Lafourche Booking Log – Jan. 12, 2018
January 14, 2018Lafourche Booking Log – Jan. 14, 2018
January 16, 2018
Every Saints fan will remember forever exactly where they were on Jan. 14, 2018 at 7:18 p.m.
The New Orleans Saints had it in the bag and were surely just one win away from the Super Bowl.
They’d rallied from 17-0 down and had taken a 24-23 lead with 25 seconds left, thanks to a 43-yard field goal from Wil Lutz.
Then, it happened.
With less than 10 seconds on the clock and with the ball at Minnesota’s 39-yard line, quarterback Case Keenum dropped back to pass.
He was pressured up the middle, so he shot a pass deep down the field toward the sideline for Stefon Diggs – nothing more than a late-game heave.
The Saints had coverage there, but they all misplayed the ball. Safety Marcus Williams tried to make a big hit as Diggs caught the pass, but whiffed.
Diggs collected himself with the football in his mitts, looked up the field and saw nothing but green grass ahead – a stroll in the park toward the end zone, which sealed perhaps the most unbelievable loss in a Saints history, which is filled with plenty of them.
By the time Diggs crossed the goal line, the clock hit triple zeroes and everyone at every Saints party around the state of Louisiana was left wondering the same thing: What in the hell just happened?
The Vikings beat New Orleans on the dramatic last-second play, which sealed a 29-24 win after Minnesota took a knee on the 2-point conversion play.
With the win, they go to the NFC Championship and take on the Eagles.
In defeat, the Saints headed home with questions of what might have been – a loss that fans of the Black and Gold will remember for a long, long time.
“It was an exciting game – obviously a disappointing game,” New Orleans coach Sean Payton said. “I was proud of our players. We fought back in the second half. We made enough plays to put ourselves in that position. This will take a while to get over.”
It was amazing that New Orleans got in position to win in the first place.
The Vikings looked every bit like a Super Bowl contender in the first half, using dominant defense, turnovers and timely offense to open a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and a 17-0 at the half.
The two touchdowns they scored came on a pair of runs – one from Jerick McKinnon and another by Latavius Murray. The field goal was a chip shot from Kai Forbath from 20 yards out.
Both teams had chances to add more, but New Orleans missed a field goal and threw a red zone interception in the first half. The Vikings missed a field goal before halftime.
“We started hot,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “We made plays early on every side of the ball.”
New Orleans started making all of those plays in the second half.
Out of the lockers, the Saints exploded in the second half, flipping the game around in a big way.
The Vikings got the ball first in the third quarter and pushed into field goal range, looking to add to their lead. But on third down, the Saints sacked Keenum and knocked him out of field goal range – a play which seemingly turned the game around.
With possession after the punt, New Orleans found pay dirt on a 14-yard strike from quarterback Drew Brees to Mike Thomas, which cut the lead to 17-7 late in the third quarter.
After a quick interception of Keenum, New Orleans tripped it even further when Brees and Thomas hooked up again to make it 17-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Then, the game got funky.
The Vikings made a field goal to go up 20-14, then stopped New Orleans to get the ball back.
But New Orleans wasn’t done, blocking a Minnesota punt, then going 40 yards on four plays on a pass from Brees to rookie Alvin Kamara to go up 21-20 with three minutes left.
The see-saw swung back in Minnesota’s direction on the next drive when the Vikings went 40 yards on nine plays – a drive capped with a 53-yard field goal from kicker Kai Forbath to go ahead 23-21 with 1:29 left – a score which set the stage for New Orleans to answer back just a minute later when Lutz kicked what he thought would be the game-winner with 25 seconds left to put New Orleans up 24-23.
But Keenum and Diggs had other plans and together, they made history – all while moving one step closer to the Super Bowl.
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