Waking up this morning the number one talkers in the state of Minnesota are sure to include some sort of combination of "Calrson" and/or "Treadwell". It's going to be about 90% of the water cooler discussion today and rightfully so. Those two guys combined, to varying degrees, almost single handedly cost the team a win.
No surprise, both names are still a day later trending on Twitter.
But let's not let that be the only thing that we take away from yesterday's game. Yeah there were moments that sucked. Yes tying is like kissing your sister and when your "sister" is the Green Bay Packers it somehow makes it even worse.
Still, buried beneath #7 and #11 on the field was the fact that yesterday's game was *almost* one of the best games in Vikings history. Even with the tie, it should still be up there.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Vikings found themselves down 20-7 on the road in one of the toughest environments in the NFL. What was about to go down in the fourth quarter was amazing!
Right off the bat, Cousins would find Stefon Diggs on a nifty little "zipp-zapp" motion play in which Diggs got himself open before the ball was even hiked and in play. The touchdown would get the Vikings back within one score of Green Bay at 20-14.
Then Crosby hit another FG, 23-14.
But the Vikings were right back at it, and I mean RIGHT BACK at it. On the first play following the Green Bay field goal, the Vikings went deep to Stefon Diggs and Cousins hit him in stride, then Diggs did the rest for a 75-yard touchdown pass that got the Vikings within two-points now of the Packers.
Then Crosby hit another FG, 26-21.
While we're at it, good on the defense by the way for holding the Packers out of the endzone but for one time on the day. Had any Crosby's five field goals been a touchdown, this game would have ended in a loss.
Let's continue.
But the Vikings got the ball back again. Down by five they'd need a touchdown and they had 2:13 to do it. That's when Kirk Cousins put his trust in Laquon Treadwell, maybe for one of the final times. The hard first down pass tipped right through Treadwell's hands and into the mitts of Haha Clinton-Dix for what seemed to be a game sealing interception.
For some inexplicable reason, the Packers opted to pass on two of the final four offensive plays and gave the Vikings what would turn into extra time outs. That drive would stall.
Then Crosby hit another FG, 29-21.
The Vikings had one final shot to get a touchdown and then a two-point conversion just to tie the game and they'd only have 1:45 to go 75-yards. Disaster almost struck on first down when Cousins went deep to Stacy Coley on a poor throw that was again intercepted. BUT WAIT, there was a flag! For the second week in a row, Clay Matthews would get tagged for a roughing the passer penalty, this one which was pretty questionable but it gave the Vikings new life and Cousins made the best of it.
Learning his lesson on the previous drives/plays, Cousins turned his attention to the targets that he knows he can trust, Thielen/Diggs/Rudolph. After moving the ball down to the 22-yard line, he went back to that well again and threw a perfect pass between two defenders that only someone like Adam could catch. And he did, for the touchdown to bring the Vikings within 2-points of a tie.
Then it was all Stefon Diggs. They got him an isolation on the far side of the field and Cousins threw another ball that ONLY his guy could catch to convert the two-point conversion and tie the game at 29-29.
Cousins would go on to do the same stuff in the overtime session setting up his kicker twice, both of which he missed and the game ended in the tie.
Smooch.
The ending sucked, but man was it a fun game. Let's not forget that in the hubbub of everything today.