The Vikings Narrowly Avoided the Largest Regular Season Collapse in NFL History

Nothing can be easy for the Vikings this season. They turned a 29-0 lead into a last-second thriller.

For much of Thursday night's victory over the Steelers, it appeared the Vikings were finally going to play a game devoid of any heart-stopping, last-second drama. They hadn't been in a game decided by more than eight points since Week 3 — a whopping nine of their first 12 contests were decided on the final play — but a 29-0 lead late in the third quarter seemed like enough cushion to expect a rare stress-free finish. It wasn't just the score, it was the way the Vikings were imposing their will on both sides of the ball, at one point outgaining the Steelers 300 yards to 49.

And then, suddenly, things were right back to normal for Minnesota. The Steelers ripped off a 20-0 run in just five minutes of game time, aided by a Kirk Cousins interception and a quick three-and-out. Everyone wearing purple inside U.S. Bank Stadium or watching at home had the same thought creep into their mind: "is this really happening again?"

Mike Zimmer, for one, was thinking "here we go again" as he watched his team completely reverse course from what was a dominant first 40 minutes of football. A Steelers offense that had nothing going on its first eight possessions had just ripped off three straight touchdowns. The Pittsburgh defense, after looking borderline incompetent in the first half, was making plays and getting stops.

Even a 62-yard Cousins touchdown pass to K.J. Osborn only stemmed the tide momentarily. Another interception led to a Steelers touchdown that made it 36-28, and wouldn't you know it, the game wound up coming down to the very final play once again. Luckily for the Vikings, Harrison Smith punched the ball out of Pat Freiermuth's hands on what would've been a potential game-tying touchdown as time expired, pending a two-point conversion.

They survived.

"Another fun night," Zimmer joked. "You know, that team that played in the first half for us was pretty darn good and I think could probably beat anybody. That team that played in the second half probably could get beat by anybody."

It's a good thing for the Vikings' sake that they found a way to get it done in the end. Not only does it keep their playoff hopes alive heading into the final four games of the year, it kept them from suffering a truly embarrassing defeat for a second straight week.

Last week, the Vikings earned the ignominious distinction of becoming the first team to lose to the 2021 Detroit Lions, who entered that matchup 0-10-1 but used a late two-minute drive and a last-second touchdown pass to pull off the upset. Had they lost this one, it would've been the biggest collapse in NFL history. No team has ever blown a 29-point lead in the regular season.

Tonight marked the 1,616th time in history that an NFL team fell behind by 29+ points in a regular-season game (none came back to win).

The @steelers are the only one out of the 1,616 that had the ball on offense with a chance to tie or win on the game's final play.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) December 10, 2021

Had the Steelers completed it, this would've been the second-biggest comeback in league history, trailing only the Bills' famous rally from a 32-point deficit against the Oilers in the 1992 playoffs.

"We kept the TV ratings up," Zimmer said. "Every week now we do it."

It's difficult to figure out why every single game this Vikings team plays must come down to the wire. They've had a six-point lead in all 13 of their games this year, but they have just a 6-7 record to show for it and have only won once by multiple scores. Earlier this season, they seemed to get too conservative on offense late in games. The defense has struggled mightily at times while dealing with plenty of injuries. There have been killer penalties, questionable coaching decisions, ill-timed turnovers, and all sorts of reasons why these games are all kinds of stressful.

There wasn't one particular thing in this game, either.

"They just seemed to make those one-on-one catches late in the game," Anthony Barr said. "And a couple of turnovers on our offense kind of sparked them. I don't think we did anything all that different, they just kind of made their plays. It is frustrating having to come down to the last second, it's taken a few years of my life this season, but it's good to be on this side of a close one."

As the 29-point advantage was rapidly fading away in the second half, it was hard not to wonder if the psychological effect of having given up so many leads was playing a role. Or, for lack of any other logical reasoning, if there was some sort of magical or divine element involved. It just doesn't make much sense that a team could go from complete domination to an utter meltdown in such a short period of time.

"We can’t make it easy for whatever reason," Barr said. "It should probably never have gotten to that point, but it does feel good to kind of redeem ourselves after last week."

If the Vikings are going to keep this momentum going and make a run to the playoffs — which may require a 3-1 finish to the year — it would be in their best interest to find a way to build a lead or two and hold onto it. They can't keep playing with fire like this. 

The Vikings got out safely this time and avoided choking in historic fashion, but as we saw four days earlier against the Lions, it doesn't always end well.

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