Inside The Vikings

'We Just Need 5 Touchdowns:' How the Vikings Mounted the Largest Comeback Ever

Patrick Peterson told the offense that the defense would do its part, and they had to do the rest.

Will Ragatz

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The Vikings were a bit shell-shocked when they entered the halftime locker room on Saturday. The Colts had come into their building and dominated them in all three phases for two quarters, taking a 33-0 lead into the break. Everything that could've gone wrong had gone wrong. The Colts had a special teams touchdown and a defensive touchdown, in addition to scoring five times on offense.

As the Vikings left the field, boos rained down from the frustrated home crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium — and not for the first time.

"My thoughts weren't great at halftime," Kirk Cousins said. "I just felt like we were losing in a lot of ways, and it wasn't good."

At first, players didn't know what to make of what had just transpired. How was their ten-win team getting blown out this badly, at home, by a four-win Colts team?

"There was some yelling," Cousins said. "There was some frustration."

Quickly, players realized that they had to regroup and look forwards, because there was still another half of football to play. They knew, based on previous games this season — including comeback wins over the Lions, Commanders, and Bills — that they were capable of rallying from a deficit. This was a margin that no team in NFL history had ever come back from, but that wasn't on anyone's mind.

The Vikings have talked all year about how special this team's culture has become under head coach Kevin O'Connell. Halftime on Saturday was one of those moments where that mattered. The team's captains and other veteran leaders began talking to their teammates, making sure they knew this game wasn't over.

"After playing our worst half of football all season long, trying to do everything really in our power to lose the football game, we came back in at halftime and our team had a decision to make," O'Connell said. "I thought our captains, by the time our coaching staff came out to our players to give them the pseudo plan for the second half, guys like Patrick Peterson, Kirk Cousins, Eric Kendricks, Adam Thielen, C.J. Ham, Brian O'Neill, Dalvin Cook — that's who I heard. 

"I heard our leadership telling our guys we’ve been here before. Maybe not that much, maybe not the need for the largest comeback in the history of our league, but this team believes in each other. We just had to try to play good football. Regardless of score, we had to try to play good football, see if we could apply some pressure to our opponent before it was all said and done."

One player in particular had a message that stood out. Peterson is a future Hall of Fame cornerback who, as a 12th-year veteran, has been in the NFL longer than any other Viking. He's seen a lot. Peterson is only in his second season in Minnesota, but he's a captain and one of the most universally respected players on the roster.

So when Peterson went over to some of the team's offensive players at halftime, his words carried weight. He told them to go score five touchdowns in the second half. He said the defense was going to hold the Colts down, so if they could score five touchdowns, they'd win the game.

That's exactly what happened. The Vikings scored five touchdowns in the second half and the defense allowed just a single field goal. That included a 22-0 run in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, where the Vikings ultimately completed the biggest comeback in the history of the league.

"Patrick Peterson, I'll never forget it as long as I live," O'Connell said. "I addressed the team before we went back out there. I overheard him walk over towards the offense (and say): 'We're going to get stops, you just need five touchdowns. That's nothing.' It was a nice little moment for me to lead right in off of. I said, 'Pat, you're exactly right.' That's what we needed at the time."

At first, when Cousins heard Peterson, he thought he was being sarcastic. He thought maybe the veteran corner was joking around to lighten the mood. 

He wasn't.

"When I looked at him, he was serious," Cousins said. "I think his point was, 'We're not going to let them score anymore, so if you can get five touchdowns, that will be good enough.'

In the moment, Cousins still wasn't sure it was possible.

"They were kicking our tails," he said. "It's one thing to say we need five touchdowns. That's difficult to do. It's even more difficult when you've been struggling the way you've been struggling."

But Peterson's message got Cousins and the rest of the offense fired up. Their goal was to go out and take it one play at a time in the second half. Even after a three-and-out to start the third quarter, they didn't lose faith. The defense did what Peterson said it would do and responded with a stop. That's when the Vikings' offense finally got a spark, with Cousins hitting K.J. Osborn for 63 yards and then again, three plays later, for a short touchdown.

One down. Four to go.

"We need five touchdowns to win," Peterson said. "That was my message to the guys. I said we needed five touchdowns to win this ballgame. Defense, we’ve got to go out there, we can’t piss a drop. We gotta go out there and be physical, dominant, be dialed into our details, because that’s what we’re going to need going on from this point."

The Colts responded with a field goal, pushing their lead back to 29 with five minutes left in the third quarter. But the Vikings' offense was just getting started. Fullback C.J. Ham, another of the team's captains, punched in a one-yard run to complete a 75-yard touchdown drive that took less than four minutes.

Two down. Three to go.

When O'Connell addressed his team at halftime, he made it clear that their performance in the first half was unacceptable. He also made it clear that he believed they still had a chance. O'Connell knew that if he believed it, he could get the players to buy in too.

"First and foremost, you've got to believe it yourself," he said. "I think the one thing in this league is, if you're not authentic and real, those 53 guys in there will notice. I've built that up with these guys over a long period of time. They knew, both at halftime and after the game, they know I mean every word I say to them in any moment. Good or bad, I'm going to consistently be me, every single day, because I just don't know any other way. I can trust that I've got the right guys here, the leadership of our football team."

The Vikings' defense — which received plenty of criticism all week after allowing over 400 yards in five consecutive games — went back onto the field, still trailing by 22 points. They forced a three-and-out. On third down, the Colts took a deep shot to rookie receiver Alec Pierce, but Peterson completely shut it down.

The offense got the ball back, and this time, the momentum was starting to swell in their favor. The raucous crowd, which had booed them earlier, was urging them forward. After a sack on first down, Cousins hit Justin Jefferson for 20 yards, with another 15 tacked on because of a Colts penalty. Then he found Jefferson for 17 more yards. And three plays later, Jefferson beat Stephon Gilmore with a filthy route for a touchdown.

Three down. Two to go.

It was that score, which made it 36-21, that really led the Vikings to believe they were going to win the game.

"When we cut it to 15, that's when I felt like this is right there," Cousins said.

The defense came back out and got yet another quick stop. At that point, the crowd was deafening whenever the Colts' offense was on the field. And if you ask Peterson, it was becoming psychological, too.

"I believe those guys started to feel the pressure," he said. "They started feeling us coming, slowly but surely. They just tried to do things not to mess up the game. We understood that, we knew that. We wanted to stop the run, be tight in coverage on the back end, and just try to find a way to come out on top."

That's when the Vikings hit some adversity for the first time in a while. A penalty wiped out a huge Jalen Reagor punt return. Then, one play after Jefferson had to leave the game to be checked for a head injury, Cousins threw a deep ball that was intercepted when Reagor — who didn't see the ball in the air — stopped running.

No matter. The Colts were backed up at their own 2, so the Vikings' defense simply went back out there and got a three-and-out. Set up with good field position, Cousins needed just five plays and 1:36 to go 50 yards, finishing the drive with a touchdown pass to Thielen. 

Four down. One to go.

"Nothing phases us," Peterson said. "Nothing phases us. We showed that in Buffalo, we showed that again here today. We just didn’t have enough time last week (in Detroit), we would’ve done it again last week too, but we didn’t. Just proud of the guys, continuing to lean on one another, continuing to believe and fight."

On the ensuing possession, the Colts' offense managed to convert on a key third down. The Vikings needed someone to step up and make a play. On the very next snap, Za'Darius Smith forced a fumble by Colts RB Deon Jackson. It should've been a touchdown return by Chandon Sullivan, but the officials incorrectly blew the play dead early. The Vikings at least got the ball back, unlike on Sullivan's blown-dead fumble return touchdown in the first half.

"We’ve done it before," Peterson said. "We love it. This is when we’re at our best, when our best is required. When we have to go make plays, when we need a stop, when we need a score, when special teams gotta come up big. The guys just continue to rely on one another, no matter what the circumstances are."

Down eight points, the Vikings' offense stalled out and Cousins was tripped up as he tried to scramble on 4th and 15. Once again, things looked bleak.

The Colts got the ball back and forced the Vikings to burn all of their timeouts. Facing a 4th and 1 from Minnesota's 36, Indianapolis head coach Jeff Saturday could've called for a long field goal attempt to go up by 11. His kicker, Chase McLaughlin, hadn't missed all day and had already hit one from 50-plus. Instead, Saturday chose to go for it to try to end the game. The Colts called a QB sneak with Matt Ryan. 

They didn't get it.

The Vikings' offense came back on the field, and O'Connell immediately dialed up a screen pass to Cook. It was a perfect call in that moment. The play was executed brilliantly, from the blockers out in front to Cook making a couple defenders miss. Heroically, the Vikings' running back found a way into the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown. Cousins hit T.J. Hockenson for a two-point conversion, and just like that, the game was tied.

They had done it. Five touchdowns in one half. But there was more work to do.

The Vikings' defense got yet another stop, their seventh on eight Colts possessions in the half. The offense failed to win it in regulation, so the game went to overtime. The Vikings won the coin toss, but stalled out on the opening possession of OT.

So, one final time, the defense went out and stopped the Colts again.

The Vikings got the ball back with less than two minutes left, and O'Connell knew a tie would be good enough to clinch a division title. But he didn't want to settle for that.

"I wanted to win this football game," he said. "I thought our team earned the right to win the game."

The Vikings started the drive with a run. Then Cousins completed three of his next four passes for 49 yards, moving the ball into field goal range. After a delay of game penalty on the Colts, Greg Joseph stepped up with one second on the clock and drilled the game-winner.

Against all odds, the Vikings had won the game. The biggest comeback in NFL history was complete. They were officially NFC North champs.

"I will never discount this team's ability to overcome and continue to play for each other," O'Connell said. "Sometimes the culture stuff gets challenged in our league, but you don't win a game like that without it."

"We’re just resilient," Peterson said. "A locker room full of guys that believe in one another. Guys that understand what we have in this locker room is very special. We don’t want to waste this moment. We want to continue to cherish this moment, continue to make the best of our opportunities. When you can win in these types of games, these type of moments, no matter what the circumstances are, your confidence level continues to grow."

They needed five touchdowns. They got five touchdowns. In the most improbable fashion, this Vikings team that seems to always find a way did so once again, pulling off an unforgettable comeback that will go down in history.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

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