It Was The Worst of Times, It Was The Best of Times

Vikings 27

Broncos 23

Did that seriously happen? 

By halftime today I had already so fully accepted the loss, that the Vikings had gone into their bye with an absolute turkey of a loss, that the reality that instead they head into the bye having pulled off their biggest comeback win in nearly 30 years still feels like a dream.

I cannot believe what I saw. I mean, this team was DONE. The first half they were absolutely catatonic, incompetent, you name it. The defense was being humiliated by something called Brandon Allen, who was dropping dimes all over our decayed secondary. Even their wide receiver pass clowned us. Our offense was basically a spectator. They were never on the field, and when they were they couldn't do anything. Cook was stuffed. OL wasn't blocking. Cousins was a mess. I saw a million comments referencing that Buffalo game last year, but this was worse. This wasn't a bunch of weird plays happening. This was complete and utter domination on all sides. 

When Amir Abdullah fumbled the kickoff at 20-0, and Denver recovered, I no longer felt anything. I laughed. At that point the game had sunk into black comedy, but little did we know that the biggest comeback in decades was about to get its first swing play.

When Andrew Sendejo picked off Allen right after the fumble, I thought nothing of it. Figured it was just shaving a few points off an already determined blowout loss. We weren't even done with the incompetence, as the Vikings got near midfield, then Cousins spun into.a sack, then we called a timeout just so we could throw a little 5 yard out and then punt. The boos rained down, and they were warranted. It was as bad a half of football as we have seen in the Zimmer era.

But that Sendejo pick kept it 20-0 instead of 23-0 or 27-0.

Nothing was really registering in my brain as the 2nd half got going. Yeah we went down and finally scored. We had to convert a 4th and 1 in our own end. A deep ball to Diggs got us close. Then Kirk found Irv Smith for the score. But again, it wasn't like I felt juiced. It was just relief that the shutout was averted.

I knew it meant nothing if the defense didn't figure it out, and the next drive didn't help matters. We somehow got in the neutral zone on a punt, which gave Denver a first down. Then Mike Hughes got beat badly for a long pass. Denver only got 3 on the drive, but to lose another 5 minutes of game time and give up points felt like whatever momentum we had scrounged up was gone.

But where the defense still let us down, the offense was just getting started. This touchdown drive had 2 do or die plays. Another 4th down conversion in our own end. Then a huge 20 yard pass to Tyler Conklin on a 3rd and long right after a sack. This drive had a lot of dink and dunk stuff, but it worked. Cook took a sweep into the endzone and it was 23-13 after.a failed 2.

Finally the defense contributed, with a 3 and out.

Another swing play incoming. Mike Hughes muffed the punt, but Eric Wilson jumped on the ball in time. Comeback was over if Denver gets that ball. Instead, just a few plays.later Kirk bombed a beautiful deep ball to Diggs for the touchdown. The crowd exploded, since like me they finally believed this could really happen.

Defense however still wasn't done getting burned. Allen threw a 40 yard bomb on us to immediately put Denver in field goal range. They moved no further, but they were assured the 3, cause when does an opposing kicker ever miss a kick against us that matters?

Today. Brandon McManus pushed the kick wide right. Seriously, opposing kickers never miss kicks against us, and this guy is one of the best in the NFL, and he misses.

There was blood in the water now. Nothing was stopping the revived Greatest Skol on Turf. We finally hit on a Dalvin screen, then a couple plays later we got Kirk out on such a perfect bootleg he had a whole half of the field at his mercy. It was a simple loft to Rudolph, who trotted into the endzone, and a game that was a death march an hour earlier was now being led by the Vikings.

All we needed was one more stop by the defense. Yeah, but we weren't getting that. It didn't help we gave up a decent kick return, but it seemed destined to end how it did anyway. This drive was a slowly dawning nightmare. A 14 yard pass on 3rd and 13. 3 separate 4th down converisons, the last of which had Denver inside the 5. We were seriously going to make this big comeback, have all these chances on defense to end the game, only to not only give up this touchdown, but also have let Denver burn all the time off.

But a defense that has so often lived by the "bend but don't break" credo had one last chance. Denver had 3 cracks to score. The first 2 were good breakups. But now with just 2 seconds left, you couldn't script a more crushing scenario to lose. 

BUT WE DIDN'T LOSE! 

Allen's last gasp pass went wide! After quickly scanning for flags and seeing none, it was over! The Vikings had turned a terrible blowout loss into an exhilarating comeback win!

And it never could have happened without all those big swing plays:

-Sendejo's pick

-the 2 4th and 1 conversions

-the Conklin play

-the muffed punt recovery

-the McManus missed field goal

-tackling Allen inbounds on that last run

That's why big comebacks are so hard to pull off. You need so many things to go just right, and if even one goes the other way, you lose.

This is 3 straight games now that have literally come down to the very last play. We could have gone 3-0. We also could have done 0-3. Denver has had a whole season of this themselves. They came in 3-6 but could be 6-3. These games take years off your life, but it's all worth it with that win. 

I do not want to hear any more negative bullshit directed at Kirk Cousins. He has played better games against better teams this year, but this is his standout performance. Denver is a mediocre team, but they have one of the best defenses in the NFL, led by the guy whose scheme crushed Cousins and our playoff hopes in week 17 last year. And Kirk put up 3 touchdowns on like 250 yards, and was 4 for 4 on leading touchdown drives, with no running game, and an OL getting clowned....in one half of football. This was "You Like That" part 2. Major credit to Kevin Stefanski too for making real noticeable adjustments.

My blood pressure welcomes the bye week. The team needs it too. We need to get Thielen back. We had a couple injuries today. In general we need a breather, especially after theae.last 3 games. This is why I like the late bye. In October you aren't gassed like you are now.

And we all get 2 full weeks to bask in the afterglow of one of the most exciting wins of recent vintage.