The Minnesota Vikings fell to the Denver Broncos in Week 11 on Sunday Night Football by a final score of 20-21.
The Minnesota Vikings took the stage on Sunday Night Football to take on the Denver Broncos in a game that saw two teams on unexpected winning streaks hoping to keep their momentum going this season.
Despite running the ball well against a struggling Broncos defense, the Vikings made mistakes that kept them from being in control of the game. Turnovers hurt the team but the resilient Minnesota defense limited the Denver scoring output.
For the most part, Vikings quarterback Josh Dobbs did a great job of extending plays while a few gambles paid off for Minnesota on fourth down. The game came down to the final moments as a Minnesota field goal gave the Vikings a five-point lead with 3:17 left in the game.
Denver kept their last drive alive into the two-minute warning and continued to chip their way down the field with short passes to the running back. Needing a touchdown, the Broncos were patient in their attack on the Vikings defense.
Russell Wilson connected with Courtland Sutton in the end zone but the Broncos were unable to complete the two-point conversion, giving the Broncos a one-point lead with 1:03 left in regulation on Sunday Night Football.
How did the Minnesota Vikings respond?
Having all three of their time-outs left and a little over a minute to work with, the Vikings started their drive. Minnesota converted a fourth-and-short with 41 seconds to go and kept looking to get into field goal range.
An intentional grounding penalty on third down put the Vikings in a position where they were forced to use their final time-out to avoid a clock run-off. The fourth-and-25 pass attempt fell incomplete and the Broncos ended the Minnesota five-game winning streak with a 20-21 loss.
The Minnesota Vikings will return to prime time in Week 12 when they face off against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. The team moved to a 6-5 record on the season but are still in the NFC playoff picture.