Moments to remember from a Vikings-Bills game for the ages

Sunday's 33-30 overtime win over the Bills has been called the game of the year in the NFL, and even the best regular-season Vikings game in team history. The four Star Tribune staff members who traveled to Orchard Park, N.Y., share the moments that stick out for each of them from one of the wildest games they have ever covered.

BEN GOESSLING, staff writer

I spend the final few minutes of every Vikings game trying to keep my eyes on three separate things: the early game story I file seconds after the conclusion, the detailed spreadsheet I keep on each play of the Vikings' season and, if time allows, the action on the field. The Vikings have played 21 one-score games since the beginning of 2021. Those games are where my five years covering 90- and 100-loss baseball teams, with bullpens bad enough to ruin game stories in seconds, come in handy: I've learned to work and think quickly. There are times, though, when the game demands you slow down.

Justin Jefferson created one of those moments on Sunday. From the press box in the Highmark Stadium end zone, it appeared Cam Lewis had either intercepted or deflected Kirk Cousins' pass. Either way, the Bills would win, and I'd be finishing a game story about how the Vikings' rally had fallen just short. It wasn't until Jefferson emerged from the pile with the ball that I did a double take, quickly turning to a replay that confirmed he had, in fact, kept the Vikings alive with the catch of a lifetime. In 11 years covering the Vikings, I've only seen one other moment that left me as dumbfounded; the quarterback and receiver who created that moment were on the Bills' sideline when Jefferson made his catch.

ANDREW KRAMMER, staff writer

Vikings right tackle Brian O'Neill grabbed me as I passed him in the visitor's locker room at Highmark Stadium. O'Neill, a team captain and the leader of an otherwise purposefully understated offensive line, had something to share.

"What a game," O'Neill said. "We were just talking about how this was one of the hardest-fought wins of our lives."

He pointed nearby to center Garrett Bradbury, who nodded with a smile that seemed involuntary. They put Sunday's 33-30 overtime win against the Bills up there with the January 2020 playoff win in New Orleans as the wildest they'd shared in four years together. The offensive line didn't make any highlight reel catches or scores, but after a 481-yard effort in a four-hour game against Von Miller and a vaunted Bills defense, there wasn't a corner of that locker room happier than theirs.

LA VELLE E. NEAL III, columnist

Yes, Justin Jefferson was ridiculous. Yes, we may never see a team get stopped on fourth down at the 1 and then score a touchdown on the next play.

But what stood out to me Sunday was the awesome atmosphere in Orchard Park and how welcoming Bills fans are.

I've been to a few pregame tailgates — Kansas City, Dallas, Chicago, Cleveland, Tampa — and there's some booing and heckling of the visiting fans. Some of the things Cleveland fans yelled at Cincinnati fans were, uh, inventive.

While walking through the parking lot outside Highmark Stadium, I noticed groups of Bills fans and Vikings fans having casual conversations over beers and a lot of chili.

It was a party atmosphere without heckling or trash-talking. Buffalo fans were passionate and loyal and didn't mind kibitzing with the visitors wearing purple. Vikings fans fit right in.

When we left for the airport about 90 minutes after the game, diehards kept tailgating in the darkness as temperatures dropped and light snow fell.

JERRY HOLT, photographer

The Justin Jefferson catch happened so fast, not any time to think about it. I knew that I did not have a great angle on the play. I used a 400 mm lens and a fast shutter speed to freeze the action.

It's very stressful knowing that you only get one chance to capture a moment so graceful and athletic, and the only thing that you can do is just react to the changing situation.

Later Jefferson caught a pass and was just short of the end zone. It is nerve-racking trying to figure out where ball is going. I positioned myself in the end zone near the Vikings sideline so that I could also see the bench and the coach in case there is a reaction to the play.

After several plays, Kirk Cousins tried to score on a quarterback sneak. The call on the field was that he was stopped short of the goal line. During the replay, Vikings players stood on the field watching the scoreboard. The Bills took over on downs, and I thought it was over.

But no, Josh Allen fumbled, and Eric Kendricks scored. I was trying to stay focused with fans screaming, and all the emotions of the game. Everything seemed like it was in slow motion. One of the strangest games I have ever seen.