The Minnesota Vikings were left for dead as 66,612 fans at U.S. Bank Stadium began preparing themselves for a melancholy drive home on a cold, snowy Minneapolis Sunday.
It seemed like Minnesota’s third straight one-and-done postseason. The Vikings, who led 17-0 at halftime, had melted down in the second half.
Drew Brees led three touchdown drives. Kai Forbath missed a field goal. Ryan Quigley had a punt blocked. Case Keenum threw a dreadful interception. The defense allowed a fourth-and-10 conversion that set up the Saints for an apparent game-winning field goal with just 25 seconds left on the clock.
Flashbacks to the 2009 NFC Championship game, 1998 NFC Championship game and myriad other diabolic Vikings defeats played in the minds of the silenced throng — surely hoarse from bellowing their lungs out during 67 Saints plays.
Their efforts appeared to be in vain.
The Saints, seemingly befuddled through two quarters, had reinvented themselves in the second half, both offensively and defensively. Brees threw for 177 yards in the final quarter and a half and didn’t take a sack. His touchdown pass to the unstoppable rookie Alvin Kamara gave New Orleans its first lead at 21-20. Then his surgical 11-play, 50-yard drive — in just over a minute — gave the Saints a 24-23 lead after Wil Lutz’s 43-yard field goal.
New Orleans’ defense? It allowed the Vikings to score on three of their first four drives, then didn’t allow a touchdown for 39 minutes, 58 seconds.
Momentum was squarely favoring the Saints.
Yes, hope was definitely, positively lost.
That’s why Stefon Diggs’ once-in-a-lifetime 61-yard touchdown catch on the game’s final play will never be forgotten in Minnesota sports lore.
Stefon Diggs sends the Vikings to the NFC Championship with one of the craziest plays in NFL history! #NOvsMIN pic.twitter.com/FucVlOazmW
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 15, 2018
here’s Paul Allen’s (@PAOnTheMic) nutso call for the #Vikings win #NOvsMIN pic.twitter.com/gNev8sSDg2
— Corey Marra (@coribald) January 15, 2018
???? #MinneapolisMiracle Sideline Cam#BringItHome pic.twitter.com/fRe9CZTlwt
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) January 15, 2018
Vikings fans, young and old, have been conditioned to get their hopes up, only to have them promptly dashed: Gary Anderson’s miss, Brett Favre’s interception, Blair Walsh’s shank.
Sunday flipped the emotional script.
Never has Minnesota been so utterly defeated — only to be revived by what the Vikings could only describe as divine intervention.
After all, the name of the final play was “Seven Heaven.”
“Give it all to God because he came through in this situation,” said Diggs.
“[The fans] helped us today,” said Zimmer. “They did and the man upstairs.”
“You have to believe in miracles,” said Xavier Rhodes. “I am speechless.”
“Thank the Lord,” said Adam Thielen.
It was the first time in NFL history a playoff game has ended with a touchdown as time expired.
Post-game press conferences in the NFL are ordinarily followed by a few compliments, a few criticisms and a figurative turning of the page to the next game — ‘On to Cincinnati’ or something like that.
Not Sunday.
Zimmer commanded the blinds be lifted during his press conference to allow fans at the adjacent club to peer in. He requested a beer from them. He pumped his fist as they chanted his name. He participated in their impromptu “Skol Chant.”
“I think, at times, you have to be able to celebrate an unbelievable play like this,” he said.
Diggs showed up to his own session in full uniform. He and his coach embraced behind the podium. The third-year receiver was still clutching the ball that he had cradled into the end zone about 30 minutes before, setting off delirium in the stadium and across the country.
Keenum was full of smiles as he fielded questions for over 13 minutes. He’d done his best Jim Valvano impression after the touchdown pass, embracing anybody near him.
He and Brees both finished the game 25 of 40. It was Keenum’s 25th completion — a play that was merely intended to put the Vikings in field-goal range — that gave him his first-ever playoff win.
“I saw [Diggs] go up, and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s got a chance to catch it,'” said Keenum. “He caught it. And I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s got a chance to go out of bounds.’ I’m like, ‘Get out of bounds.’
“Then he almost fell over. And I couldn’t believe what was happening. It was awesome.”
Say what you will about, as Keenum described, his “bonehead” interception that injected new life into the Saints. The Vikings quarterback led two go-ahead drives in the final three minutes of a playoff game.
There will be moments to dissect his play throughout the week as Minnesota prepares to visit the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC Championship. But not yet.
“I’m still swimming with a lot of emotions,” said Keenum.
As is the state of Minnesota.
The next time it sees its team play at U.S. Bank Stadium, it might be in the Super Bowl.
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