What a game, what a day.
Going into the Vikings-Saints playoff game today, I had zero expectations. The Saints were going to blow us out. I had accepted it as fact.
When the Vikings turned it over on the first drive, I thought "same old Vikings". Here we go.
But then the defense bottled up the lethal Saints offense. The offense got rolling, and after the first half, we had the lead. I had (against my better judgment) become emotionally invested.
The defense played generally excellent throughout the whole game, although Taysom Hill (a.k.a. the greatest football player of all time) proved to be generally unstoppable every time he touched the ball. Imagine having a talent like that and starting Drew Brees instead. The Vikings offense stalled out for the second half of the third quarter and the whole fourth, which was very Vikings.
Any true Vikings fan can tell you that even wins are never comfortable. There's a prehistoric discomfort in the very oldest parts of the brain that starts small when emotional investment is detected, and grows to a jetliner's engine roar as the clock ticks closer to zero. Your heart starts speeding up the first time the other team is given some semblance of hope, and gradually races faster and harder until you can watch it beating through your chest.
This game was not unlike any of the other times this has happened. I was actually rooting for the Vikings to take timeouts with a minute and a half left and the lead. There was not a doubt in my mind the Saints would score and heartbreak would happen once again. However, the defense did just enough to force overtime.
In overtime, against the Saints, time circling back to 2009. However, today would not be the same as the 2009 NFC Championship. The Vikings won the coin toss. Kirk Cousins led the team down the field, primarily on an excellent deep ball to Minnesota's favorite son Adam Thielen. Two gut-wrenching failed runs near the goal line, followed by a jump ball to Kyle Rudolph, placed wonderfully by Captain Kirk. Euphoria.
It says a lot about Vikings fans that my roommates and I sat on the edge of our seats fully expecting the NFL to somehow overturn a call for highly questionable offensive pass interference on the game-ending play, when the league didn't even end up sending it to review. Heartbreak will have to wait until at least next Saturday.
What a game. What a day. Bring on the Niners.
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