Minnesota is a team that has been haunted by late-game collapses. The Vikings are oftentimes a playoff contender yet, the team is still without a Super Bowl.
There was, of course, Gary Anderson’s miss in the NFC Championship. There was also Blair Walsh’s postseason mishap. But CBS Sports’ Bryan DeArdo has a different game that he thinks is the Vikings’ bigger do-over. You can probably guess what he chose — the 2009 NFC Championship game. DeArdo wrote:
“The Vikings were on the verge of punching their Super Bowl ticket near the end of the 2009 NFC Championship Game in New Orleans. With the scored tied 28-28, the Vikings had the ball at the Saints’ 33-yard line with 19 seconds left. But after a penalty pushed them back 5 yards, quarterback Brett Favre — instead of running for several yards, calling a timeout and setting up a game-winning field goal attempt — forced an errant pass that was picked off by Tracy Porter. Minnesota never got the ball back and ultimately lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Saints in overtime 31-28.”
Another recent contender: Minnesota missed out on a chance at the Super Bowl once again when the team was blown out by the Eagles in the 2017 NFC Championship game. At least that time, Vikings fans didn’t have their hearts ripped out at the end.
