John Shipley: Vikings’ message for the doubters, ‘Watch us finish’

Danielle Hunter has an idea for anyone out there who still believes the Vikings are a fraud, that they’re the worst 11-win team in the NFL and will be unmasked in the postseason.

“Let ’em jump ship,” he said Saturday.

If you don’t believe in the Vikings now, there’s nothing that will change your mind, and that’s fine with them.

“Our job,” linebacker Jordan Hicks said, “is to not listen to them.”

If you watched Minnesota complete the biggest comeback in NFL history by beating the Indianapolis Colts 39-36 in overtime Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium and still focus on the first half, you need to relax.

If your hot take after watching the Vikings rally from a 33–0 halftime deficit — better than the 49ers’ regular-season record of 28 points and the Bills’ playoff record of 32 — is that Minnesota wouldn’t survive that kind of performance in the playoffs, well, congratulations, you’re right. And completely missing the point.

What happened at the Bank on Saturday, as witnessed by a hearty group of 66,801 undaunted by 33-0, was, as described postgame by several Vikings, special. It’s tempting to call it another Minneapolis Miracle, but it was different, if perhaps even more miraculous.

“You can’t compare those two, this is different from that,” Hunter said.

For those who don’t recall, quarterback Case Keenum and receiver Stephon Diggs connected for a 61-yard touchdown pass that in an instant changed the Vikings from 24-23 losers to 29-24 winners in the second round of the 2017-18 postseason. It was, especially for those who were there, a shocking surprise.

What the Vikings did on Saturday was different, and more difficult because as Hunter said, “This is a group of guys. It’s not an individual.”

The Vikings were dead to rights after their worst half in recent memory. In the words of Eric Kendricks, “I mean, we weren’t doing good.”

After giving up a field goal on the opening drive, the Vikings went three-and-out and had the punt blocked for a touchdown. On the next drive, Dalvin Cook followed a 40-yard run with a fumble, and the Colts marched 66 yards for a touchdown to make it 17-0 before tacking on two more field goals from Chase McGlaughlin. Then Kirk Cousins threw an interception from his own 12-yard line that Julian Blackmon returned for a touchdown.

The boos sending the Vikings to the locker room at halftime weren’t quite as deafening as the ensuing cheers, but they were loud. Minnesota was supposed to clinch the NFC North, not get rolled by a 4-8-1 team.

“We just knew that we played our worst football,” tight end T.J. Hockenson said. “I mean, that’s all that happened. We knew that we gave them everything that we could in order for them to win.”

And yet they didn’t, and while the Colts did a lot of stupid things in the second half — like passing, at all, with a 33-0 lead — it was much more about what the Vikings did right. The defense limited the Colts to one field goal. Cousins passed for 417 yards and four touchdowns in the last 24 minutes. Cook took a screen pass 64 yards for a touchdown, and Hockenson caught the two-point conversion pass to tie the score 36-36.

Even coach Kevin O’Connell’s decision to punt in overtime worked out. Greg Joseph won the game — and the NFC North Division — with a 40-yard field goal with 1 second left. And keep in mind, the Vikings had two (!) fumble recoveries for touchdowns called back because officials had whistled the plays dead. The first was debatable, the second was just a terrible call.

The Vikings (11-3) are now 10-0 in one-score games after trailing in seven of them. At some point, the wherewithal to persevere in those games becomes more important than the fact that they had to stage a comeback. Because what counts is the final score.

“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Hunter said, “but these guys work hard.”

If we’re being honest, winning the division seemed out of reach to most at the season’s onset. A first-time head coach was taking over a team that had missed the playoffs the previous two seasons, and had a predilection for losing close games. Now they’re winning the close ones and currently own the second seed in the NFC playoff bracket.

I know there are things not to like about this season, but really, what’s not to like? If you still have doubts about the 2022 Vikings, or worse, think they’re frauds because they have fallen behind in so many games this season, safety Camryn Bynum has a suggestion.

“Watch us finish,” he said. “Watch us finish.”

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