Superbowl XXXIII
The Minnesota Vikings vs The New York Jets
The Minnesota Vikings
The New York Jets, fresh off their stunning upset of the Denver Broncos, are looking to complete their Cinderella season with a Superbowl victory.
The Minnesota Vikings, a storied, but snakebitten franchise, often called the "NFL's Red Sox", squeaked past the Atlanta Falcons, 30-27, after a successful retry of a Gary Anderson field goal in the waning seconds of the 4th quarter. His initial field goal, a kick from 40 yards away was wide left. But one of the referees saw that Gary Anderson was ran into and he threw the flag on the Atlanta Falcons for running into the kicker.
The stage was set. The beat up Minnesota Vikings, lacking some of their star players on defense and offense were heavy underdogs to the New York Jets.
The Jets won the toss and immediately racked up an 80 yard drive on the Vikings, resulting in a field goal from John Hall. The Vikings responded with a 60 yard completion to Jake Reed on a post route off of a play action pass. They moved the ball 25 more yards until the offense stalled and the scores matched. Vinny Testeverde then threw a screen pass to Curtis Martin, who shredded the weakened Vikings defense again for a 50 yard touchdown.
The Jets were up 20-3 By halftime and that sinking feeling was being felt again in the stomachs of Viking fans. Internet messageboards were filled with rival Packer and Bear fans mocking the Vikings. One Packer fan called the Vikings the 0-V kings.
But the Vikings were not to be stopped. In the second half, Randall Cunningham hits Randy Moss with an 80 yard bomb for a touchdown after the opening kickoff. Then Vinny Testeverde gets intercepted by Corey Fuller for a touchdown. All of a sudden, the Vikings are down 20-17 with 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Vinny then throws a strike to Keyshawn Johnson at the Vikings 34 with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter. But then the Vikings defense stiffens up and only allows the Jets to score 3 points with 6 minutes left to go. The Vikings then milk the clock with Robert Smith to the Jets 30 with 3 minutes to go. Then the Vikings hit Jake Reed again with a 20 yard strike. The Vikings then run the ball and score a touchdown with only 2:03 left on the clock. The Vikings are up 24-23.
The Jets then respond. Vinny rallies his team to the Vikings 40 and they prepare to score a field goal. But then Dennis Green does something gutsy. He lets Curtis Martin score with 50 seconds left in the game. The Jets are up 29-24. The Jets then decide to go for 2. The ball is batted down on the 2 point conversion. The Vikings are down 5 points and have all 3 of their timeouts. The Vikings send out Randy Moss as their kick returner. That struck fear into John Hall, who tried to kick the ball away from Randy Moss, but ended up kicking the ball out of bounds. The greatest offense known to man at that point was given a 20 yard head start. And they made the Jets pay. Randall Cunningham then hits Cris Carter for a 20 yard strike with 30 seconds left. The Vikings then spike the ball. The Vikings, on the Jets 40, then throw a wide receiver screen pass to Randy Moss, who takes it 30 yards to the Jets 10 with 20 seconds left on the clock. The Vikings call a time out.
The Vikings are now on the Jets 10 yard line. The Vikings snap the ball. Randall Cunningham cocks his arm despite the perfect coverage the Jets have on all 3 of the Vikings all-pro wide receivers. The secondary prepares for an interception.... Just to realize that Randall Cunningham called a pump draw play and Leroy Hoard enters the endzone untouched with 15 seconds left in the game.
The Vikings are up 30-29 after the extra point. The Vikings then kick the ball out of bounds to prevent a return with 15 seconds left. The Jets have 1 timeout left and need to get the ball to the Vikings 34 yard line to give John Hall a decent chance to win the game. The Vikings play prevent. Vinny then finds Wayne Chrebet at the Vikings 40 yard line with 7 seconds left. The Jets call a time out. The Jets then try the impossible. A 59 yard field goal. The ball is snapped, the kick is up... and the flags are out.....the Jets false started. 10 second runoff penalty enforced. Game over, Vikings win.
