The Vikings should remember something from the comeback that they want to forget

The Minnesota Vikings made history two years ago when they overcame a 33-0 halftime deficit to beat the Indianapolis Colts 39-36 in overtime. However, Minnesota's coaches haven't given that game much thought since.

“Yeah, I hope I never have to go through this again,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. “You don’t want to go down so badly, but it showed you how resilient the guys we have are.”

“This game left a bad taste in my mouth,” echoed special teams coordinator Matt Daniels. “Even though it was part of the story, from a special teams perspective, there were a lot of things that went wrong in that game.”

On Minnesota's first possession, the Colts blocked Ryan Wright's punt and returned it for a touchdown, giving them a 10-0 lead. Then, early in the second quarter, the Vikings faked a punt on fourth-and-1 from their 31-yard line. Wright's pass fell incomplete and Indianapolis converted a field goal to make it 23-0.

However, special teams alone couldn't get the Vikings into a 33-0 hole.

• Dalvin Cook fumbled his second possession after the blocked punt.
• Minnesota's next drive lasted four plays. They turned it over on downs when the Colts stopped Cook on a run up the middle on fourth-and-one.
• The journey afterwards took three depths.
• Kirk Cousins ​​​​threw a pick-six from Minnesota's 12-yard line when Jalen Reagor misjudged the Colts' coverage.
• The Vikings took a five-play lead on their next drive, and Matt Ryan led Indianapolis on a nine-play drive, taking a 33-0 lead by halftime.

“A deficit of 33 points is never a good starting point,” said Justin Jefferson. “I mean, it's absolutely embarrassing, to be honest.

“As we were walking into the locker room, the leaders of the team just said a few words. And all we had to do at that moment was just go out there and just play.”

Patrick Peterson famously told the Vikings they only needed five touchdowns. It's the kind of bravery that a team with 13 wins, 11 wins and a negative point differential could muster. The Vikings lived on nothing and ultimately lost to Daniel Jones and the New York Giants in the playoffs. However, they delivered against the Colts.

“Just being a part of history,” Phillips said, recalling the positive elements of the comeback.

“Kevin gave his calls to play and really didn’t panic at the start of the second half. I don't immediately go into two-minute mode. Refereeing football games, directing and executing attacks, and the boys just execute one play at a time. And then you look up and now we have a chance.”

Minnesota tied the game 36-36 in regulation time and earned a victory in overtime on Greg Joseph's 40-yard field goal.

“We said, 'We can't commit to that now.' “We have to get this win here,” Phillips remembers. “But I think it's a good lesson for everyone that the game is never out of reach and it's never time to panic.”

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah used Minnesota's methodical 33-0 comeback as a comparison for rebuilding his squad without tanking. Other than that, however, the Vikings haven't spoken about it since. Jefferson didn't mention his fight with Stephon Gilmore, who was with the Colts when Gilmore signed with Minnesota in August.

However, he learned an important lesson from this experience.

“I mean, when you're down 33 points, you can't really put together a plan to come back,” Jefferson said. “It was just about what everyone wanted to do. Did we want to come back? Or do we just bow out and look forward to next week?

“We gave it our all and are all focused on coming back and winning the game, which we did. But it was definitely a crazy experience just being there and getting that win.”

The Vikings need to apply that principle this season. Vegas won six games and started 5-0. However, the Detroit Lions devised a plan to beat them two weeks ago and the Los Angeles Rams capitalized on it.

Regression threatens to plunge them into a vicious circle. Still, the Vikings have a unique opportunity to capitalize on this year's surprising start. Will they start fighting back this week?