Joseph's 61-yard kick is a winner

Greg Joseph kicked a career-long 61-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Minnesota Vikings a 27-24 victory that prevented the New York Giants from clinching a playoff spot on Saturday.

T.J. Hockenson had a career-high 13 catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns from Kirk Cousins, who threw for a third score to Justin Jefferson with 3 minutes to go that was set up by a blocked punt and gave the Vikings (12-3) an eight-point lead.

Saquon Barkley's 27-yard rush right up the middle on fourth-and-2 for the Giants (8-6-1) with 2:01 left and the ensuing 2-point conversion pass from Daniel Jones to Daniel Bellinger tied it up.

But despite a 7-yard sack by safety Landon Collins at the Minnesota 41 that forced the Vikings to burn their final timeout with 19 seconds on the clock, Cousins found Jefferson for yet another clutch third-down completion on a bubble screen. And the NFL's leading receiver had room to take it all the way before being tripped after a 17-yard gain.

Cousins spiked the ball, and on came Joseph for the on-target kick that had plenty of distance to spare to send the Vikings into a familiar sideline frenzy after yet another tense victory.

The Giants got the help they needed with losses by NFC pursuers Detroit and Seattle, but they didn't seal the deal with the win to complete the equation of securing a wild-card spot.

Jones had 334 yards and a touchdown to Isaiah Hodgins on 30-for-42 passing, but his teammates — on offense and defense — had trouble hanging onto the ball.