CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the fourth time in six weeks, the Vikings needed Kirk Cousins to put them in position for a game-tying or game-winning field goal at the end of the fourth quarter.
The fact Greg Joseph missed as time ran out in regulation on Sunday didn't matter.
Cousins drove the Vikings downfield for a game-winning score on the first series of overtime, hitting K.J. Osborn for a 27-yard touchdown to give the Vikings a 34-28 win over the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.
The win brought the Vikings back to 3-3 heading into their bye week, and moved them into a tie for second in the NFC North with the Bears, who lost to the Packers on Sunday. It was the second straight week the Vikings won after blowing a double-digit fourth-quarter lead.
Cousins finished 33 of 48 for 373 yards and three touchdowns. Dalvin Cook returned to the lineup and rushed for 140 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. Adam Thielen had 11 catches for 126 yards and touchdown.
Sam Darnold threw an interception on his first attempt of the game, and completed just five of his 18 passes in the first half for 60 yards. He finished 17 of 41 for 207 yards and an interception; the Panthers dropped more than a half-dozen passes, but Darnold threw off-target on several of them.
The biggest Vikings special teams error of the day — in a game that was full of them — staked the Panthers to a lead late in the third quarter.
Frankie Luvu broke through the middle of the Vikings' line, beating Stephen Weatherly and blocking Jordan Berry's punt, and Kenny Robinson recovered it for a touchdown. Despite the fact Darnold hadn't eclipsed 100 passing yards, the Panthers took a 17-12 lead.
The blocked punt, though, provided the jolt the Vikings' offense needed to emerge from a second-half stupor that had lasted nearly five weeks.
They went 79 yards in five plays for a go-ahead touchdown on their next drive, highlighted by C.J. Ham turning a fullback dive into a 30-yard gain with a nice cut in the middle of the Panthers' defense. After Cook's touchdown run, Cameron Danztler and Xavier Woods stripped D.J. Moore of the ball on the Panthers' first offensive play, and the Vikings turned Eric Kendricks' fumble recovery into another touchdown drive when Thielen somehow maintained his balance after stumbling out of his break, finishing a diving grab near the sideline for a 3-yard score.
The Vikings' next drive netted 63 yards but ended with only a Greg Joseph field goal, putting them up 28-17 with 10:19 to play.
It wasn't enough for the Vikings to hold the lead, though, after Darnold put the Panthers in position for a field goal thanks to a 30-yard scramble. Joseph missed a 50-yard field goal, and after the Vikings punted, Carolina put together an 11-play, 96-yard drive for the game-tying score.
Minnesota lost cornerback Patrick Peterson to cramps on a deep incomplete pass to D.J. Moore, and after Peterson was carted to the locker room, the Panthers drove for a TD and two-point conversion to tie the game.
The Vikings scored on two of their first three possessions of the game, but opted for two field goals inside the Panthers' 10 when analytics models said to go for it both times.
A.J. Bouye stripped Justin Jefferson on the Vikings' second possession, setting up Carolina's only touchdown of the half. Minnesota answered with a touchdown drive, but after a Panthers personal foul put the Vikings at Carolina's 1-yard line for a two-point try, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak called a shotgun handoff that was stuffed after Dalvin Cook bounced outside and tried to beat Bouye to the corner.
That put the Vikings ahead 12-7. On the Panthers' final drive of the first half, trailing 12-10, Carolina was flagged for delay of game when Darnold tried to call a timeout on back-to-back plays. A holding penalty pushed the Panthers out of range for a go-ahead field goal.
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October 18, 2021 at 04:11AM
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Vikings win another one down to the wire, 34-28 over Carolina in overtime - Minneapolis Star Tribune
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