For roughly 30 minutes of game time, it appeared the Buffalo Bills were going to cruise past the Minnesota Vikings. Then the gridiron gods, bored with an underwhelming early slate of games that subjected viewers to three hours of Russell Wilson and Ryan Tannehill doing things that could only charitably described as “football,” decided to work their magic.
Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook and Justin Jefferson banded together to rally the 7-1 Vikings in an effort to prove their record wasn’t merely the result of an weak early schedule. An injured Josh Allen and the league’s fourth-ranked defense attempted to hold on to a 17-point lead to keep their dream of a first-round bye and homefield advantage through the playoffs alive.
The final two minutes of regulation saw Minnesota complete its comeback from a 27-10 deficit despite getting stuffed at the goal line, twice, on fourth-and-goal. That stretch saw one of the greatest catches in NFL history, a redux of the final play of Super Bowl 34, a stunning botched snap and a furious rally that probably shouldn’t have happened to help the Bills force overtime.
Let’s walk through it, step-by-step, beginning with Justin Jefferson and an act of borderline witchcraft.