The Minnesota Vikings clinched the NFC North on Saturday after pulling off a miraculous comeback victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
For the first time since 2017, the Minnesota Vikings are the champions of the NFC North after they managed to stage a 33-point comeback on Saturday to defeat the Indianapolis Colts in overtime by a final score of 39-36.
According to ESPN analytics, the Colts had a 99.6 percent chance to win the game when they led the Vikings 36-7 with 3:19 left in the third quarter. But instead of giving up, Minnesota went on to score 32 straight points and leave U.S. Bank Stadium with an improbable victory.
With the win, the Vikings‘ record improves to 11-3 and they still have a one-game lead over the San Francisco 49ers for the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
Minnesota Vikings are back in the playoffs after their miraculous Week 15 win over the Indianapolis Colts
After the first half of Saturday’s game, Minnesota trailed 33-0, and their fans were fuming. However, the Vikings and head coach Kevin O’Connell kept their cool, and they wound up staging the largest comeback in a regular-season game in NFL history.
Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins came up huge for his team again on Saturday, as he has multiple times this season. Cousins set a new single-game career-high with 460 passing yards in the win over the Colts to go along with four touchdown passes, which all came in the second half.
Justin Jefferson and K.J. Osborn benefited the most from Cousins’ big day. Osborn led the Vikings in receiving on Saturday with 12 catches for 157 yards and one touchdown, while Jefferson pitched in with 12 receptions for 123 yards and a score of his own.
Even though many were pointing fingers at Minnesota’s defense in the first half, the unit played a big role in the team being able to stage a comeback in the last two quarters of the matchup, as Indianapolis only scored three points in the second half and overtime.
Under O’Connell this season, this Vikings team has shown, time and time again, that they’re never going to give up regardless of their deficit. With Saturday’s win, Minnesota now gets to take this never-give-up mentality into the playoffs.