The Vikings kept their playoff hopes alive with a little Hail Mary magic

The Vikings came into this week with no margin for error, not if they wanted to make the playoffs. They needed a win at Detroit, and for as easy as that sounds, things were not looking good for the Vikings until the very end of the first half.

With the season on the line, Kirk Cousins and Kyle Rudolph connected for a Hail Mary touchdown right before halftime that gave them a 14-9 lead heading into the locker room.

Minnesota’s offense was really struggling through most of the first half. The Vikings had four straight three-and-outs to start the game. For the first 25 minutes, they had a total of FOUR yards on 12 plays. They finally got on the board with a touchdown with a 1:35 left in the half. Detroit had the chance to add to their lead at that point, but squandered the opportunity to give the Vikings one more possession before the half.

A 15-yard penalty on the Lions’ punt put the Vikings at their own 30 to start the drive. Five plays later with just two seconds left on the clock, Minnesota turned the tables completely.

Kirk Cousins’ heave to the end zone was caught cleanly by Rudolph, who barely had to jump to make the catch. The Lions defense had six defenders in the end zone, but didn’t really even contest the jump ball to Rudolph.

Rudolph’s touchdown gave the Vikings a 14-9 lead going into the break. He chipped in with another touchdown in the third quarter to push their lead to 24-9. Minnesota ended up winning 27-9.

Just two weeks ago, the Vikings fired first year offensive coordinator John DeFilippo and gave the playcalling duties to quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanaski. Minnesota’s offense has played great football over the past two weeks, but that’s likely a big product of the defenses that have faced — the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions have two of the worst defenses in the league.

The Vikings were 7-6-1 heading into the game against the Lions and needed Washington and Philadelphia to lose, combined with their own win, to secure a playoff berth. Washington lost to the Titans 25-16, but the Eagles beat the Texans 32-30 on a walkoff field goal attempt by Jake Elliott.

With the Cowboys beating the Bucs by a score of 27-20 and locking up a playoff spot, four of the six NFC playoff seeds are now filled.

Minnesota’s playoff path is pretty clear right now: win in Week 17 and they’re in. That’s easier said than done against the Chicago Bears and their terrorizing defense, but at the very least they control their own destiny now.