NFL: Catch of the year!

What an incredible finish! The Minnesota Vikings beat the New Orleans Saints with a completely crazy ending: When everything looked like a win for the Saints, Minnesota had the last word: a 61-yard touchdown by Stefon Diggs gave the Vikings a 29:24 victory and thus a ticket to the NFC Championship Game, the season for New Orleans ends in an incredibly dramatic way.

The Defensive Front controlled the Line of Scrimmage and forced fast Saints-Punts, Case Keenum (25/40,318 YDS, TD, INT) found Wright completely open and then McKinnon to the touchdown. It just went on, Minnesota attacked the Saints-Underneath-Defense and the guest-defenders helped with several penalties.

This was also true after the game’s first interception at a short Brees pass, Murray ran out of a yard and into the final zone. As a result, the Vikings led 17-0 in the second quarter, by which time Brees had a completion for three yards and Minnesota’s aggressive front secured the first-half-shutout. However, both teams finished the second quarter with one field goal miss each.

So Minnesota seemed to be the best way to control the game in the second half from a comfortable position – but nothing came of it. Brees (25/40,294 YDS, 3 TD, 2 INT) played much better now, while Keenum played a costly interception against Pressure. In addition, Safety Andrew Sendejo was injured after a violent hit and Cornerback Xavier Rhodes missed a few snaps. New Orleans’ best receiver Michael Thomas turned up and caught two touchdowns.

Suddenly it was only 17:14, before Keenum had his best litter on Wright and the hosts finally came back with a field goal. What happened then was a final phase that Minnesota will talk about for a long time to come: Brees, who increased enormously in the second half and delivered two great quarters, put New Orleans in the lead with a touchdown pass on Kamara, and Minnesota in the lead 1’29 “ahead of a field goal.

The Saints were quickly over the midline again, but the Vikes-Defense New Orleans stopped several times – until Brees rescued the guests at 4th&10.25 seconds before the end, the Saints kicked the supposed Game Winner, until the previous Play of the Year happened: With the last turn of the game, Keenum threw a desperate ball towards Stefon Diggs. The Vikings travel to Philadelphia for the Championship Game.

Minnesota Vikings – New Orleans Saints 29:24 (10:0,7:0,0:7,13:17) BOXSCORE

What else is there? The Saints had the Punt-Block, the spectacular Brees-Pass at 4th&10, the alleged Game Winning Field Goal – everything was ready for a fun flight back to Louisiana. And then came the moment that sports fans in Minnesota will long remember: a desperate pass to Stefon Diggs, which ended in a 61-yard touchdown and victory. It is the only “walk-off”touchdown in the fourth quarter of a playoff game ever played.

The fact that the Vikings managed to build up such a cushion in the first half was largely due to the defensive front. Minnesota dominated the game here, New Orleans could not build up a run game in their second playoff game and at least in the first half, the pressure also made Brees noticeably difficult.

The absolutely inexplicable and spectacular game winner brings Diggs into the limelight of course – but it was the vikings’ regular season viking duo that kept Minnesota’s offense in the game. Thielen and Diggs both had absolutely critical and difficult catches in the most important moments, both got themselves spaces Underneath and helped Keenum so enormously. Also worth mentioning are the Saints: Cam Jordan and Brees after the halftime break.

Broncos fans will remember Rahim Moore and his Fauxpas against the Ravens – Williams followed in exactly the same footsteps on Sunday evening: At the last pass of the game, he ducked away under Diggs, possibly for fear of a pass interference penalty or something similar, and rushed past the Vikings receiver. He could hardly grasp his luck, but remained in the field and marched down the field for a touchdown.