Plays that Changed the Game: Week 6 Vikings at Panthers

There are small plays that change every game. It’s easy to forget some of them as the game goes along. I keep notes so I don’t forget.

1^st Quarter

15:00 – CAR possession, 1st and 10 CAR 25, Breeland INT to start the game! Led to a FG. 3-0 Vikes

9:20 – MN possession, 2^nd and 10 MN 35, Justin Jefferson fumbles and it leads to a TD for the Panthers on a short field. 7-3 Panthers

8:27 – Kickoff, Ameer Abdullah returns the kickoff to the 47 from the 2-yard line

7:43 – MN possession, 2^nd and 7 at the 50, Kirk Misses a wide-open JJ for a deep TD. Vikes settle for a FG 7-6

1:12 – CAR possession, 2^nd and 7 CAR 41, James Lynch with the sack to make it 3^rd and 15.

2^nd Quarter

12:56 – MN possession, 2^nd and 3 CAR 45, Thielen 24-yard grab to get near the Red Zone. The Vikes take a shot on 2^nd and short! Lead to TD. 12-7 Vikes

11:05 – 2 pt conversion after the Vikes TD is no good. Penalty brought the possession, down to the 1 for the attempt and the Vikes tried running up the middle. Cook almost turns it into 2 points bouncing outside but gets tackled by the shoestrings.

10:47 – CAR possession, 3^rd and 10CAR 25, Roby Anderson drops a likely first down catch. 3 and out for the Panthers.

6:24 – CAR possession, 3^rd and 10 at the 50, DJ Moore takes a short pass for 18 yards to get in FG range. 12-10 Vikes

2:00 – CAR possession, 1^st and 10 CAR 27, 15 Yard penalty on Xavier Woods for a hit on a defenseless receiver. I thought it was a good call, unfortunately. Woods hit the receiver high on the chest with his shoulder. These days that is considered forceable contact with the head or neck area.

1:02 – CAR possession, 3^rd and 15 MN 40, Offensive Holding on J. Miller. Moved theball back to the 50 when the play was good for 7 yards and got them in FG range. Carolina must punt.

0:23 – MN possession, 2^nd and 10 MN 33, holding Garrett Bradbury. Stops the last-minute drive for points and the next play they run Cook to end the half. The Vikes were moving the ball and it was ruined by Bradbury.

3^rd Quarter

14:55 – MN possession, 2^nd and 10 MN 25, Holding Oli Udoh, sets the team back to 2^nd and 17 on the opening drive of the 2^nd half.

14:38 – MN possession, 2^nd and 17 MN 18, Kirk throws the ball backwards to Cook and loses 9 yards. 3^rd and 26 and time for a 3 and out to start the half.

11:41 – CAR possession, 3^rd and 10 CAR 35, Holding on Mackenzie Alexander. Gives the Panthers a free first down on 3^rd and long.

9:57 – CAR possession, 3^rd and 15 CAR 36, holding on Bashaud Breeland. Gives the Panthers a free first down on 3^rd and long.

6:49 – MN possession, 4^th and 8 MN 24, kick is blocked for a TD after another 3 and out. Block was way too easy up the middle. 17-12 Panthers

5:28 – MN possession, 3^rd and 1 MN 30, CJ Ham with a 30-yard run! He juked the safety out of his cleats! Lingerie on the floor.

4:48 – MN possession, 1^st and 10 CAR 40, 24-yard pass to Conklin to get to the 16.

4:00 – MN possession, 1^st and 10 CAR 16, Cook takes it in for the TD. 2 pt conversion no good. 18-17 Vikings

4:00 – CAR possession, 1^st and 10 MN 25, Xavier Woods forces a DJ Moore fumble. Kendricks recovers the ball at the CAR 41.

3:51 – MN possession, 1^st and 10 CAR 39, 35-yard pass to Thielen on what appears to be the same play that was missed to JJ earlier in the game.

2:24 – MN possession, 3^rd and Goal CAR 5, Thielen TD from his knees! Great catch by Adam and if he doesn’t catch it, it is a likely FG for the team. 25-17 Vikes

4^th Quarter

14:52 – MN possession, 1^st and 10 MN 17, holding on Oli Udoh brings the ball back to the MN 9

14:26 – MN possession, 1^st and 18 MN 9, 17-yard pass to JJ. Huge play in a situation the usually leads to a MN punt, makes it 2^nd and 1. (which of course we run the next play and lose a yard).

13:02 – MN possession, 3^rd and 2 MN 25, 26-yard-deep pass to JJ to get to the CAR 49. JJ keeps the drive going. The Vikes take a shot on 3^rd and 2 and are rewarded with a big play.

12:31 – MN possession, 1^st and 10 CAR 49, Cook runs for 23 yards to the CAR 26, he fumbles, but Thielen is there to recover at the 24. (Almost a big negative play) FG good a few plays later 28-17 Vikes

9:05 – CAR possession, 2^nd and 10 CAR 30, Dalvin Tomlinson gets the sack, but is called for a face mask. It wasn’t a face mask, but he did hit him in the head, which is a no-no on the QB. Either way it ends up the same, 1^st and 10 from CAR 45.

8:36 – CAR possession, 2^nd and 10 CAR 45, Armon Watts with the sack and forced fumble. Fumble recovered by Tomlinson. MN possession, at the CAR 38!

7:05 – MN possession, 4^th and 4 CAR 32, Greg Joseph misses the 50-yard FG after a 3 and out from the Vikings offense. Vikings took a shot to Thielen on 3^rd and 4 the play before and it didn’t work.

7:00 – CAR possession, 1^st and 10 CAR 40, Sam Darnold runs for 30 yards the play after the missed FG. Instantly gets the ball moving and shifts momentum.

6:09 – CAR possession, 2^nd and 6 MN 26, Brandon Zylstra for 21 yards down to the 5. It seems inevitable a TD is coming, but a solid hold from the 5-yard line for a FG. 28-20 Vikes

4:41 – MN possession, 1^st and 10 MN 25, Tyler Conklin with the 40-yard catch and run. 2^nd big play of the game.

3:05 – MN possession, 3^rd and 8 CAR 33, we all know what is coming. Instead of going for the kill shot, the team runs the ball with Cook for -3 yards. The team decides to punt the ball instead of a long FG.

2:18 – MN possession, 4^th and 16 CAR 41, after a purposeful delay of game penalty Jordan Berry perfectly punts the ball and it is downed at the 4. This will make the Panthers drive 96 yards in a little over 2 minutes.

1:54 – CAR possession, 4^th and 10 CAR 4, after 3 straight incompletions, Darnold hits a bomb on 4^th and 10 for 41 yards to get to the CAR 45.

0:51 – CAR possession, 4^th and 6 MN 32, another big play on 4^th down for 25 yards. The ball is downed at the MN 7 and leads to a TD.

0:42 – CAR 2 pt conversion, easy shovel pass up the middle converts for 2. 28-28, Carolina gets the conversion it needs after MN fails twice.

0:38 – MN possession, 2^nd and 6 MN 29, Kirk scrambles for 16 yards to get the first down and gets out of bounds. We’re in business now!

0:06 – MN possession 2^nd and 10 CAR 29, Greg Joseph misses the potential game winning 47-yard FG. OT coming.

Overtime

10:00 – Coin Toss, Vikes win and get the ball first. 1^st and 10 from the MN 25. Do they win if this coin toss goes to the Panthers?

8:29 – MN possession, 3^rd and 3 MN 43, KJ Osborn for 13 yards converts for the first down. A miss there and it is punt time and likely losing time.

7:11 – MN possession, 2^nd and 6 CAR 40, Dalvin Cook rushes for 16 yards in his last play of the game. Huge to get the team closer and not relying on a long FG to win again.

5:55 – MN possession, 2^nd and 13 CAR 27, KJ Osborn for the game winning TD! KJ makes the nice play to stretch over the pylon for the win! It shouldn’t have come to this.

That’s a lot of big plays late in the game. Vote for your biggest play below. Probably another obvious choice this week.