Diggs’ catch etched in NFL lore
It’s clear Stefon Diggs has always been a popular player in the Vikings locker-room, even before he hooked up with Case Keenum on a play called Seven Heaven for what’s been dubbed the Minneapolis Miracle. He’s on a different level now. Less than 24 hours after Diggs became the first player to score a fourth quarter walk-off touchdown in NFL playoff history, the catch was being replayed over and over after the Vikings’ 29-24 win over the New Orleans Saints in their NFC Divisional Playoff game.
Only 24 and a veteran of just three seasons, the receiver exorcised decades of Vikings’ demons in 10 seconds. One of the most improbable and thrilling finishes of any game in any sport was a turnaround of fate for a fan base that watched its team lose every one of its four Super Bowl appearances ( 1969, 1973, 1974, 1976), and the heartbreak of missed field goals by Gary Anderson and Blair Walsh, and a crushing interception thrown by Brett Favre.
Despite being a fifth-round draft pick, Diggs has the potential to be become one of the game’s best receivers. The speed, the hands, the elusiveness. And the work ethic.
“I think the thing I appreciate most about Diggs is just the way he approaches the game,” said receiver Adam Thielen. “He’s a guy that comes to practice and busts his tail. He outworks everybody, and I’m not just saying that because you guys are the media. He really does.
The Diggs magic act on Sunday overshadowed gutsy performances by both quarterbacks. A day before his 39th birthday, Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes in the final 17 minutes against the NFL’s best defence.
“Felt pretty good about our odds of winning, once we were able to kick the field goal,” Brees said of the Wil Lutz 43- yarder that put the Saints in front with 25 seconds left. “Just unfortunate sequence of events there.”
And then there was Keenum, who after making his first playoff start was asked to describe its end.
Keenum stopped, smiled and said: “I just threw it, man. And he just caught it. And he ran to the end zone.” And as Diggs said, “the rest is history.”