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Oh no. Washington touches the long-snapper on the field goal attempt, and gives the Vikings a fresh set of down on the two-yard line. You're kidding me.
The Minnesota Vikings won their sixth straight game on Sunday, as Kirk Cousins defeated his former team in the Washington Commanders, 20-17. Minnesota trailed by 10 points early in the fourth quarter, but reeled off 13 unanswered points in the final 10:46 of game time to steal the victory. Greg Joseph converted a 28-yard field goal with 12 seconds left to steal the victory.
Cousins completed 22 of 40 passes for 265 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Justin Jefferson had another impressive outing, as he caught seven passes for 115 yards and one touchdown. The Vikings offense scored just seven points in the first three quarters, but found another gear in the final stanza to keep them in the win column.
Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke engineered an impressive second-half comeback that fell just short. He completed 15 of 28 passes for 149 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in his first loss of the season. Curtis Samuel was Washington's leading receiving on Sunday, as he caught three passes for 65 yards and a touchdown.
Let's take a deeper look at what went down in Landover on Sunday.
Why the Vikings won
Cousins said after the game that the Vikings are going to have to win more convincingly, and he's right. Still, a win is a win, and the Vikings now have seven of them. Minnesota utilized a big fourth quarter to win this game. After Washington scored a touchdown to go up 10 points, Cousins led a nine-play, 68-yard drive which ended with a 25-yard field goal from Joseph. Four plays later, Heinicke threw an interception, and Harrison Smith returned it to the Commanders' 12-yard line. That set up the Dalvin Cook touchdown which tied the contest, and then Cousins was able to take his time on the game-winning drive after the Vikings defense forced a three-and-out.
The Vikings are now 6-0 in one-score games this year. They went 6-8 in one-score games last season. In my opinion, that's the big difference between the 2021 Vikings and the 2022 Vikings. Minnesota now has a 4.5-game lead in the NFC North.
Why the Commanders lost
The Commanders made a couple of lethal mistakes in the fourth quarter, which led to this lead being blown. Heinicke's interception in the fourth quarter quickly changed things, and then John Ridgeway is now the most wanted man in D.C. after his mental error.
After the Commanders stopped the Vikings in the red zone, Joseph came on to attempt a 22-yard field goal with 1:52 remaining in the fourth quarter. He made it, but Ridgeway ran into the defenseless long snapper and drew an unnecessary roughness penalty, which gave the Vikings a fresh set of downs, and allowed them to run out the clock. We didn't get a chance to see Heinicke lead a game-winning drive because of that penalty.
Turning point
The Vikings were about to score 13 straight points, but the Commanders still had 1:52 left to either tie the game with a field goal, or score a game-winning touchdown. They did it last week against the Indianapolis Colts. Maybe they could have done it again. However, the Ridgeway penalty changed the game plan.
With a new set of downs, the Vikings ran out most of clock and kicked the game-winning field goal with just 12 seconds remaining. That left the Commanders with just one play to try and make something happen. They were unable to do so.
Play of the game
Three plays into the second half, the Commanders scored their first touchdown of the game. This play is wild for several reasons:
1. It was a 49-yard touchdown pass.
2. The 49 passing yards Heinicke recorded on this play were more than the amount of yards he threw in the entire first half (48 yards).
3. Samuel caught this pass between three Vikings defenders.
4. The ref set a pick on Vikings safety Camryn Bynum that helped Samuel catch the touchdown.
Vikings go bowling
After the fourth-quarter interception which set up Cousins and Co. with great field position to tie the game, Smith and the Vikings defense got to break out this celebration.
T.J. Hockenson very involved in first action with Vikings
The Vikings sent a 2023 second-rounder and 2024 third-rounder to the rival Detroit Lions in exchange for Hockenson, a 2023 fourth-round pick and 2024 conditional fourth-rounder. Jefferson and Cook headline this Vikings offensive attack, but Hockenson may be an addition that takes this team to another level.
In his first game with Minnesota, Hockenson caught all nine of his targets for 70 yards. Keep an eye on him moving forward, because he could play an important role in Kevin O'Connell's scheme.
What's next?
The Vikings will stay on the road in Week 10, and take on the Buffalo Bills next Sunday. As for the Commanders, they will hit the road to take on the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles on "Monday Night Football." Philly is coming off of a 29-17 win over the Houston Texans on Thursday night.
