Tag: Minneapolis Miracle

Minneapolis Miracle duo reunited after Stefon Diggs trade

With the blockbuster Stefon Diggs trade, Diggs is again reunited with his Minneapolis Miracle partner, Case Keenum

ESPN’s Adam Schefter dropped a bombshell this morning, reporting that former Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs had been traded to the Houston Texans.

Buffalo sent a package of Diggs, a 2024 sixth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick for a 2025 second-round pick. Houston had acquired that second-rounder from Minnesota in exchange for the No. 23 overall pick in this draft.

While most will be worried about the synergy that Diggs will have with second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud, what may go overlooked is Diggs’ connection with another quarterback in Houston’s quarterback room.

On Jan. 14, 2018, one of the more improbable finishes ever to a playoff game occurred between the Vikings and the New Orleans Saints. Minnesota quarterback Case Keenum threw a prayer toward the Vikings sideline, hoping Diggs would catch it and get out of bounds.

Instead, two Saints defensive backs ran into each other and left nothing but green grass and purple elation for the Vikings faithful to celebrate “The Minneapolis Miracle” forevermore.

Diggs and Keenum have reunited again in Houston, hoping that the Diggs-Stroud connection can mimic just a sliver of the magic that occurred on that fateful January day.

25 SKOL’s of Christmas: The Minneapolis Miracle

No matter what happens, Vikings fans will always have the joy of the Minneapolis Miracle. Merry Christmas from The Vikings Wire!

Welcome to the 25 SKOL’s of Christmas!

In a similar vein to how Freeform has done the 25 days of Christmas, we will look back at different moments in Vikings history to bring a little extra joy to you this holiday season.

It’s that simple. The holidays can be a trying time for some people and we want to put a smile on people’s faces by reminiscing about some truly joyous times in Vikings’ history.

On the twenty-ffith SKOL of Christmas, the Vikings gave to me: Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs for 61 brilliant yards.

The Vikings have had a lot heartbreak in the playoffs over the years and the 2017 divisional-round matchup against the New Orleans Saints was set to be just that.

In the first half, the Vikings jumped out to a 17-0 lead but slowly squandered it in the second half as the Saints crawled back into it during the second half. They took a 21-20 lead with less than five minutes left and Kai Forbath hit a field goal and Wil Lutz gave the Saints a 24-23 lead with 25 seconds left.

The Vikings had only one timeout left as they got the ball back. On the first play, Keenum hit Diggs for 19 yards to the 39-yard line. Two incompletions back-to-back had everyone worried that heartbreak was coming once again.

The play will forever live in Vikings’ lore: Buffalo Right Seven Heaven. It had Diggs and Jarius Wright running seven routes (aka: corner routes) with the idea being to push the ball down the field and get out of bounds quickly.

They did just that. Diggs caught the ball but Saints safety Marcus Williams mistimed the hit. Diggs kept his balance and scored a walk-off touchdown.

The next week saw the Vikings lose, but the pure joy of this moment will live on forever. Merry Christmas and happy holidays from all of us at Vikings Wire!

Previous SKOL’s of Christmas:

Drafting Randy Moss
Vikings 1997 Wild Card Comeback
Jarius Wright Walks Off the Jets
Jared Allen traded to Vikings
Adrian Peterson Sets Rushing Record
Brett Favre Revenge Tour
Bud Grant Rocks a Polo in Freezing Temperatures
Adrian Peterson Stiff Arms Defender to Oblivion
Anthony Carter Dominates the 1987 Playoffs
Kirk Cousins’ First Major Comeback
Randy Moss Dominates Monday Night Football
Tuesday Night Joe Webb
Randy Moss Laterals to Moe Williams
Miracle At The Met
Cris Carter catches number 1,000
Resurgence of Randall Cunningham
Sam Bradford Opens Up U.S. Bank Stadium
Teddy Bridgewater’s Triumphant Return
Randy Moss on Thanksgiving
Bernard Berrian 99 Yard Touchdown
Jeff George’s Moonshots
Vikings Complete Largest NFL Comeback
Moss Moons Lambeau Field
Adrian Peterson gets 2,097 Yards

After tweeting Super Bowl 51 in full, the NFL should tweet out these 6 Vikings games

After tweeting out the infamous 28-3 game on Tuesday afternoon, these 6 Minnesota Vikings games would be the best ones to share on Twitter

On Tuesday afternoon, the NFL’s official Twitter account randomly tweeted out Super Bowl 51 which was the New England Patriots defeating the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 after being down 28-3.

Verified accounts are now able to tweet out videos up to 120 minutes in length which prompted the tweet. The timing itself was random and drove a lot of discussion about tweeting this game.

That got us thinking: what would be the best Vikings games to share on social media? I identified seven of them.

George Paton still teases Sean Payton about the Minneapolis Miracle

“I still haven’t recovered from the ‘Minneapolis Miracle.’ That’s the one trump card [he has],” Sean Payton said of GM George Paton 😅

As the Denver Broncos move forward with new leadership, general manager George Paton will be working alongside head coach Sean Payton in a “collaborative” partnership in the team’s front office.

By all accounts, that partnership is off to a good start, even if Paton has mentioned the “Minneapolis Miracle” a time or two.

“I still haven’t recovered from the ‘Minneapolis Miracle,’” Payton said at the combine on Feb. 28. “That’s the one trump card [he has]. He brought up something the other day and they were just talking like, ‘Oh, do you remember when this happened?’ And I’m like, ‘You’re not talking about that right now, are you?’’’

Payton was serving as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints and Paton was serving as assistant GM and vice president of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings for that crazy playoff game five years ago.

Paton might tease Payton about that play, but they’re on good terms.

“I’ve really enjoyed working side-by-side with Sean,” Paton said at the combine. “I thought we’ve had good chemistry together — a lot of collaboration. Since we made the trade, we’ve been off and running. Sean has put this staff together. We’ve been in draft meetings and free agent prep. [We’ve] had a lot going on in a short time, but I think we’ve accomplished a lot. … He’s been methodical throughout the process — his attention to detail. He had a vision for what he’s looking for. I felt [that] he hired a really good staff.”

Right now, Paton and Payton are busy preparing for NFL free agency, which is set to begin next week. If all goes well this offseason, Paton and Payton could soon begin creating playoff memories on the same team.

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Happy Aniversary! The Minneapolis Miracle happened 5 years ago today

Five years ago today, the Vikings celebrated the Minneapolis Miracle

Great moments don’t always happen for the Minnesota Vikings, but when they do, they hit in a big way. Five years ago today, the Vikings gave us arguably the most memorable moment of all: the Minneapolis Miracle.

Throughout the 2022 season, we’ve seen many memorable moments from the Minnesota Vikings. Whether it’s the greatest comeback in NFL history in Week 15 against the Indianapolis Colts or the amazing catch from wide receiver Justin Jefferson in Week 10 against the Buffalo Bills, these moments are what make rooting for your favorite team memorable and provide stories to share for generations to come.

After leading 17-0 at halftime over the New Orleans Saints in the NFL Divisional round, the Vikings found themselves trailing with 10 seconds remaining and needing a miracle. Boy, did they deliver. Quarterback Case Keenum dropped back to pass and hit wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who just narrowly stayed in bounds and ran to the end zone for the game-winning touchdown in the most dramatic finish in playoff history.

“Pass is caught! Diggs! Sideline! Touchdown! Unbelieveable! Vikings win it!”

Ask any fan where they were or how they celebrated the events after this dramatic finish, and the answers will all be full of joy and disbelief. It’s a moment we, as Vikings fans, will continue to celebrate every year.

Christian Darrisaw wants Vikings fans to be loud Sunday vs. Giants

Darrisaw heard the trash talk from the Giants

On Monday, New York Giants offensive lineman Nick Gates called out Minnesota Vikings fans, saying that he thought U.S. Bank Stadium “would be a lot louder” when the Giants visited on Christmas Eve. On Sunday, the Vikings are set to take on the Giants in the Wild Card and left tackle Christain Darrisaw wants to ensure that the fans aren’t questioned again by opposing teams.

On Thursday, Darrisaw went to Twitter and asked for the fans’ help in making U.S. Bank Stadium as loud as possible this Sunday.

“Vikings fans, I’m going to need you to have US Bank Stadium LOUD on Sunday. I don’t wanna see anyone sitting down.”

Sunday will be the second playoff game hosted by the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. The last home playoff game the Vikings hosted was the infamous Minneapolis Miracle against the New Orleans Saints in January of 2018. If we use that game as a barometer for how loud U.S. Bank Stadium can get, then the Giants and Nick Gates may regret calling out Vikings fans for how “quiet” they were.

Until then, the ball is in the Vikings’ fans’ court. It’s on us to make U.S. Bank Stadium the loudest it can be on Sunday in an effort to help our favorite team.

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Colin Cowherd credits Kirk Cousins for the Minneapolis Miracle

Not the greatest look for the Fox Sports personality

The Minneapolis Miracle is not only the biggest play in the history of the Minnesota Vikings, it’s one of the best plays in NFL history.

After the Vikings blew a 17-0 lead over the New Orleans Saints in the 2017 divisional playoffs, Case Keenum threw a beautiful deep corner route to Stefon Diggs on the final play of the game, and Diggs took it for a 61-yard touchdown.

Until that point, the Vikings hadn’t had anything like that happen to them. The Minneapolis Miracle felt like a turning point for the franchise. It didn’t end up that way, as the Vikings lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship game. That loss was one of the many reasons that the Vikings signed Kirk Cousins the following offseason.

On “The Herd” Thursday morning, Colin Cowherd talked about Russell Wilson and relating the hate for him to Tim Tebow being called corny after his failures and Cousins after he threw the Minneapolis Miracle.

Talk about a mistake from Cowherd.

B/R lists Marcus Williams’ botched defense on the Minneapolis Miracle as one of decade’s worst NFL Plays

Bleacher Report ranked the worst plays of the decade in the NFL, and Marcus Williams’ defense on the Minneapolis Miracle cracked the list.

What is considered by many Vikings fans as one of the best plays the franchise has had in recent memory, is also looked at as one of the worst from the Saints’ perspective.

Bleacher Report recently compiled a list of the 10 worst plays in the NFL this past decade. The outlet put Marcus Williams’ missed tackle on the Minneapolis Miracle as one of the worst plays of the decade.

Here’s what it said about the sequence of events that led to the Vikings moving onto the NFC Championship game:

With the Saints trying to protect a one-point lead, Diggs caught Keenum’s pass at the New Orleans 35-yard line with five seconds remaining. With the Vikes out of timeouts and Williams over the top, all the rookie had to do was position himself to tackle Diggs when he came down off-balance after high-pointing the ball.

But Williams over-committed, missed Diggs entirely and took out teammate Ken Crawley, who might have had a chance to catch Diggs for a game-saving tackle.

The rest is the good kind of history if you’re a Vikings fan and the bad kind if you’re a Saints supporter.

Williams has looked good at safety throughout his NFL career, so hopefully he’ll do something so positive that many people forget he was on the wrong side of the Minneapolis Miracle. Vikings fans will have trouble forgetting, though.

Remember when Sean Payton tried to troll Vikings’ fans and it backfired?

With about 10 seconds left, Saints coach Sean Payton did something he probably not regrets.

With the Vikings set to play the Saints in the wild card round of the playoffs, naturally, we go back to the last time these two teams played in the postseason.

That was back on Jan. 14, 2018 at U.S. Bank Stadium in the NFC Divisional Round.

The Vikings trailed 24-23 after Wil Lutz drilled a 43-yard field goal with just 25 seconds left in the game.

With about 10 seconds left, the game appeared to be over barring some sort of, I don’t know, miracle.

Saints coach Sean Payton did something he probably now regrets (or maybe he doesn’t, who knows?). He gave Vikings fans some of their own medicine, doing the ‘Skol’ chant to the crowd.

About that . . . 

The next play was a little thing we call the Minneapolis Miracle in which Case Keenum connected with Stefon Diggs for a game-winning 61-yard touchdown to send the Vikings to the NFC Championship game.

Payton didn’t go into that game as a popular guy among the Vikings’ faithful considering he was the coach of the Saints when the Bountygate scandal occurred back in the 2009 NFC Championship game.

The Saints are big favorites and the game will be in New Orleans. But if the Vikings can pull off the upset, expect some Vikings fans to direct their Skol chant in Payton’s direction, even if he won’t be able to see it.