The Minnesota Vikings made history two years ago when they overcame a 33-0 halftime deficit to beat the Indianapolis Colts 39-36 in overtime. However, Minnesota’s coaches haven’t thought about that game much since.
“Yeah, I hope I never have to go through that again,” said offensive coordinator Wes Phillips. “You don’t want to get down that much, but it showed you kind of the resilience of the guys we have.”
“That game [left] a bad taste in my mouth,” echoed special teams coordinator Matt Daniels. “Even though it was a part of history, there was a lot of things that went bad in that game from a special teams standpoint.”
On Minnesota’s first possession, the Colts blocked Ryan Wright’s punt and returned it for a touchdown to go up 10-0. Then, early in the second quarter, the Vikings faked a punt on fourth-and-one from their 31-yard line. Wright’s pass fell incomplete, and Indianapolis converted a field goal to go up 23-0.
Special teams alone didn’t put the Vikings in a 33-0 hole, though.
- Dalvin Cook fumbled on their second possession after the blocked punt.
- Minnesota’s next drive lasted four plays. They turned it over on downs when the Colts stopped Cook on a run up the middle on fourth-and-one.
- The drive after that lasted three downs.
- Kirk Cousins threw a pick-six from Minnesota’s 12-yard line when Jalen Reagor misread the Colts’ coverage.
- The Vikings went five-and-out on their next drive, and Matt Ryan led Indianapolis on a nine-play drive to take a 33-0 lead going into halftime.
“Being down by 33 points is never a good position to be in,” Justin Jefferson offered. “I mean, it’s flat-out embarrassing, to be honest.
“So, just going into the locker room, the leaders of the team just kind of said a couple of words. And all we had to do at that moment is just go out there and just play.”
Patrick Peterson famously told the Vikings that all they needed was five touchdowns. It’s the kind of bravado a 13-win team that finished with 11 one-score victories and a negative point differential could muster. The Vikings were living on sweet nothing and eventually fell to Daniel Jones and the New York Giants in the playoffs. However, they delivered against the Colts.
“Just to be a part of kind of history,” said Phillips, recalling the positive elements of the comeback.
“Kevin dialing up play calls and really not panicking early in that second half. Not going to two-minute mode right off the bat. Running football plays and running offense and executing, and guys just executing one play at a time. And then you look up and now we got a chance.”
Minnesota tied the game 36-36 in regulation and snuck out a victory on Greg Joseph’s 40-yard field goal in overtime.
“We said, ‘We can’t tie this now. We got to get this win here,’” Phillips recalled. “But I think it’s a good lesson for everyone that the game is never out of reach, and it’s never time to panic.”
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah used Minnesota’s methodical 33-0 comeback as an analogy for rebuilding its roster without tanking. However, aside from that, the Vikings haven’t spoken of it since. Jefferson didn’t mention his battle with Stephon Gilmore, who was then with the Colts, when Gilmore signed with Minnesota in August.
However, he gleaned an essential lesson from the experience.
“I mean, being down 33 is not something that you can really dial up a plan to come back on,” said Jefferson. “It was just all about, what did everybody want to do. Did we want to come back? Or are we just going to bow our heads and look on towards next week?
“We locked in, and we’re all focused on coming back and winning that game, which we did. But it was definitely a crazy experience, just being there and getting that victory.”
The Vikings must apply that principle this season. Vegas had them winning six games, and they started 5-0. However, the Detroit Lions created a blueprint to beat them two weeks ago, and the Los Angeles Rams capitalized on it.
Regression threatens to send them into a vicious cycle. Still, the Vikings have a unique opportunity to capitalize on this year’s surprising start. Will they start to fight back this week?
