Final thoughts
Okay “Saints 24-29 Vikings” is the official final score.
Email from John P. Goldstein:
That was one of the great games. Loved it and I’m not a fan of either team. 5 or 6 changes of the lead in the last 34 minutes.
I came into this game just wanting a good game, absolutely zero rooting interests (for or against, which is rare, because I hate a lot of teams) but man I could never hope for a game like this. This was a game we will remember. And that will do it from us today. Keep following the Guardian for more coverage throughout the NFL playoffs.
Updated
Oh I guess they have to kick the extra point, so this might not be the final score? This is profoundly silly.
IN ONE OF THE MOST IMPROBABLE ENDINGS YOU WILL EVER WITNESS, The Minnesota Vikings are going to the NFC Championship Game!
VIKINGS WINS
Saints 24-29 Vikings, FINAL
There’s still time left for Minnesota, although the sound of the air leaving the stadium will tell you it’s not enough. It’s 1st and 10 for Minnesota at their 25. No wait, it’s 1st and 15 after a false start penalty. Keenum throws one incomplete and Minnesota takes a timeout. With 10 seconds left, Keenum throws to Diggs and OH MY GOD, DIGGS TAKES IT 61 YARDS ALL THE WAY INTO THE ENDZONE WHAT JUST HAPPENED.
Field goal, Saints!
Saints 24-23 Vikings, :25, 4th quarter
Brees-to-Ginn. 4 yard gain. Saints at the Minnesota 29. Brees-to-Ginn for 5 yards. Minnesota takes a timeout (oh hey more “is it a catch” talk, it stands btw). Kamara gets knocked back a yard and we have another Minnesota timeout.
Okay, its Will Lutz with a 43 yard field goal which is… GOOD!
Saints 21-23 Vikings, :45, 4th quarter
Brees’ first pass? Incomplete to Thomas. 2nd and 10. Brees hits Josh Hill, they connect to the 43. 1st & 10, Brees connects with Ginn, picks up 11 yards. He’s at the Minnesota 46.
Brees’s pass to Thomas? Incomplete. 2nd & 10: incomplete as well. 3rd and 10: 49 seconds left… and it’s also incomplete. Ouch.
On 4h and 10, Brees throws to Snead for 13 yards. First down!
Saints 21-23 Vikings, 1:29, 4th quarter
But… did they leave too much time for Drew Brees? Forbath’s kickoff hits the end zone. That’ll be a touchback.
Field goal, Vikings!
Saints 21-23 Vikings, 1:34, 4th quarter
The Vikings get to the Saints 35. Forbath hits a 53 yard field goal for the lead!
Saints 21-20 Vikings, 1:47, 4th quarter
The Vikings are at their own 36. Keenum throws incomplete. On 2nd and 10, Keenum throws one deep to Theilen, a 24 yard gain. There’s a penalty, but it’s on the defense so the Vikings will decline it. They’re setting up for a game winning field goal try.
Saints 21-20 Vikings, 2:00, 4th quarter
Vikings are starting from their own 25. Keenum’s pass goes for five yards. Keenum scrambles for four more yards. McKinnon gets two more yards and we’re at the two minute warning.
Touchdown, New Orleans
Saints 21-20 Vikings, 3:01, 4th quarter
The Saints have the ball and they’re getting into the red zone. Brees throws to Ginn for 15 yards, and then gain for 19. They’re at the 14. Ingram runs for 2. Brees is in the shotgun, he passes to Kamara who runs in for the touchdown! The extra point… is good! The Saints have the lead.
Saints 14-20 Vikings, 5:14, 4th quarter
Painful penalty on Minnesota brings them back to their 44, negating a 11 yard gain. On 2nd and 19, Keenum finds Thielen for 6 yards. This possession looks like it’s dying.
Keenum’s throw is incomplete. Here comes the punt unit. The Saints have a major shot here.
And the punt is blocked, and recovered by Gerald Hodges at the Minnesota 40!
Saints 14-20 Vikings, 7:14, 4th quarter
Murray picks up a yard. That brings the Vikings to their, uh, own 11. Not ideal. On 2nd and 9, Keenum throws incomplete but there’s a holding penalty on New Orleans. So they’ll be at 1st and 10 at their own 16.
Keenum’s next throw? Incomplete. Jerick McKinnon yes 5 yards on 2nd and 10. On 3rd and 5, Keenum finally hits a target and boy does he, he finds Diggs for a 22 yard gain that will take them to their 43.
Saints 14-20 Vikings, 9:06, 4th quarter
Kamara returns Forbath’s kickoff to their own 27, a 30 yard return. Per usual, he gets the ball on the first first down of the drive, picking up four yards. On 2nd and 6,Brees throws to Ginn who picks up 5. A key 3rd and 1 here, Brees’s throw is too long to find Kamara and it’s fourth down. Here comes the punting unit.
Sherels makes a fair catch of Morestead’s punt at the Minnesota 10.
Field goal, Vikings
Saints 14-20 Vikings, 10:12, 4th quarter
At 3rd & 7, Keenum throws incomplete and here comes the field goal unit. Forbath’s field goal is good…. BUT Sean Payton is issuing a challenge on the position before the field goal was kicked. Not the wisest move maybe, considering that means they’d lose a timeout if this challenge fails.
And the call on the field is confirmed. Well, Forbath kicks again, his 49 yarder is good.
Saints 14-17 Vikings, 11:53, 4th quarter
Murray makes it to the Minnesota 39. That will boost the Vikings’ spirits. Then Keenum passes to Wright… it’s a catch, good for 27 yards! Or is it? Oh god are we going through this really? Sean Payton challenges it, but it has to stand, right? Right? It is CONFIRMED. The VIkings are at the NO 34.
Updated
H0w can the Saints make a game of this? “it involves Drew Brees somehow channeling the Drew Brees Of Old rather than Old Drew Brees because I don’t think they can rely on their running game this far behind against their defense. Also: the Vikings probably have to make a few mistakes.” I got that one right.
Saints 14-17 Vikings, 13:09, 4th quarter
The Vikings lose Xavier Rhodes to injury. The good news keeps coming.
They do manage to stuff Kamara for a one yard loss. But it’s no good the next time around, Brees connects with Thomas for a touchdown. The extra point is good and they’re just a field goal down and a lot of time on the clock.
Saints 7-17 Vikings, 14:28, 4th quarter
The Saints start the 4th at the Viking 15. Kamara gets the ball first and he manages to pick up 7 yards before being pushed out of bounds. Brees, in shotgun now, throws to Kamara again. He gets to the Minnesota 2. The Saints are knocking.
Saints 7-17 Vikings, end of the 3rd quarter
Drew Brees is back out there, operating under shotgun, and moves the Saints up 15 yards before the third quarter comes to an end.
Maybe I was a tad pessimistic on their chances earlier.
Interception Saints!
Saints 7-17 Vikings, 1:18, 3rd quarter
Will Lutz’s kick is a touchback, putting the Vikings at their own 25. And now the Saints defense will face it’s biggest challenge of the season: everything New Orleans just put together essentially gets undone if the Vikings score here.
Oh and that’ll work. A two-handed interception from Marcus Williams, who is pushed out at the Minnesota 30!
Touchdown Saints!
Saints 7-17 Vikings, 1:18, 3rd quarter
Brees’s pass to Thomas is ruled incomplete. Sendejo was injured on the play, but he’s up under his own power. Brees’s next throw finds Thomas in the end zone or a touchdown! The extra point is good! This is now a game!
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 2:06, 3rd quarter
Kamara picks up three yards, he’s getting the toughest yardage here. Next, Brees finds Willis Snead with a fingertip catch for a first down catch at the Minnesota 14.
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 3:26, 3rd quarter
Drew Brees with a quarterback sneak on 3rd and 1, gets two yards to the Saints 45. Fresh set of downs. Kamara gets an extra 4 yards to put them on the verge of mid-field. Minnesota’s defense is making them work for every yard here.
But not here. Brees throws a wobbly throw to Thomas who picks up 23 yards and gets the Saints into the MIN 28.
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 6:41, 3rd quarter
The Saints need to score. And score quickly. And, of course, the Vikings defense knows this. I’m expecting a big play here, either by the offense or the defense.
Kamara gets the first carry for New Orleans, he goes off for five yards. On 2nd ad 5, Brees throws to Thomas for 9 yards, that’s good for a first down. 1st and 10, Brees connects with Ginn, that’s another nine yards. Promising drive so far.
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 8:07, 3rd quarter
And the Vikings keep on moving. They get on a 1st & 10 situation at the New Orleans 36. Just methodically trampling down the Saints, eating up the clock, and getting closer to another scoring play that would throw more dirt on the Saints.
Just then, Sheldon Rankins sacks Keenum on a 3rd & 4 situation to push them out of field goal range. That may have briefly kept them afloat. Quigley’s punt goes into the end zone for a touchback.
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 12:19, 3rd quarter
The Vikings go backwards to start the 3rd quarter, knocked back to the 22 but recover and break through midfield to the New Orleans 49.
Second half begins!
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 15:00, 3rd quarter
The Vikings will be starting the second half a their own 35.
I’ve thought about it: I’m not sure how the Saints could mount a comeback or if they could, but it involves Drew Brees somehow channeling the Drew Brees Of Old rather than Old Drew Brees because I don’t think they can rely on their running game this far behind against their defense. Also: the Vikings probably have to make a few mistakes, which is not impossible. They’ve made a few questionable calls here.
Of course, let’s see if the Saints can actually score any points first.
Halftime thoughts
We talked about Case Keenum and Drew Brees and the Saints’ running game but man, oh man, the story of this game is absolutely the Minnesota defense who have completely embarrassed the Saints’ offense.
The question is: can the Saints make a game out of this? I hope so, because this liveblogging is a lot more fun when it’s competitive. I’m going to go give it a think and be back in a few minutes.
Vikings' field goal is also no good!
Saints 0-17 Vikings, end of the 2nd quarter
The Vikings get possession to end the first half and the Saints defense immediately gets a roughing the passer call to give them better field position, putting them at the New Orleans 31. Keenum takes a shot into the end zone, but it’s incomplete so they decide to attempt a field goal.
Which is also wide left!
Saints field goal is no good!
Saints 0-17 Vikings, :26, 2nd quarter
The Saints get to midfield. The Vikings take a timeout. On 1st & 10, Brees’s throw is called incomplete. The Saints go into shotgun. Brees’ pass gets them to the 30. Brees’s throw on 1st & 10? Incomplete. 2nd & 10? Brees throws it away. On 3rd & 10, Brees gets sacked again! The Saints bring out the field goal unit. Will Lutz’s 58 yard field goal is… no good!
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 1:42, 2nd quarter
Brees throws to Ginn who manages to pick up 13 yards. That’s good for a first down. On the next play, Brees gets sacked for a loss of six yards. There’s a fumble but Max Unger is able to recover.
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 2:00, 2nd quarter
Brees makes a short pass to Ginn who picks up six yards. 2nd and 4, Kamara takes it 5 yards to the Saints 20. The clock is uh, starting to become an issue here guys. Brees’s next throw is incomplete. Sean Payton wants a flag, he doesn’t get one, he gets a two minute warning instead.
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 3:16, 2nd quarter
Tommylee Lewis, who has my favorite first name of the game, makes a fair catch at the New Orleans 9. Let’s see if the Saints can do something, anything, here.
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 3:31, 2nd quarter
Vikings start at their own 43 and survive a sack on Keenum to get a yard away from a first down. They keep the offense on the field… And take a delay of game penalty. The punt unit comes out. So that could have gone even worst for NO.
Interception Vikings!
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 5:40, 2nd quarter
Kamara bursts out a 19 yard run to the Minnesota 15. The Saints have got something working? Ingram manages just a single yard. On 2nd & 9, oh man, Drew Brees throws his second interception of the game! Anthony Barr takes it to the Minnesota 28, plus there’s a 15 yard penalty that will be tacked on. This first half could not be going worse for New Orleans.
Updated
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 6:50, 2nd quarter
Oof. Brees throws to Ginn for a touchdown but it gets called back on an illegal shift penalty on Ginn. That’s a five yard penalty and a deflating turn of events.
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 7:26, 2nd quarter
The Saints once again start from their 35 after a touchback. Now would be a time to start scoring. Brees throws to Michael Thomas and then gets the ball to Kamara and they get to their own 46. That’s the start of something at least. On 1st & 10 they hand off to Ingram who picks up 2. Brees throws to Josh Hill who gets them to the Minnesota 30. Okay this is their first real run.
He’s having fun out there.
Case Keenum respects the rules of freeze-tag pic.twitter.com/usu6gesRib
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 14, 2018
Touchdown Vikings!
Saints 0-17 Vikings, 9:58, 2nd quarter
Keenum throws again and again it’s incomplete. And there’s a flag. It’s defensive pass interference (enforced) AND holding (declined). That puts the Vikings on the one yard line, where Murray runs in for the Vikings’ second touchdown of the game. The extra point is good.
Saints 0-10 Vikings, 10:08, 2nd quarter
I doesn’t matter. Keenum throws to Diggs who gets the ball all the way to the NO 4 where they have a fresh set of downs. On 1st & 10, Keenum throws incomplete and then Minnesota takes its first timeout.
Saints 0-10 Vikings, 11:41, 2nd quarter
Latavius Murray runs in for a- Nope, there’s an offensive holding penalty on Minnesota. That pushes them down to the 23.
Saints 0-10 Vikings, 13:36, 2nd quarter
The Vikings continue to march down the field to start the second quarter. A 11 yard throw to Thielen takes them to the Saints 17 and NO is in danger of falling into an early hole that’s going to be very hard to dig out of against this defense.
@HunterFelt what's up with the Saint's punter?
— Aeneas (@lawrencegillies) January 14, 2018
Twitter is telling me he’s suffering a broken rib. The ones on Twitter who aren’t mocking him, at least.
Saints 0-10 Vikings, end of the 1st quarter
Keenum throws a pass to Adam Thielen for 15 yards, that takes them to the New Orleans 41 as the first quarter comes to an end.
Interception Vikings!
Saints 0-10 Vikings, 1:06, 1st quarter
Ryan Quigley’s punt is caught by Tommylee Lewis on the Viking 15. Brees throws and… it’s intercepted by Andrew Sendejo, a leaping interception at the Vikings 42!
Saints 0-10 Vikings, 2:07, 1st quarter
The Vikings go 3-and-out for the first time. Here comes their punt team.
Saints 0-10 Vikings, 3:15 1st quarter
Alvin Kamara returns the Vikings’ kickoff to the Saints 19. Brees’s first throw is incomplete. Next up, Ingram picks up 9 yards. His next carry? The Vikings stuff him and here comes the punt team again. Minnesota defense is setting the tone early here.
Field goal Vikings!
Saints 0-10 Vikings, 4:42 1st quarter
The Saints hold the Vikings to a field goal, Kai Forbath’s 20 harder is good and the Vikings extend their lead, but have to feel like they left points on the table.
Saints 0-7 Vikings, 5:36 1st quarter
Keenum’s no longer perfect, he throws incomplete at 1st & 10. Latavius Murray picks up 3 yards on 2nd & 10. On 3rd & 7, Keenum connects with Stefon Diggs for a gain that gets them to the 40. The next play? They draw a Defensive Pass Interference call that takes them to the New Orleans 40.
And then another defensive interference call that puts them in a first and goal.
Saints 0-7 Vikings, 7:09 1st quarter
On 2nd & 9, Ted Ginn Jr gets 11 yards and gets the Saints their first first down. They’re gonna try to establish the run game early here. They give it to Ingram who picks up some extra yards. On 3rd & 3, Drew Brees throws incomplete and here comes the punting unit again. Thomas Morstead’s punt goes into the end zone for a touchback.
Saints 0-7 Vikings, 9:45 1st quarter
Let’s try this again, Saints. Kai Forbath’s kick goes into the end zone for a touch back. They’ll start from their own 25.
Touchdown Vikings!
Saints 0-7 Vikings, 9:45 1st quarter
And that was quick! Jerick McKinnon runs in it for the touchdown. The extra point is good and just like that, Minnesota is ahead!
Saints 0-0 Vikings, 10:31 1st quarter
Marcus Sherels takes the punt 19 yards to the Minnesota 45. A promising drive. On 3rd & 3, Keenum passes to Jarius Wright who picks up 22 yards. Their at the New Orleans 14.
Saints 0-0 Vikings, 14:18 1st quarter
And the Saints go three and out on their first drive. They will be punting.
Kickoff!
Saints 0-0 Vikings, 15:00, 1st quarter
The VIkings kickoff. The Saints will receive and our game has begun!
The Vikings quarterback situation:
Teddy Bridgewater is inactive today in Minnesota. If Vikings don’t trust him as a backup in the playoffs, it’s hard to imagine them installing him as their 2018 starter.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) January 14, 2018
The Main Event
Well, I did not expect to be writing about a Jaguars win to start of today’s liveblog, but that’s the great thing about sports. Things will happen that you just can’t expect.
It’s going to be doubly true about the New Orleans Saints vs the Minnesota Vikings because it’s really difficult to pick which team should be favored. Me? I’m going with the Saints by a field goal, just because Drew Brees has bailed me out in the past.
Your predictions? Send them here, either to Hunter.Felt.Freelance@theguardian.com or tweet them to @HunterFelt.
Updated
Jaguars 45-42 Steelers, FINAL
The Steelers score a last second, meaningless touchdown. The officials put one last second on the clock for the point after attempt, just to make this even more ridiculous. I’m sure that makes Pittsburgh fans feel better. The Jaguars have won!
Ben Roethlisberger throws a lateral for a touchdown but the Steelers’ onside kick is no good. Jaguars have the ball up 42-35 with 1:56 to go. Steelers still have the barest of pulses. Jaguars go for a field goal which is..... good. This finally looks sealed.
We’re a few minutes away from this officially becoming the Case Keenum-Blake Bortles Playoffs...
Jaguars in command
In the early game, it’s been a barn-burner between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Steelers have kept cutting it close but the Jaguars keep increasing the lead. Right now, it’s Jacksonville 42-38 Pittsburgh with 4:19 left in the game and it’s looking like Blake Bortles and the Jags are gonna be facing Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game and, you know what, after what we’ve seen today, they can’t look past them.
Preamble
This might be the biggest toss-up of the weekend’s four games, with the winner will move on to the NFC title game to face the Philadelphia Eagles, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons yesterday.
It’s been a surreal season for the Minnesota Vikings, who lost starting quarterback Sam Bradford and running back Davin Cook to injury early on in the season and somehow responded with a 13-3 record. Much of it is thanks to Case Keenum who began the season as a league-wide joke and ended up with statistics that put him as one of the top QBs in the league.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints’ success this year has come from the production of their running backs, Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, although their win last week came courtesy of a more familiar source: the arm of quarterback Drew Brees. Brees threw 33 times in what amounted as a 31-26 win over the Carolina Panthers. It was a bit of a surprising move and one imagines that they’ll need to rely more heavily on Kamara and Ingram this time around to pull out a road victory today.
As always, we welcome your commentary here at the Guardian throughout today’s game. You can email us your thoughts, questions, jokes, predictions and taunts to Hunter.Felt.Freelance@theguardian.com or tweet them out to @HunterFelt. It’s the New Orleans Saints vs the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium!
Hunter will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s Simon Veness on the rise of Case Keenum:
Pop quiz: which NFL player finished second to Carson Wentz in total quarterback rating during the regular season? Tom Brady? Nope, he was third. Dak Prescott? Guess again, he was fourth. Matt Ryan? Uh-uh, only fifth. Then it must be Drew Brees or Russell Wilson, right? Not even close. They were ninth and 10th.
OK, to all those in Minnesota with their hands up, the answer is, of course, Casey Austin Keenum, signal-caller for the Vikings in 15 of their 16 games this season. Yes, the same Case Keenum who had already bounced around three teams in five years before arriving in Minneapolis as the epitome of a journeyman last March.
The same Keenum who boasted a career record of just nine wins in 26 games with the Houston Texans, then-St Louis Rams and then the Texans again, including eight defeats out of eight for Houston in 2013 and nine of 16 after returning to the Rams in 2015 and ‘16.
You can read the full article below:
