There were plenty of notable moments in the 2017 NFL season. However, it is hard to find one more remarkable than the “Minneapolis Miracle”.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum's last-second prayer to wide receiver Stefon Diggs to beat the New Orleans Saints will go down as one of the greatest plays in NFL history. That said, it appears there was much more to the play than simply a miraculous pass.
Keenum was able to break it down for a select group of Denver Broncos' fans, via Brian Madden of CBS Denver:
“I had my guy Adam Thielen at X and he had a 7 route. The first part of that play call was 7, so he had a 7 route, which was a corner route. He had more than his share of defenders. He ran a 7 route, I really wanted to throw to him, but he was covered up,” Keenum said. “On this side we layer it. There’s three layers. Kyle Rudolph, who was at Y, he runs the quick out to the sideline. Our F, Jarius Wright, he runs an intermediate out route. And Stefon, who’s at Z, he’s got the high angle 7 heaven. There’s no timeouts left, we’re at our 39, and I remember calling the play and saying, ‘Guys, I’m going to give one of you a chance.'”
Keenum added that even after the catch, the plan was to run out of bounds and go for the field. However, Diggs clearly had other plans.
“Everybody was yelling the same thing I was: ‘Get out of bounds,'” Keenum said. “And he comes down and he turns back inside and this guy [Williams] overshoots it. I don’t see any of that happen. I see Stefon fall and put his hand down and I’m like, ‘No! Get out of bounds!’ And then he starts running toward the end zone and he never gets tackled, and I don’t know what’s going on.”
On the surface, the play just looked like your garden-variety hail mary pass. However, it was clearly much more complex than that. Although things may have gone a bit off-script, it ultimately worked out for the better.
While Diggs managed to come down with the ball, it could have all ended had rookie safety Marcus Williams made the tackle. Unfortunately, his whiff will forever be immortalized as one of the biggest blunders in league history.
Keenum's time in Minnesota may have come to an end but he will always be a major part of this chapter in Vikings lore. He is hoping that he still has a few more miracles up his sleeve as Denver looks to bounce back from their tumultuous 2017 campaign.
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