Yesterday’s game started (and continued for most of the regulation time) with the Arizona Cardinals looking like the better team. The Vikings didn’t appear to have any interest in being on the field, with a few notable exceptions like Percy Harvin. After 55 minutes of play, the Cardinals had a two touchdown lead and the game seemed to be pretty much done. As did the season. As did head coach Brad Childress.
Then, something amazing happened — the Vikings finally woke up:
By the fourth quarter, it appeared the prudent thing would have been to ignore Wilf’s advice. Chants of “Fire Childress” had been heard in the stadium, and under-fire coach Brad Childress’ seemingly lifeless Vikings trailed Arizona by 14 points with 4 minutes, 39 seconds left.
So, of course, in a season in which the abnormal has become the norm, a giddy Wilf ended up greeting players at the door to the locker room repeating “Great heart” over and over following the Vikings’ 27-24 overtime victory over the Cardinals.
Brett Favre set a career high with 446 passing yards and tied his career best with 36 completions. Percy Harvin had nine catches for a career-high 126 yards, and a defense that hadn’t had a sack in three games had six against Cardinals quarterback Derek Anderson, including two on the opening possession of overtime.
When Ryan Longwell connected on a 35-yard field goal on the Vikings’ first possession of overtime, Childress’ job appeared safe for at least another week. And the Vikings (3-5) pulled out of a last-place tie in the NFC North.
Percy Harvin had a great game, with 214 total yards and moving the chains at key moments, but also had a costly fumble to start the second half. Brett Favre had 446 yards passing, setting a different kind of record: he’s gone nearly 17 years between 400+ yard games.
