In the joyful Vikings locker room after Saturday’s dramatic win over Indianapolis, Vikings players wore NFC North championship hats and T-shirts that read “Conquered the North.”
The Vikings (11-3) wrapped up the division with the biggest comeback in NFL history. After trailing 33-0 at halftime, they defeated the Indianapolis Colts 39-36 in overtime at U.S. Bank Stadium. But star wide receiver Justin Jefferson is expecting a lot more to come.
“It’s amazing. It’s a blessing to be in this situation, winning this game to win the division, this type of game,’’ Jefferson said. “But this is not where we want to be at. Of course, we would like to win the division, but that main goal is winning the Super Bowl.”
For now, the Vikings were happy to claim their first division title since 2017 in their second try. Quarterback Kirk Cousins had called last Sunday’s game at Detroit a “T-shirt and hat game,” but the Vikings lost 34-23.
“We set a goal to win this division at the very beginning of training camp,’’ said first-year coach Kevin O’Connell. “We have not talked about anything else besides winning the division. We knew how important this would be for our organization, our team.”
The Vikings are the No. 2 seed in the NFC, one game ahead of No. 3 San Francisco (10-4). However, the 49ers would win a tiebreaker if the teams tie at the end of the season.
The Vikings still would have clinched the division and remained the No. 2 seed had the game ended in a tie. O’Connell admitted the thought of a tie was “in my head” in overtime.
“That’s why the last time we got the ball, we started the drive out with a run,” he said. “All I wanted to see is can we get a new set of downs?”
The Vikings got the ball with 1:41 left in overtime at their 18. After Dalvin Cook had a six-yard run, Cousins then took to the air and led them to the game-winning 40-yard field goal by Greg Joseph with three seconds left in overtime.
“Like 10 seconds before we got the ball back, Chris O’Hara, our quarterbacks coach, goes, ‘We’re going to run it to start. A tie wins the division,’’’ Cousins said with a laugh. “I looked at him, like, ‘It would have been nice to know that at least 10 minutes ago, maybe three days ago.”’
The previous biggest comeback in NFL history had been Buffalo overcoming a 32-point deficit in a 41-38 overtime win over Houston in the 1992 playoffs. Jefferson got emotional hearing about the Vikings breaking that mark.
“I shed a tear a little bit, just thinking about it,’’ he said. “I’ve been in some crazy games before in my life, but this definitely tops all of them.”
Injury report
Vikings center Garrett Bradbury missed his second straight game due to a back injury, and he was again replaced by Austin Schlottmann.
The Vikings had listed five players as questionable, including Bradbury. Edge rusher Danielle Hunter (neck) and defensive tackle Harrison Phillips (back) both started. In addition to Bradbury, edge rusher Patrick Jones II (illness) also was inactive. Cornerback Cameron Dantzler (illness) dressed out but did not play.
Dantzler was replaced by Duke Shelley, who had some solid defensive plays.
“I’d been working with the ones all week, but I wasn’t sure I was going to start until Friday,’’ Shelley said.
Jefferson suffered a rib/chest contusion but was able to return to the game, and O’Connell said he was “feeling pretty good.” O’Connell said tackle Christian Darrisaw, cornerback Patrick Peterson and wide receiver K.J. Osborn had some cramping, but it was nothing serious.
Darrisaw returned after missing three games with a concussion. The Colts lost star running back Jonathan Taylor early in the game with an ankle injury before he had a carry.
Cook’s big game
Cook had both 95 yards rushing and receiving in the win.
The 95 on the ground gave him 1,045 for the season. He joined Robert Smith (1997-2000) and Adrian Peterson (2007-10) as the only players in Vikings history to have three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
The 95 through the air came on four catches. The biggest was a 64-yard reception from Cousins on a screen pass for a touchdown with 2:15 left in regulation. Cousins then hit tight end T.J. Hockenson for a two-point conversion to tie the score 36-36.
“Incredibly well-blocked to get a screen like that off,’’ Cousins aid. “Then it was Dalvin showing why he’s Dalvin Cook.”
Briefly
Vikings punter Ryan Wright had a punt blocked in the first quarter by former Minnesota defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo and returned 24 yards for a touchdown by JoJo Domann. “I’m going to watch film if there was anything I could have done so that it didn’t get blocked,’’ said Wright, who also threw an incomplete pass on a fake punt on fourth-and-1 at the Vikings’ 31 in the second quarter. … Patrick Peterson called it a “freaky game” in that the Colts scored on special teams and on defense and got just one offensive touchdown. They did get five field goals from Chase McLaughlin, including boots of 49 and 52 yards.