), who have endured coaching and quarterback turmoil all season, looked like a team that was knocked out of the knockout stages at half-time. They return a blocked pitch for a touchdown and return an intercept for another score. Full-back Matt Ryan also hit a 1-yard touchdown pass to Deon Jackson.
Entering halftime, the Vikings looked set to suffer their second-biggest loss in the past five games.
Vikings Coach Kevin O’Connell said that at halftimefull-back Patrick Peterson said, “All we need is five touches of the ball.”
The Vikings did it with a formula that has worked all season: Let quarterback Kirk Cousins throw the ball. Around the middle of the third quarter, Cousins hit receiver KJ Osborn with a 2-yard score for the first point. After the Colts scored one more goal to make it 36-7, the Vikings scored another touchdown on a 1-yard run taken by CJ Ham with just over a minute left in the half.
The Colts’ attack was constantly stalled, allowing Cousins and the Vikings time to further reduce the deficit. The cousins threw an 8-yard score to receiver Justin Jefferson – the league’s top scorer – early in the 4th half to close the gap to 36-21 after scoring the extra.
Cousins was blocked, but the Colts were unable to convert the revenue to points. The Vikings were back again when Cousins tossed a 1-yard pass to receiver Adam Thielen to close the Colts’ lead to 8 points after another successful sub-point.
On the next drive, the Vikings seemed to have ended the game as full-back Chandon Sullivan tripped over a mess and ran into the final zone. But officials ruled that the runner fell from the contact. Although a review showed the runner had fumbled with the ball and Sullivan recovered it, Minnesota was not awarded the right to touch the ball. The Vikings took over, but their efforts stalled.
The Colts appeared to be in a good position to run out of time, but Ryan was unable to convert a midfield sneak in fourth, leaving Vikings with another shot with just over two minutes left.
Colts coach Jeff Saturday said after the game: “We’re going to end the game and end the game. “I joined. Everyone joined. We didn’t convert.”
Ryan’s inability to land the first goal is reminiscent of Super Bowl LI, when he and the Falcons failed to convert the first goal allowing the New England Patriots to clear a 28-3 deficit, the biggest comeback yet. in Super Bowl history.
After the Vikings took over with just over two minutes left, Dalvin Cook ran back sprinting 64 yards to score. The cousins then hit TJ Hockenson to convert to two points to end the game. In total, Cousins is 34 for 54 for 460 yards, with 417 yards accumulated after halftime.
It wasn’t quite the “miracle in Minneapolis” — when the Vikings beat the New Orleans Saints in a run-out with Stefon Diggs at timed out in a 2018 knockout — but it was thrilling nonetheless. .
After the game, Cousins said he thought Peterson was “sarcastic” when he called five touchdowns. But, in the end, he was still happy to create a feat of his own.
