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SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports NFL insider Jarrett Bell attempts to put into words the unbelievable finish in Minnesota, and how important situational football meant in a weekend of classic games.
USA TODAY Sports
MINNEAPOLIS – In giant white letters on signage throughout the stadium, and in purple print on white towels placed on each of the 66,000 seats at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Minnesota Vikings made their intentions clear.
Bring it home, the signs said. Home, as in, to the Super Bowl, which will be played here in Minneapolis in three weeks.
The Vikings are now just one win away from becoming the first team to play a Super Bowl at home, after a stunning finished secured a 29-24 divisional-round win against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs scored the game-winning 61-yard touchdown as time expired, as Saints safety Marcus Williams dove at his legs rather than trying for a tackle. After Diggs regained his balance, he had a clear path to the end zone, where he was mobbed by teammates while fireworks exploded inside the stadium.
Quarterback Case Keenum led fans in a “Skol” chant while waiting for 11 Saints players to return from the locker room in order to take a kneeldown on the extra point attempt.
It was a stunning end to a game the Saints appeared to have won in the closing seconds, following a 43-yard field goal by Saints kicker Wil Lutz with 25 seconds remaining. Lutz’ kick came 64 seconds after the Vikings took a 24-21 lead on a 53-yard field goal by Kai Forbath.
The Vikings will travel to play the No. 1 seed Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game next week, a game in which Minnesota is likely to be favored, thanks to the top-ranked defense that largely shut down Drew Brees and the Saints offense on Sunday.
The Vikings intercepted Brees twice in the first half and held the Saints without a third-down conversion in the first two quarters.
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For much of the game, each time Brees and the Saints offense seemed to find life, the Vikings defense found an answer – from Andrew Sendejo’s leaping interception on a deep pass in the first quarter, to a no-look deflection by defensive end Everson Griffen that wound up in the arms of linebacker Anthony Barr, to safety Harrison Smith’s third-down sack just before halftime that forced a long field goal attempt that was missed.
But this had been the Vikings’ winning formula for much of the season: bring pressure with Griffen and the rest of the hearty defensive front and play tight coverage in the secondary with Smith, Sendejo and cornerback Xavier Rhodes.
Minnesota finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in total defense and points allowed.
But the Vikings defense showed cracks in the second half of the game, as Brees and the Saints found momentum after Sendejo knocked out of the game with a concussion on a hit by receiver Michael Thomas.
Thomas caught a touchdown one play later to spark a Saints rally, and scored again early in the fourth quarter to cut Minnesota’s lead to 17-14.
The Vikings managed to extend the lead back to 20-14 on their next possession on a 49-yard field goal by Kai Forbath on a drive that featured two questionable challenges by Saints coach Sean Payton, who wanted to review a deep completion by Jarius Wright and if Keenum was down before a third-down incompletion. Payton lost both challenges – and two timeouts.
New Orleans secured its first lead on a 14-yard touchdown grab from running back Alvin Kamara to make it 21-20. That was the first of four lead changes in the final three minutes and one second.
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.
PHOTOS: Best of NFL divisional round
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