Vikings vs Chargers 28-24

 An unusual and chaotic scene played out Sunday afternoon in the final seconds of the Los Angeles Chargers' 28-24 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings had converted a fourth down to the Chargers' 6-yard line with 35 seconds remaining. They had no timeouts, but instead of spiking the ball to stop the clock, they attempted to line up and quick-snap the Chargers, hoping to score the winning touchdown before the defense was fully set.

There was one problem. The crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium was so loud that quarterback Kirk Cousins couldn't hear coach Kevin O'Connell's playcall, both Cousins and O'Connell said afterward. A full 23 seconds ran off the clock as Cousins tried to hear O'Connell, and eventually just decided to call a play on his own. It ended with a tipped pass toward tight end T.J. Hockenson that Chargers linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr. intercepted to seal the game with seven seconds left.

A few plays here and there have created a colossal difference between being 0-3 and 3-0, or at the very least 1-2 with a win Sunday. The Vikings have lost all three of their games of 2023 by one possession a season after going 11-0 in such contests.

There were so many chances to put the game away and a second chance after the Chargers tried to run up the middle on fourth-and-1 from their own 24 with 1:47 left in the game.

Jonathan Bullard stuffed Joshua Kelley behind the line of scrimmage to give the ball back to Minnesota.

"My expectations are always sky-high for our group, so I'm trying to steal one more play," he said. "But clearly with that much time going off the clock, even though I don't think ultimately time was the issue with the game ending the way it did ... that one was purely on me, trying to be too aggressive in that moment. Definitely looking back on it, I just wish I would have clocked it. No matter the benefit we had going fast, the value was not received ... with what that execution looked like in that moment."

The sequence was one of many that went the Chargers' way Sunday, including what turned out to be the winning score: a 30-yard pass from quarterback Justin Herbert that tipped off the hands of Vikings cornerback Akayleb Evans and into those of receiver Joshua Palmer. But the Vikings dominated those situations in 2022 en route to winning 11 games by one score. They have played three one-score games in 2023 and lost them all.

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 Sarah H

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