Minnesota Vikings (8-3)
Wow!
The Minnesota Vikings managed to clinch the NFC North in very dramatic fashion yesterday, overcoming a 33-0 halftime deficit to the Indianapolis Colts to pull off what now qualifies as the greatest comeback in NFL history. It eclipsed the very memorable 32-point deficit that the Buffalo Bills faced, when they ultimately defeated the then Houston Oilers after falling behind 35-3 early in the third quarter, although that remains the greatest comeback in NFL playoff history now.
Really, almost like that Bills-Oilers game back in January of 1993, this was a story of two very different halves. Obviously, the Colts dominated the first half, blanking the Vikings to take that whopping 33-0 halftime lead. At that point, it seemed like Indianapolis could do no wrong. Then in the second half, it was Minnesota who seemed to do everything right, and the Colts who could seemingly get nothing going, nothing done.
Still, it was not decided by the end of regulation. In fact, it went late into overtime, and looked for a while like it might end in a tie.
Ultimately, the Vikings pulled it off with a game-winning 40-yard field goal off the foot of Minnesota placekicker Greg Joseph to earn the division clinching win. It is the first division title for the Vikings since the 2017 season, and allows them to stay ahead of the 49ers for the second seed in the NFC, at least for now. Both teams have three games remaining on their schedule, so it still has not yet been decided which of those two teams will earn that second seed. It seems likely that neither of those two teams will catch the red hot Philadelphia Eagles, who currently sport a league best 12-1 record.
The Vikings improve to 11-3. They will next host the Giants, before going on the road against two division rivals, at Green Bay and then at Chicago, to close out their season.
As for the Colts, they now fall to 4-9-1. This loss was their fourth straight and, fittingly, it clinches a losing record for the team this season. It also pretty much all but officially knocks them out of the playoff race this season.
Ironically, there are some interesting links to other previous historic comeback gams on this Colts team. New head coach Jeff Saturday replaced Frank Reich after Reich was fired as head coach in November. As you may remember, Reich was the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills in the previous greatest comeback in NFL history. Additionally, Colts quarterback Matt Ryan was at the helm during Super Bowl LI, when his team, the Atlanta Falcons, raced out to a commanding 28-3 lead over the New England Patriots in the third quarter, before ultimately collapsing and suffering a stunning defeat that qualifies now as the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. For better or for worse, Ryan is now linked to epic NFL collapses of a historic level, as he was at the helm for the losing team in the greatest collapse in Super Bowl history, and now the greatest collapse in NFL history. I kind of feel bad for the guy, because he truly is an elite quarterback, but that is a dubious distinction.
Just think about how rare this is. Here is how it was put in an article on CNN about this historical achievement (se link below to see the article):
Entering Sunday, teams with a 30+ point lead had an 1548-1-1 record since 1930.
So to put it another way, teams who had fallen behind by 30+ points entering yesterday's memorable contest between the Vikings and Colts had a total record of 1-1548-1.
Well, now you can make that 2-1548-1.
Again, wow! Just, wow!
Minnesota Vikings rally from 33-point deficit to complete largest comeback in NFL history Homero De la Fuente By Homero De la Fuente and Zoe Sottile, CNN Published 6:04 PM EST, Sat December 17, 2022:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/17/football/nfl-minnesota-vikings-comeback-spt-trnd/index.html
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