The Minnesota Vikings pulled off a remarkable win on Sunday night in the thrilling 29-24 win over the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round matchup.
It was wrapped up by a game-winning 61-yard touchdown reception by Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs on what turned out to be the final play of the game. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, it marked the first time a “walk-off” touchdown has occurred in a playoff game in league history.
If it seemed unprecedented, it’s because it was: Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs to end game was first ever “walk-off” touchdown in the 4th quarter of a postseason game, per Elias.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 15, 2018
It was a miraculous play by Diggs, who made one of the biggest plays in franchise history to put the Vikings into the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 2009 season. The 24-year-old was huge on that final drive making a 19-yard reception to push his team to the 39-yard line, and just a couple plays later he made the huge reception with 10 seconds left as Saints rookie safety Marcus Williams made the poor decision to go low on his tackle attempt and missed completely.
It opened up the field entirely for Diggs to essentially trot into the end zone after regaining his balance and tip-toeing the sideline to stroll into the end zone. This was a play that quarterback Case Keenum was looking to get in field goal range for a chance for Kai Forbath to hit the game-winning goal with a few seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.This reception capped off a huge performance for the third-year wideout, who finished with six catches for 136 yards and a touchdown.
The Vikings will now have an intriguing matchup on the road against the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. The winner will get a trip to Super Bowl LII, which will be played on the Vikings' home turf of U.S. Bank Stadium.
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