SEASON SAVER

Vikings 24
Packahs 17

Games don't get a whole lot more life or death in the regular season than this. The disparity in what the Vikings season would be depending on a win or a loss was gargantuan. A win and the path to the playoffs remains very clear(and a shot at the division is still at least there). A loss damn near kills the season, plus you breathe all sorts of new life into the Packahs.

So this game, this win, is one of the most satisfying and relieving wins of recent years. They saved their season, all but killed the Packers, and nuked those annoying primetime game narratives.

It sure looked bleak early. The offense came out sloppy and stupid. Our run game got gashed. Rhodes had a bad penalty. And the Packahs were in the endzone. It looked like Chicago all over again.

But then the offense got hot. The next 2 drives were simply splendid. We got explosive passes downfield, including another one of those insane Thielen grabs. I couldn't believe we ran that amazing Dalvin Cook screen pass. An actual RB screen! And that Kirk TD to Diggs was just beautiful! It was looking like a shootout, cause in between our 2 TDs we gave another one to Rodgers, and with a hot Kirk it looked like we could WIN a shootout.

But that shootout never came. In fact, the Packers didn't score again until that late field goal. The defense caught a couple lucky breaks, but after those back to back touchdowns this defense rose up and played great. They got pressure on Cris Collinsworth's boyfriend. They stuffed the run on back to back plays to get a turnover on downs which led to the go ahead FG. The only thing they really did wrong in the 2nd half was let the Packers score BEFORE the 2 minute warning, which made the ending more tense than necessary.(I almost had a stroke on that final pass to Diggs).

After that 14-14 burst the Vikings offense didn't do a lot as far as points(thanks in part to Dan Walsh, er, Blair Bailey), but they controlled the game. They missed the 3 before halftime, but at least they kept the ball there and managed the clock well. They took advantage of the 2 short fields in the 3rd quarter after the 4th down stuff and the nifty Sherels return to put up 10 points. That Thielen TD had me ridiculously excited. You HAD to get that 2 score lead. And then, shades of the Gophers, the Vikings finally put together one of those nice long time consuming drives that ate up almost half the 4th quarter. It got them no points, but it shortened the game. They've failed all season to really do this until tonight.

I'm especially happy for Kirk Cousins. He has had to take so much bullshit from not just the media, but this dickish fanbase, especially since last week. We had to hear relentlessly about his record in primetime, how he is not living up to his contract, all this shit. And Kirk BALLED OUT tonight. 29/38/342/3. Those are big time numbers in a big time spot. These are the games he is here to win. He made amazing throws. He ran a little bit. He ran to set up throws, like the Thielen TD. He played amazing, and he deserves all the credit for getting it done.

Now, that being said, he needs to be just as good the next 2 weeks. And these next 2 weeks are daunting. Seattle is surging. The Patriots are naturally back in bye week position. If we win either game I cannot fathom how we don't make the playoffs, with the Dolphins, Lions, and a Bears team that may or may not even be playing anybody by that point left on the schedule. There is still work to be done, for sure, but we are back in a great spot to get in the dance.