When the Minnesota Vikings trailed 33-0 early on Saturday, there was no sign that we were in for one of the craziest weekends in sports ever.
By the time it was over, we had several walk-in touchdowns, biggest comeback in NFL history, official controversies, A goofy late-game New England Patriots play that will go down as one of the most memorable of all time and…something else…ah okay, a World Cup final that features on a short list of the greatest football matches of all time and possibly the greatest sporting events of all time.
And it all started so innocently in Minnesota.
Return of the Vikings kicks off
The funny thing about the Vikings and the biggest comeback in NFL history is that Minnesota started with a three-and-out after halftime. This player has lost eight meters.
After that, Kirk Cousins and the Vikings exploded. They scored touchdowns on four of their next five possessions. There have even been refereeing fiascos in which the Vikings cornerback Chandon Sullivan had two canceled fumble return touchdowns. The second was extremely bad, as officials ruled a dead play when Colts running back Deon Jackson was nowhere near being downed. It didn’t matter. The Vikings got a great game-tying touchdown on an on-screen pass to Dalvin Cook then won in overtime.
It’s the 103rd season in NFL football and no other team has come back from a streak of 33 or more points to win. We will remember this game.
Bills earn as time expires
The Baltimore Ravens-Cleveland Browns game midway through Saturday was a dud, but hopefully you’ve changed to see North Carolina basketball tied with Ohio State at the buzzer and win in overtime instead. It was really a great sporting weekend.
The NFL’s final game on Saturday saw another straight win. Josh Allen wore the Buffalo Tickets to a return to the fourth quarter in a snowstorm, and the Bills won it 32-29 on a field goal when time expired.
I hope you slept before France against Argentina.
A sporting event of all time
It’s hard to judge the greatest match or game in the entire history of the sport, but the 2022 World Cup final wouldn’t be a bad choice. Kylian Mbappé scored three times, each with France trailing and including one at the end of extra time to tie the game 3-3. Lionel Messi scored twice. When Argentina won on penalties, Messi had cemented his legacy as one of the greatest players of all time. Mbappé had pleaded for the greatest player of the moment. This game had it all.
And then our NFL day began.
Tense NFL games to start the day
In the early games, we had two touchdowns in overtime, one from Kansas City Chiefs and another from Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars’ pick six beat the Dallas Cowboyscrowning a great comeback and a amazing breakout performance of Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Chiefs winner was for the AFC West title. Also Detroit Lions beat the New York Jets with a 51-yard catch by tight end Brock Wright in fourth-and-inches just after the two-minute warning. The Jets missed a field goal to tie in the final game. This victory could end up bringing the Lions back to the playoffs for the first time in six years.
We had witnessed it all, and the craziest single game of the NFL season (or any season?) was yet to come.
A miraculous victory for the Raiders
In late matches, the Tennessee Titans tied it Los Angeles Chargers In the final minute, only for the Chargers to quickly go down for a game-winning field goal with four seconds left. We also had the Cincinnati Bengals rally from a 17-0 deficit – ‘What’s so special about it?’ the Vikings ask – to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady has been 89-0 in home games when he led by 17 or more, until Sunday. It was a weekend for returns.
And then it got really weird. We remember Jim Marshall running the wrong way, Leon Lett’s Thanksgiving blunder in the snow, Dwayne Rudd taking off his helmet to cost the Browns the win, and we’ll always remember the patriots the full-back inexplicably towards the defensive end of the Raiders chandler joneswho has the stiff arms of the Patriots quarterback McJones into oblivion and returned the gift for one of the weirdest touchdowns of all time.
Just in case you needed more, there was a New York Giants win on the Washington Commanders Sunday night that included two controversial calls in recent games, including missed pass interference on fourth down.
Poor Nikola Jokic. Sunday evening, the Denver nuggets The center had 40 points, 27 rebounds and 10 assists, becoming the first NBA player to post a 40-25-10 line since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968. Any other weekend, we would have him. noticed.
Craziest sports weekend ever?
It would be hard to quantify the craziest or greatest sports weekend of all time, but it would be hard to top December 1st. 17-18, 2022.
There were wild comebacks and five winners in the NFL (and that’s not counting the Chargers who won with four seconds left). We had a historic number of close matches.
There were two world footballing superstars who combined for five goals in a World Cup final that was an all-time classic. We had good college hoops, college football games, and a back-to-back NBA MVP that put together a stat line we haven’t seen in 54 years.
If you’re a big sports fan, you might have had to call in sick on Monday just to get over it all.
0 Comments