As fans hold their breath, the Vikings catch theirs in time for a 23-22 comeback win over Arizona

The Cardinals had run their 81st offensive play of the day, where Jonathan Greenard chased Kyler Murray nearly 30 yards from the far hash to the Vikings’ sideline and stopped the Arizona quarterback for a 3-yard gain on his seventh run of the day.

It was the 61st snap for Greenard, who’d dislodged the ball from Murray’s hand for the Vikings’ only sack on the previous play. The edge rusher, who’d been sick with a head cold all week, knelt on the sideline next to the Vikings’ medical staff, his chest heaving as the Cardinals called timeout.

Rookie Dallas Turner took Greenard’s place as the Vikings lined up for a fourth-and-10 snap that could seal a 23-22 victory, but coach Kevin O’Connell spent his final timeout to buy Greenard two more minutes to catch his breath.

“You’re on your last breath, and we need it,” Greenard said. “That last play, you’ve got to be out there and you’ve got to go finish the game.”

Greenard’s offseason workouts were meant to deepen the reservoir from which he’d draw in moments like these, against quarterbacks like Murray who would test his endurance. “If your tongue ain’t on the ground after your workouts, you’re not doing enough,” he said.

The Vikings had taken long enough to emerge from their haze Sunday, in their first home game since Nov. 3, that they would have no easy moments.

Arizona held the ball for 35 minutes 49 seconds in the game, punting only once, posting 406 yards and driving into the red zone six times. The Cardinals built a 19-6 lead in the third quarter, as the 66,873 fans at U.S. Bank Stadium booed the Vikings’ somnambulant offense.

It appeared, for much of the day, as though the Vikings would lose for the third time this season, slipping two games behind the Lions and falling even with the Packers for second place in a NFC North division that will likely have three playoff teams.

But the Vikings rallied to take the lead with 1:13 left, on Sam Darnold’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Jones. And with Greenard rushing off the left side on that fourth-and 10, cornerback Shaq Griffin undercut receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.‘s route, intercepting Murray’s pass to seal the game.

“They made it hard on us,” O’Connell said. “We’ve got to be a lot better offensively and see if we can not put ourselves in a hole. But I will say, when we absolutely needed it, to put those drives together and find a way to win the game is obviously the intent of everything here.”

The Vikings have now won 10 times this year, putting together their second five-game win streak of the season in a fashion that’s looked little like their first. Their opening run featured commanding home wins over the 49ers and Texans and an overwhelming first half at Lambeau Field that made them the early story of the season in the NFL. The Vikings have won four of their past five games by one score, outlasting teams with combined records of 21-40.

But they are one of four NFL teams to reach double-digit wins by the first weekend of December, reaching the milestone at the same juncture they did in 2022. They remain within a step of the Lions and a game ahead of the Packers, who play in Detroit on Thursday night to kick off what could be a NFC North finish for the ages. And in overcoming a 13-point deficit against the Cardinals on Sunday, the Vikings completed their biggest comeback since the NFL-record 33-point rally against the Colts two years ago.

“Another resilient win,” said quarterback Sam Darnold, after beginning his postgame news conference with an exaggerated deep breath that drew laughter from the room. “The way our defense played, the way they were able to stop the field goals early on, even late in the game, they continue to come up big for us. Just a resilient, resilient effort by the offense. It wasn’t the first half we wanted. We’ve got to get better in a lot of ways. The way we battled in the second half was awesome.”

The quarterback threw for 104 of his 235 yards in the fourth quarter, completing seven of his 12 passes while leading two scoring drives to complete the Vikings’ comeback. With the Vikings facing a fourth-and-5 just before the two-minute warning, Darnold ripped a throw to Justin Jefferson, finding the receiver in the middle of the zone coverages the Cardinals had used all day.

Jefferson said he got excited when he heard the play call come in, figuring he might get the ball given Arizona’s coverage scheme. He and Darnold connected on the play the way they’d done in a Thanksgiving Day practice.

“They brought a really good pressure on that play as well, but I was able to get the ball out and convert,” Darnold said.

Then, for the game-winning touchdown, the quarterback hit Aaron Jones, the player for whom the day’s turnaround might have been the most poignant.

Jones fumbled for the third time in as many games on the Vikings’ first offensive play, before Brian O’Neill recovered the ball and preserved a drive that would turn into a game-tying Parker Romo field goal. With the score still tied at 3-3 late in the first quarter, Jones fumbled again, this time giving the ball away when Sean Murphy-Bunting stripped him.

The Cardinals missed a field goal on the ensuing drive, but Jones watched most of the next two series from the sideline, standing next to running backs coach Curtis Modkins with his helmet on his head and his hands on his hips, before returning for a run that lost 4 yards late in the half.

“That’s not me,” Jones said of the fumbling. “I’m not going to make any excuses. We’ll figure out what’s going on; we’ll correct it. But it’s even more frustrating, because it’s not me. I’ll get that fixed.”

Arizona took a 9-6 lead at halftime, having outgained the Vikings 228-75 while holding the ball for 18:34 of an opening half that strained Minnesota’s defense.

Cornerback Stephon Gilmore departed because of a left hamstring injury shortly before halftime, watching the second half from the sideline after the Vikings decided against a possible return for the 34-year-old cornerback. The Cardinals targeted Gilmore’s replacement Fabian Moreau through the third quarter, getting a 13-yard pass interference penalty on third-and-12 and a 38-yard flag when Moreau tugged on Zay Jones’ jersey on a downfield route.

The drive ended with Murray hitting Harrison over Moreau for a 15-yard touchdown that put Arizona up 19-6 with 4:37 left in the third quarter.

The Vikings responded with a crisper attack, using no-huddle and hurry-up offense on a six-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Darnold hitting Johnny Mundt for a 4-yard score on the backside of a heavy formation. Then, when Murray threw deep for Michael Wilson on third-and-7, Byron Murphy Jr. picked off his former teammate, giving the Vikings a chance to take the lead with a TD.

They settled for a field goal, though, after Jones dropped a touchdown while laying out for a Darnold throw the running back said he “100 percent” should have caught. Arizona drove to the Vikings’ 5 with 4:14 left, and the Cardinals’ win probability peaked at 91%.

A pair of penalties stalled the drive, and rather than trying to seal the game with a touchdown, Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon opted for a 23-yard field goal to go up six.

It gave the Vikings life, and when Jones caught the go-ahead touchdown pass, he said, “it was a sigh of relief.”

“We had ultimate confidence in our defense,” Jones added. “Normally, it’s them feeding us the energy. But if we’re able to give them some, they’re bottling it in and riding with it.”

On Sunday, the Vikings had just enough oxygen to get by.

“I’m not gonna lie to you,” Greenard said. “I’m gonna get some good sleep tonight.”

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