Vikings Forge Record Comeback Against Colts After Brutal 1st Half Display

The Minnesota Vikings have etched their name in the NFL record book, forging the largest comeback in league history in their 39-36 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. It is a significant achievement, one that surpassed the memorable 32-point comeback the 1992 Buffalo Bills had when they defeated the Houston Oilers in a spectacular playoff game.

There was joy and celebration at U.S. Bank Stadium when Greg Joseph’s 40-yard field goal sailed straight and true through the goalposts, ending the epic with an exclamation point. Fans were delirious and the players were nearly as happy.

No matter what happens the rest of the season, the 2022 Vikings will always have “The Comeback” on their resume.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins was thrilled at the end of the game, and his role in passing for 460 yards and 4 touchdowns. “Something like that doesn’t happen to average people,” Cousins said. “So, I’m proud.”

Once all the ’attaboys have faded into the distance, the reality of Saturday’s game will hit home. The gritty, determined play in the second half is one thing, but the way the Vikings came out at the start of the game and the way the first half was contested was quite another.

It was a putrid effort from the initial kickoff through the final seconds, and this should not be forgotten, either. The opponent is clearly one of the worst teams in the NFL. Since owner Jim Irsay fired Frank Reich and hired inexperienced Jeff Saturday to coach the team in November, the Colts have turned in a series of embarrassing efforts that have left them near the bottom of the league.

Yes, the Colts have won 4 games this season, and there are teams like the Texans, Bears and Broncos that have worse records, but it is hard to imagine a team that is actually playing more poorly than the Colts.

That team came in and battered the Vikings for 30 minutes. It was clear from the time that Dallis Flowers returned the opening kickoff 49 yards that head coach Kevin O’Connell’s team was not ready to play. Since the Vikings displayed a similar lack of preparation in their previous game against the Detroit Lions, this is very concerning.

It’s one thing to fall behind the surging Lions on the road, but it’s quite another to get beat up at home by the weaklings from Indianapolis.

Everything simply went wrong in the first half. The Colts had to play nearly all of the half without running back Jonathan Taylor, but were able to move up and down the field with Matt Ryan, Zack Moss, Deon Jackson and Michael Pittman doing the damage. This is not exactly the NFL’s equivalent of Murderers Row. Ryan is an old man operating on fumes, and the others are simply Average Joes who should not be able to assert their collective will.

Special teams failed miserably, with a blocked punt resulting in a touchdown, and Cousins contributed to the first-half disaster with his second-quarter interception that was returned 17 yards for a touchdown by free safety Julian Blackmon.

The midseason hopes that the Vikings would continue to stack wins and were a legitimate contender to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl had disappeared. Despite their 10 earlier wins, they had lost their way. The defense regularly gets pushed around and was among the most yielding units in the league, and nobody considered them a legitimate threat to do anything but lose in the first or second round of the playoffs.

But then the second half happened, and the Vikings did something that no other NFL team had ever done before. Cousins was resilient and quite brilliant in driving the team. Dalvin Cook rushed for 95 yards and his brilliant 64-yard touchdown after catching a fourth quarter screen pass was the signature play of the comeback. K.J. Osborn played the best game of his career and Justin Jefferson was his usual spectacular self.

The defense finally asserted itself, as linebacker Eric Kendricks had 12 tackles and a sack, Za’Darius Smith forced 2 fumbles, Danielle Hunter had 1.5 sacks and Chandon Sullivan was all over the field. He should have been credited with scoring the tying touchdown when he recovered a fumble and returned it to the end zone, but officials stopped the play because they perceived that Jackson was down by contact. It wasn’t even close.

It was a win that earned a spot in the record book and clinched the division. It didn’t erase the many issues that this team has, but it is one that will live for years.

That’s something to build on with just 3 more games left in the regular season.