Historic comeback by Vikes
With the Vikings gathered in their humbled locker room at halftime in a huge hole, cornerback Patrick Peterson set the tone for an historic escape by promising his offensive teammates the defense would do its part to hold the Colts.
“You just need five touchdowns,” Peterson told them. “That’s nothing.”
This rally sure was something, though. The Vikings completed the biggest comeback in NFL history, erasing a 33-point deficit by beating the Colts 39-36 on Greg Joseph’s 40yard field goal with three seconds left in overtime Saturday in Minneapolis to win the NFC North division in their typical dramatic fashion.
Kirk Cousins passed for 460 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Vikings (11-3), who trailed 36-7 late in the third quarter and became just the third team in league history to win 10 games in a season by eight points or fewer.
“We’re going to grind it out until they tell us there’s no more ball left to play,” coach Kevin O’Connell said.
The Colts (4-9-1) landed on the infamous side of this list, just ahead of the Oilers in the 1992 postseason. They blew a 32-point lead (35-3) and lost to the Bills (41-38) in overtime.
“When you have chances to put people away, we’ve got to do a better job than we’ve done up until this point,” quarterback Matt Ryan said.
According to Sportradar data, the Vikings became only the second team in 1,551 regularseason or playoff games since 1930 that a team trailed by 30 or more points in and still won.
“Nothing fazes us. We showed that in Buffalo,” said Peterson, who aided a 33-30 overtime victory over the Bills on Nov. 13 after a 17-point deficit. “We showed that again today.”
The Vikings took this rally all the way to their second possession of overtime. Cousins hit K.J. Osborn — who caught the first score and had a career-high 157 yards — for 15 yards. He found Adam Thielen — who had the second of three fourth-quarter touchdown passes — for 21 yards. Then he threw to Justin Jefferson for 13 yards to move into range.
Ifeadi Odenigbo was called for delay of game for lying on Jefferson to try to keep the Vikings from setting up for the kick, putting Joseph five yards closer for the winner.
“It’s a special group, a lot of fighters,” Thielen said.
Colts interim coach Jeff Saturday didn’t exactly get conservative in this collapse. Ryan was stopped short on a fourth-andone sneak at the Vikings’ 36 with 2:19 left in regulation. Then Cousins hit Dalvin Cook for a 64-yard touchdown on a screen pass on the next play and T.J. Hockenson for the twopoint conversion to tie the game before the two-minute warning.
Bills 32, Dolphins 29
Tyler Bass kicked a 25-yard field goal as time expired, and host Buffalo (11-3) clinched its fourth consecutive playoff berth on a snow-slick field in rallying over Miami (8-6).
The Bills overcame a 29-21 deficit by scoring on their final two drives. Josh Allen connected on a five-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Knox and the quarterback then leaped over the line for a two-point conversion to tie the game at 29 with 9:02 left.
Allen then oversaw a 15-play, 86-yard drive that ate up the final 5:56 to set up Bass’ field goal. Allen threw four touchdown passes to increase his career total to 171 (including one receiving), and tie former Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino for the most by an NFL player in the first five seasons of his career.
Browns 13, Ravens 3
Deshaun Watson threw a touchdown pass in his home debut, leading host Cleveland (6-8) to an ugly victory over AFC North-leading Baltimore (9-5), which needs injured star quarterback Lamar Jackson to get back quickly.
Watson wasn’t spectacular, but he did enough in his third game since being reinstated from an NFL suspension to help the Browns keep their miniscule playoff hopes alive.