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Was Diggs' TD against the Saints the greatest game-winning play in Minnesota sports history?

Keenum to Diggs is up there – but we can think of two other contenders.

Shaymus McLaughlin

The Vikings' last-second touchdown to beat the Saints immediately became one of the signature game-winning plays in Minnesota sports history.

In the midst of choking the game away, Case Keenum and Stefon Diggs managed to pull out a miracle in front of Vikings fans – allowing the crowd to go crazy as the Saints walked off the field stunned.

Was it the greatest game-winning play in Minnesota sports history? It might be.

We can think of two other serious contenders for that title: Kirby Puckett and Andrew Brunette.

What we're looking for is the most impressive combination of pressure-filled stakes, improbability of the situation, and the high degree of skill needed to pull it off.

Here's a look at our contenders, with the arguments for and against each.

Diggs' TD vs. the Saints (aka 'The Minneapolis Miracle')

Arguments for:

  • Carried the weight of 50-plus years of heartbreak.
  • The team needed 11 players doing their jobs to make it happen.
  • The leaping catch, avoiding the hit, and not falling down – impressive athleticism.
  • The situation was dire: 25 seconds, one timeout, starting from the 20-yard line after a penalty, and with no Vikes TDs up to that point in the second half.

Against:

  • Needed some luck – Saints played it poorly.
  • It was only a Divisional Round playoff game, so stakes could be higher.

Kirby Puckett's Game 6 World Series home run

For: 

  • 1991 World Series, game 6, is just about the biggest possible stage.
  • Tied 3-3, in the 11th inning, and with Minnesota down 3-2 to Atlanta in the series ... that is some pressure
  • The play is entirely on Puckett and Puckett alone.
  • He'd already made an iconic leaping catch earlier in the game. 

Against: 

Andrew Brunette's game 7 goal vs. Avalanche

For:

  • The goal came in Colorado in overtime (after playing an OT game the night before) and during game 7 of a series the Wild had trailed 3-1.
  • This was a true upset, with the 6-seed Wild topping the 3-seed Avs.
  • Brunette's patience was a thing of beauty – and his goal was the final play of Patrick Roy's Hall of Fame NHL career.

Against:

  • This was only the first round of the playoffs, so lower stakes.
  • The Wild, as a franchise, were brand new – they had no history to overcome.
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Shaymus McLaughlin
SHAYMUS MCLAUGHLIN

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