What happened with the Minneapolis Miracle?
By: Jake Rajala
The most painful game I witnessed as a die-hard Saints fan had to be the Minneapolis Miracle. The pass interference no-call against the LA Rams was second.
With that said, I remember the Miracle like it was yesterday. I remember the NFL analysts essentially saying the game was over giving the Vikings credit for trying hard. Little did they know that the game wasn’t over.
The Saints pass rush couldn’t get pressure on the play. Case Keenum, who bounced around a couple of teams, launched a bomb to Stefon Diggs. The Saints safety, Marcus Williams, miss-timed his hit and whiffed. This allowed Diggs to catch the ball without anyone hitting him. Williams was scared to hit him early and get a pass interference.
Williams made a significant mistake on the last play of the game. However, let’s not forget that Williams also had an interception earlier in the game. Furthermore, he also had a Pro Bowl-caliber season.
The Saints and Vikings have had intense, close games over the past few years. There is always a taste of revenge for the Saints against the Vikings. The Saints play the Vikings this Sunday at 1 PM and it’s bound to be a blood-bath. The Vikings are 3-0, while the Saints are 1-3. They are at opposite sides right now. Mike Zimmer, Kirk Cousins, and Diggs are gone. Sean Payton, Drew Brees, and Michael Thomas are gone, as well.
The two best players in the game are Justin Jefferson (Vikings) and Chris Olave (Saints). They both can dominate with double coverage on them. Furthermore, they can run any route quite well.
In the end, if Williams miss-timed his hit, I would have rather seen him hit the WR and give the Vikings “average” field goal range. Williams didn’t learn how to tackle gifted skill players. He struggled to take down George Kittle in a regular season game and he actually grabbed Kittle by the facemask, which really hurt the Saints defense.
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