We witnessed the game of the year through seven weeks on Sunday afternoon when the Detroit Lions kicked a game-winning field goal with 15 seconds left to defeat the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 31-29.
It was a mostly back-and-forth game between the two NFC North rivals who proved the black and blue division is the best in the National Football League. The game also placed the Vikings into adverse situations, which helped answer their biggest questions.
Minnesota Vikings answered their biggest question
Throughout the course of the season, the Vikings had trailed for just 3:26 of game time with all of that coming against the New York Giants in week one. Against the Lions, they trailed by about 900% of that number at 33:04.
When you look at the game scripts the Vikings have played with this season, they hadn't faced a lot of adversity on the scoreboard. On Sunday, they faced all of it, having to come from behind with two 11-point deficits.
One of the biggest things that changed for the Vikings was they stopped shooting themselves in the foot. They came out firing with a touchdown to Justin Jefferson at the end of the half, something that head coach Kevin O'Connell was honest about after the game.
"Yeah think first and foremost we stopped shooting ourselves in the foot. I was very happy with the way we were able to respond in the third quarter and really continue to make that thing a football game and find our way, clawing our way back. But when you had a 10-nothing lead, a little cleaner, complementary football there in the second quarter, we'll take a hard look at that and figure out how to play consistent. But you're not going to -- really good teams are not going to steamroll through the game and have perfect plays on every play, but you better make sure it's them causing some of those things to happen instead of the self-inflicted things."
Finding a way to come back in tough situations is the sign of a good football team. It's something the Vikings haven't been consistent in doing over O'Connell's tenure. They do have some big comeback wins over the Buffalo Bills (17 points) and the Indianapolis Colts (33 points), but sometimes the 10 point leads have been brutal for the Vikings.
This year, the Vikings have let teams get back into the game with the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers that were firmly in the control of. They went from multiple-score leads to one-score games. Those conditions helped the Vikings learn but it wasn't when their backs were truly against the wall.
The Vikings had their backs against the wall on Sunday with a great team on the other side and they fought back, clawing their way to a 29-28 lead, which they held for 5:35. Proving that they could do that on both sides of the ball will be a huge factor in taking that next step and potentially getting that elusive Lombardi Trophy in February.
