Season saved in London
The Vikings pulled off a last-minute comeback to beat the Browns and improved to 3-2
By Matthew Coller
Survive and advance.
That might not be the normal reaction to a last-second win by a team with championship expectations over the lowly Cleveland Browns but with everything going horribly wrong for the Vikings, they can be thrilled with any type of win. Now they head into the bye week with a chance to get the season back on track.
Backup quarterback Carson Wentz, who sputtered most of the day with inaccuracy and got banged up in the second quarter, found a way to save his best football for the final drive. Wentz completed huge passes to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison to score a game-winning touchdown with 25 seconds left.
The Vikings overcame two lost fumbles, a bevy of penalties and more offensive line injuries as Christian Darrisaw left the game in the third quarter. The go-ahead score was played with Justin Skule, UDFA Joe Huber, Blake Brandel, Will Fries and Walter Rouse up front. Those guys went against a Cleveland defensive line that had been among the nastiest in the NFL.
Say what you will about O’Connell’s play calling — and there were some plays against the Browns that were confusing — when games are on the line, nobody can pick apart an opponent quite like he can, no matter who is under center (or on the O-line, apparently).
He called underneath stuff to TJ Hockenson, a brilliant third-down flat route to Addison to convert in the red zone and then Wentz made a Pro Bowl-caliber pass to win the game.
On the defensive side, there were also some frustrating times. The Vikings didn’t have many answers for rookie star Quinshon Judkins and there were too many drop-backs from young Dillon Gabriel where he looked like a veteran QB. But they also stood tall in several of the biggest moments, especially when the Vikings punted with under four minutes remaining and they forced a three-and-out.
It feels dramatic to say that a Week 5 game over the Browns saved the season but there is a very good argument to say that it did. Falling under .500 with the upcoming schedule would have felt like a death knell.
While we will have a ton of questions about where things go from here, the bye week gives the Vikings an opportunity to get much healthier and get JJ McCarthy back under center.
Who knows what might come next. Maybe we will forget all about the dramatic win over the Browns as the Vikings are stumbling with a tough schedule or maybe the Browns victory will give them the boost of belief that they sorely needed as things appeared to be falling apart after the loss to the Steelers. At least we get to find out.
Certainly 3-2 is not where they wanted to be with the Eagles and Chargers waiting for them in the coming weeks but nobody has to Google “2026 mock drafts” just yet.
In the end, it was the grossest, gnarliest win that they ever could have pulled off.
But, as a genius once said: A win is a win and they will take it.
Here’s how it went down….
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