It’s not often that a game comes down to the wire, but that’s certainly what happened in Buffalo on Sunday. Heading into Week 10, Vikings-Bills was expected to be the most exciting game of the week and not only did we get that, but the game also threw in a bit of craziness with the insanity.
The Vikings’ surprising 33-30 overtime win over the Bills featured some incredible plays, so we decided to rank them. Here are the five greatest games of all time, and to be honest, we probably could have made a list of 20, but we had to cut this thing off somewhere.
5. Dalvin Cook rushes 81 yards for a TD
You know a game was crazy when an 81-yard touchdown run barely sparks the top five in the best plays, but that’s what it is here. With the Vikings trailing 27-10 in the third quarter, Cook led Minnesota’s improbable comeback with this run on a first-and-10 play in the third quarter:
If you’re wondering why this qualifies as crazy, it’s because it was the second longest drive by any team in the NFL this year. The only long play this season came back in Week 5 when Josh Allen hit Gabe Davis 98 yard touchdown. The score was the longest of Cook’s career since 2012 and the longest TD by any Vikings player. More importantly, the run cut Buffalo’s lead to 27-17 and put the Vikings on the verge of an improbable victory.
The 32-year-old corner proved he still has what it takes in this game. Peterson took on Josh Allen twice, and both came in big situations. The first drive came after the Bills drove down to the Minnesota 7-yard line. On fourth-and-2, Sean McDermott could have sent down the field, but instead, he decided to go for it, and then it happened:
Peterson’s 39-yard punt return gave the Vikings decent field position and they were able to capitalize 13 plays later with a touchdown that cut the lead to 27-23.
Peterson’s second pick, which is one we’re officially putting on our top five list, was the game-winner that came in overtime. With the Vikings up 33-30, the Bills knew a touchdown would win the game, but they didn’t, thanks to Peterson:
That inning ended the game and gave Minnesota a stunning victory. This was the third time in his career since November 2014 that Peterson had two picks in the same game.
3. The controversial Gabe Davis catch
After the Vikings took a 30-27 lead with 48 seconds left, it looked like the Bills were done, but they weren’t. Buffalo was able to force overtime after Josh Allen’s 69-yard field goal with 39 seconds left. The biggest play of the drive was a 20-yard pass to Gabe Davis that officially put the Bills on a field goal:
The only problem is that Davis didn’t make the catch.
The ball clearly moved as Davis went to the ground and tied the NFL accepted after the game that it should be considered incomplete. However, the Vikings were unable to contest the game with less than two minutes left in the game. At that point, a play can only be reviewed if the replay booth starts, but the replay booth decided not to stop the game, and the catch stood.
Had the Bills won this game, Vikings fans would have set NFL headquarters on fire over this missed call.
In any other game, this would be the only thing people would be talking about afterward, but this game didn’t even crack the top of our “craziest games” list.
With two minutes left to play, the Vikings faced fourth and 18 and trailing 27-23, they had no choice but to go for it. The plan for the play was pretty simple: Kirk Cousins decided to throw to Justin Jefferson and pray. The prayer clearly worked as Jefferson made one of the most spectacular catches in NFL history.
It’s almost impossible to do justice to this in words, so let’s take a look.
It’s a one-handed catch on fourth down that gave the Vikings new life. Hopefully, you never get tired of watching that play because it will likely be shown thousands of times a year while Jefferson is in the NFL. Overall, Jefferson caught 10 passes in the game for 193 yards and a touchdown.
Jefferson’s big game leads indirectly to the first game on our list.
1. Josh Allen fumbled on a one-yard dash
Despite Jefferson’s big play, the Vikings came up short on their drive. On the Bills’ one-yard fourth-and-goal, Kirk Cousins stuffed the QB on a sneak. With just 49 seconds left to play and the Vikings down to a timeout, the Bills wanted to win by ONE INCH and could end the game, but the impossible happened.
Allen was going to run a QB foul, but never got around to trying because center Mitch Morse threw the throw away:
After Allen bobbled, Eric Kendricks fumbled in the end zone to give the Vikings the improbable touchdown. The miraculous score put Minnesota up 30-27 in a game they would win in overtime.
This game was truly an instant classic and these are just five of the plays that made it so great.
