The Minnesota Vikings were about to lay a huge egg, falling behind 33-0 on their home field to the lowly Indianapolis Colts. Just when all seemed lost, Kirk Cousins and the Vikings mounted the biggest comeback in NFL history while registering a 39-36 victory in overtime.

The win allowed the Vikings (11-3) to clinch the NFC North for the first time since 2017, and they remain the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoff structure behind the Philadelphia Eagles and ahead of the San Francisco 49ers.

There were many heroes for the Vikings in their record-setting comeback, but it's difficult to find anyone who did more than Cousins. He completed 34 of 54 passes for 460 yards with 4 TD passes and 2 interceptions.

The first of those interceptions came in the first half with the Vikings already trailing by a 23-0 margin. As that deficit stretched to 30-0, the crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium was silenced. When the Colts added a field goal 12 seconds before halftime to stretch the deficit to 33 points, it would have been difficult to find any Vikings believers left in the house.

But Cousins changed that in the ensuing 30 minutes

1. Cousins refused to give up

The interception for the touchdown by Julian Blackmon could have ruined any quarterback. What reason did Cousins have to believe the Vikings could turn the game around and deliver a significant comeback?

Whether he believed it or not, Cousins did the unthinkable. It started with a short TD pass to K.J. Osborn, and the comeback started to have some believability when fullback C.J. Ham scored on a 1-yard blast with 1:13 remaining in the third quarter.

After the Vikings got within two scores early in the fourth quarter on a Cousins-to-Justin Jefferson pass, the comeback was well on its way.

2. Late interception did not stop Cousins

Cousins threw a second interception in the 4th quarter when wide receiver Jalen Reagor did not finish his route and free safety Rodney Thomas II cruised in and made an uncontested interception at the Indianapolis 2.

Once momentum gets blunted, it's almost impossible to get it going in the right direction again. Yet, that's just what Cousins did, as he followed that pick with late TD passes to Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook.

Following the Cook touchdown — a 64-yard screen pass that saw the star running back race through the Indianapolis defense — Cousins threw the game-tying 2-point conversion to T.J. Hockenson.

3. Coming through in overtime

The Vikings mounted a huge comeback and had a roaring crowd on their side. However, the comeback was exhausting and it could have all been for nothing if they didn't finish the job in the extra session.

After both teams fell short on their initial possessions, Cousins led the Vikings on a 6-play, 55-yard drive that led to the game-winning 40-yard field goal by Greg Joseph.

Kirk Cousins dug the team out of a hole and then helped the Vikings finish the job.

If he hasn't earned his respect by now, he never will.