It’s not very often an NFL game comes down to an untimed down, but that’s exactly what happened Sunday night between the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers.
Having trailed by 14 points on four separate occasions, the Vikings got the ball down by seven at 31-24 with just over two minutes left. Third-string quarterback Taylor Heinicke entered for his only drive of the game and engineered a scoring drive that culminated with a buzzer-beating 1-yard touchdown run by Terrell Newby, making it 31-30.
That left Mike Zimmer with the clear choice to go for two and avoid the dreaded preseason overtime. Here’s what happened.
THE @VIKINGS WIN!
THE @VIKINGS WIN!
THE @VIKINGS WIN!
THE @VIKINGS WIN!
THE @VIKINGS WIN!
THE @VIKINGS WIN!#SFvsMIN pic.twitter.com/vsiC6rC0Cy— NFL (@NFL) August 28, 2017
There wasn’t much celebrating in the locker room because of a poorly-played first half by the starting offense and defense, but hey, who doesn’t love a dramatic comeback?