Cardinals Miracle 20-17 Win Over Vikings : Deja Vu ( recap & pics )

[dogwood30]

Last Night

Today in the NJLMFL- Where The Legends Play

NFC WILDCARD PLAYOFF GAME 2

Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings

Déjà vu

Let’s go back to Super Bowl 45. Kurt Warner scrambles 12 yards for a TD as time runs out giving the Cardinals their first Super Bowl Victory. Fast forward to last night and history repeats itself in a classic game in the frigid air of Minnesota.

1st Half- The first half featured Defense Defense Defense. Neither team could make a big play on offense and both defenses were rock solid. The first quarter was scoreless. The second quarter was more of the same until late in the half Minnesota finally mounted a drive deep into Cardinals territory. The Arizona defense held tough and Minnesota got a 27 yd FG from Gary Anderson on the last play of the half for a 3-0 Minnesota lead at the break.

2nd Half- The second half opened with more defense. Halfway through the 3rd quarter Minnesota DE Jim Marshall picked off a batted ball and returned it to the Arizona 39. Four plays later Tommy Kramer hit TE Steve Jordan with a 7 yd pass and the Vikings led 10-0 with 6:35 left in the 3rd. The quarter ended 10-0 as the Cardinals could not get any offense going against the Purple People Eaters. Arizona finally got some offense going after a nice punt return and a pass interference penalty. The Cardinals broke through when QB Kurt Warner hit WR Roy Green for a 54 yd TD to put Arizona on the board. Minnesota blocked Neil Rackers extra point attempt so the score was 10-6 in favor of the Vikes with just 5:23 left in the game. On the kickoff Viking return man Brent McLanahan muffed the kick and fell on the ball at the Minnesota 9 yd line. On second down Tommy Kramer threw a short slant for Randy Moss but Arizona DB Tim McDonald intercepted the pass and returned it to the Minnesota 7 with 2:35 left in the game. After 2 runs got the ball to the Vikings 3 yd line Kurt Warner hit RB Terry Metcalf for a 3 yd TD and all of a sudden the Cardinals had a 13-10 lead after Minnesota dominated most of the game. Arizona kicked off with 1:17 left in the game. Minnesota put Chuck Foreman back to return the kick. Foreman got through the first wave of Cardinal defenders cut left and was on his way. Arizona kicker made a shoestring tackle to prevent a Viking TD. Foreman’s 55 yd return put Minnesota on the Arizona 37 with 1:03 left. After a Peterson run got only 2 yards Kramer hit Chuck Foreman out of the backfield for 22 yards to the Cardinals 13 but Kramer was hurt on the play. Backup QB Fran Tarkenton took the field with just :28 to go. The veteran QB wasted no time and hit WR Chris Carter for the go ahead TD with just :20 left in the game. Vikings 17 Cardinals 13. Perhaps by devine intervention the Cardinals got some great breaks. First Gary Anderson’s kickoff sailed through the endzone for a touchback so no time came off the clock. The Cardinals had 2 time outs left. Break number 2 came when Warner threw for Roy Green. Pass interference was called on Antoine Winfield at the Arizona 47 a 27 yard penalty and a time out with :11 to go. On the next play Warner threw incomplete to Ottis Anderson on a screen pass that would not have gone for much yardage which was break number 3. There was just 1 tick left on the clock. Enter Déjà vu. On second down from the Arizona 47 Warner dropped back to throw and rolled left. Time had now expired as Warner looked for a receiver. Every Cardinal receiver was covered so Warner’s only option was to run. Warner’s base had a long loop to the right. Minnesota was in a deep prevent defense so most off their defenders had run through the endzone. Warner ran fairly straight until the Vikings 30 when he began to turn. He was gaining yards but crossing the field at the same time and looked like he would go out of bounds around the Vikings 10 yard line. Break number 4 was a miracle. As Warner crossed the 15 yard line on the numbers WR Steve Breaston came streaking up from behind on Warner’s right. The WR bumped Warner just enough to turn him toward the pylon. Warner crossed the goal line just before going out of bounds ( booth review to confirm ) giving the Cardinals the miracle victory even greater than the one in Super Bowl 45. By rule the Cardinals kicked the extra point for the 20-17 shocker. It was simply amazing to watch Warner cross the field on an angle and then have a team mate come from out of nowhere streak down the field and just bump him enough in the right spot to turn him toward the endzone. This game will go down as one of the greatest in NJLMFL history. The Cardiac Cardinals will now move on to play the Louisville Mustangs in the next round. As for the Vikings the sting of the defeat was colder than the chill in the air.

Scoring

Arizona 0-0-0-20………..20
Vikings 0-3-7-7…………17

1st QTR
No Scoring

2nd QTR
MIN- Anderson 27 yd FG………………………………………………3-0 :00

3rd QTR
MIN- Jordan 7 yd pass from Kramer (Anderson kick)………………10-0 6:35

4th QTR
ARZ- Green 54 yd pass from Warner (kick blocked)………………..10-6 5:23
ARZ- Metcalf 3 yd pass from Warner (Rackers kick)………………..13-10 1:17
MIN- Carter 13 yd pass from Tarkenton (Anderson kick)……………17-13 :20
ARZ- Warner 53 yd run (Rackers kick)………………………………..20-17 :00

[RooMorgans]

That's fantastic stuff!!!

I got to get my stuff unpacked from Miggle so I can pick up where I left off with ECFA action.

Ed

[Drk]

Truely a classic; my poor, poor, Vikings

[canadatabletopgames]

great stuff and pics....too bad for your Vikings

Take it easy

Benster from north of the border

[dallcow4life28]

keep it comin.

[batman]

Nice game recaps and pics. How did you make scoreboard?

Walt

[bigdawg43]

the celebration!!!

[mark robin]

great job. beautiful teams playing each other.

[dogwood30]

The scoreboard comes from the newer Excalibar vibrating football game and includes all 32 teams nameplates.