Vikings Fans Celebrate After Stunning Playoff Victory Against Saints
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - The soundtrack of Vikings fandom is like a greatest hits of groans mixed with stunned silence.
So you can excuse the shrieking glee as the purple and gold faithful at City Works, a sports bar in downtown Minneapolis, jumped for joy after witnessing their beloved team earn an incredible playoff victory in overtime against the New Orleans Saints.
"This was a rare glimpse of happiness as a Vikings fan," fan Joe Hagen said.
Lisa Carter added, "It's like being in a bad marriage sometimes. But then we had counseling and made it and we live to see another day."
The script is rarely written with this type of ending, so much that the word "miracle" is attached to the Vikings' previous playoff win (which also came against the Saints).
"I honestly think I need to be pinched. I think this is a dream I need to be woken up from," said Hagen.
There were moments when his dream could've turned into a nightmare much to the happiness of the contingent of Saints fans in the restaurant. At one point in the fourth quarter, Vikings running back Dalvin Cook appeared to have fumbled the ball, which led to a Saints touchdown that took the lead. It was overturned during a review of the play that showed Cook was tackled prior to losing the ball.
"I was nervous, it could've went either way," said Carter.
But it went their way thanks to clutch connections in overtime between quarterback Kirk Cousins and wide receiver Adam Thielen, then tight end Kyle Rudolph in the end zone for the game-winner.
"You gotta just believe in them to the very last second, you never know what can happen and we fully believed in them and they made it happen," said fan Alex.
She and many in her group were sporting the Vikings, "If You Want It, Go Get It" playoff mantra t-shirt. They were also quick to sing the "Skol Vikings" team song in their elation. That's one tune from the fandom soundtrack that will be on repeat for a bit.
The Vikings face the San Francisco 49'ers, the NFC's number one seed, next Saturday in Santa Clara, California.