ReportWire

Tag: Dalvin Cook

  • NFL: Bills’ catch vs Vikings should have been overturned

    NFL: Bills’ catch vs Vikings should have been overturned

    ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Vikings beat the Bills in overtime. If not for an officiating mistake, they might have won in regulation.

    The NFL’s senior vice president of officiating acknowledged there was a breakdown in the instant replay process after a pivotal play late in Minnesota’s 33-30 win over Buffalo on Sunday.

    Gabe Davis’ 20-yard reception along the sideline with 24 seconds left in regulation should have been reviewed before the Bills ran another play, Walt Anderson told a pool reporter after the game. The catch happened during Buffalo’s five-play, 69-yard drive that ended with Tyler Bass hitting a 29-yard field goal to force overtime with 2 seconds left.

    “Even though it happens fast and Buffalo hurries to the line of scrimmage for the next play, if the replay official can’t confirm that it was a catch on that long of a completed pass, we should stop play to ensure it was a catch,” Anderson said.

    On replays, it appeared that Davis did not secure the ball while falling out of bounds.

    “It would have been reversed to an incomplete pass because he did not maintain control of the ball after he hit the ground and the ball touched the ground out of bounds,” Anderson said.

    Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said the catch happened in front of him on the sideline. He was unable to challenge the ruling because it occurred in the final 2 minutes, and said he did not get an explanation from officials.

    “I didn’t think it was a catch,” O’Connell said. “In that mode, that needs to be something they need to review from up top, or possibly New York. We didn’t get any clarification on that. I did ask.”

    Anderson said league officials will review the video and audio from the game to determine why there wasn’t a replay.

    “I’ll have to find out from the replay official exactly what he didn’t feel like he saw to stop the game,” Anderson said.

    O’Connell said there might have been another officiating error in overtime that could have affected the result. He questioned whether the Bills had 12 defenders on the field when Minnesota running back Dalvin Cook was tackled for a 3-yard loss on first-and-goal from the Bills 2.

    The Vikings kicked what turned out to be the winning field goal three plays later, but a touchdown on the opening drive of overtime would have ended the game without giving the Bills’ offense a chance to respond.

    Anderson credited replay officials for making the right decision on two key plays in the final minute of regulation.

    He said replays showed Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins’ shoulder was down before he extended the ball over the goal line on fourth-and-goal from the half-yard line with 49 seconds remaining.

    On the next play, Bills quarterback Josh Allen muffed the snap, which was recovered by Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks for a touchdown.

    Anderson said replays clearly showed Allen losing the ball, and officials properly stayed with the call on the field — a Vikings touchdown — after various camera angles were unable to confirm who made the recovery.

    ———

    AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP—NFL

    Source link

  • Spectacular Comeback: Vikings Rally Past Bills In 2022 Game Of The Year

    Spectacular Comeback: Vikings Rally Past Bills In 2022 Game Of The Year

    The winning streak for the Vikings is seven and counting, but this was no run of the mill victory. Instead, the Vikings walked into the home of the bullies, took abuse for three quarters and then relied on skill, speed, grit and toughness to pull out an amazing 33-30 win over the Buffalo Bills.

    It is already being referred to as the Game of the Year, and when it comes to drama, shock value and flat-out skill, it may very well turn out to be the best game played in the 2022 regular season.

    The Bills and their fans were enjoying this matchup quite a bit as the fourth quarter approached. Late in the third, Buffalo had a 27-10 lead after a Tyler Bass field goal. It looked like the game would be a rout in the home team’s favor.

    But on the play after the kickoff, Dalvin Cook ran 81 yards for a touchdown, outracing the Bills to the end zone on the longest run of his career. A 10-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter was a lot better than 17.

    C.J. Ham powered into the endzone from 3 yards out with 4:34 remaining to give the Vikings real hope. They should have been within three points, but Greg Joseph doinked the extra point attempt off the right upright, leaving the deficit at 27-23.

    Once the Vikings defense forced a three-and-out, the game began in earnest. Minnesota began a drive on their own 24, and the Vikings faced a 4th-and-18 from their own 27 at the 2-minute warning. That’s when Justin Jefferson (10-193-1) made the catch of a lifetime, rising up while being blanketed, and coming through with a one-handed catch of a Kirk Cousins pass while falling to the ground, and never letting the ball touch terra firma. The play gained 32 yards for the Vikings.

    As the drive continued, the Vikings, another Cousins-to-Jefferson pass gave the Vikings a 1st-and-goal at the 3. The Bills refused to let the Vikings into the endzone, and when Cousins was stopped on a 4th-down play about six inches from the goal line with 41 seconds remaining, it appeared the Bills would hold on.

    The Vikings had no timeouts, but the Bills would not be taking a knee since Josh Allen would be receiving the snap in his own end zone. Instead of taking the snap and wedging out a yard or two, Allen dropped the snap and linebacker Eric Kendricks recovered it in the endzone for the go-ahead score.

    While this miraculous occurrence looked like the game-winning touchdown, it was not. The Bills drove for a game-tying field goal on the last play of regulation. Buffalo benefitted from an official’s mistake on the drive, as the Bills were credited with a key Gabe Davis reception when the ball hit the ground. Replay was not engaged, but the NFL admitted it should have been.

    Kevin O’Connell’s captains made a call of tails on the coin toss, and it gave the Vikings the ball at the start of overtime. (Note to self – always call tails.) Once again, the Vikings drove the field and it appeared they would win with a touchdown when they had a 1st-and-goal from the 2-yard line. However, Buffalo’s defense rose once more, and O’Connell had to settle for Joseph’s field goal.

    On the ensuing possession, he Bills appeared to be on their way to either matching the field goal or winning the game with a touchdown, but Allen threw the ball into traffic and Patrick Peterson made his second interception of the game to give the Vikings another W.

    It was jubilation for a team that is now 8-1 but was still getting downgraded prior to the win in Western New York. Veteran observers questioned why the Vikings couldn’t win any game besides their season opener by more than one score, and they also questioned whom they had beaten.

    After a 17-point comeback against one of the best teams in the league on the road, the Vikings answered at least one of those questions.

    Nobody was happier than Peterson, who is enjoying a rebirth in Minnesota, and was happy to respond to critics. “We’re not trying to prove them wrong. We just want to continue to prove ourselves right each and every time we step on the field,” said Peterson. “If we’re not a good football team, how could you come back from that deficit? Look at us now.”

    The Vikings are a good team, and right now, they look like a great one. But there’s a new test every week in the NFL, and by the time the Vikings kickoff in Week 11 against the Cowboys, the glory of their triumph over the Bills will be a memory. They will have to prove it again at U.S. Bank Stadium, and in the weeks that follow.

    The goal is to be the best team in early February. It’s just blind optimism to say that’s exactly what will happen, but more than halfway through the season, it appears that the Vikings have more than a puncher’s chance of reaching that goal.

    Steve Silverman, Contributor

    Source link

  • Cousins, Vikings snap to life with late TD, beat Bears 29-22

    Cousins, Vikings snap to life with late TD, beat Bears 29-22

    MINNEAPOLIS — Kirk Cousins scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 2:26 remaining on Minnesota’s fifth third-down conversion of its go-ahead drive, and the Vikings snapped out of their mid-game slump just in time to beat the Chicago Bears 29-22 on Sunday.

    Cameron Dantzler sealed the victory that put the Vikings (4-1) alone in first place in the NFC North by ripping the ball away from former teammate Ihmir Smith-Marsette near the one-minute mark after a pass from Justin Fields to the Minnesota 39.

    Fields went 15 for 21 for a season-high 208 yards and his first touchdown pass in 15 quarters and rushed eight times for 47 yards, but the Bears (2-3) didn’t have enough defense to pull it out.

    Justin Jefferson finished with a career-high 12 catches for 154 yards and caught a 2-point conversion pass from Cousins to push the lead to seven, and Dalvin Cook rushed for 94 yards and two scores.

    Cousins set a franchise record with 17 consecutive completions to start the game, and coach Kevin O’Connell put on a play-calling clinic as the Vikings reached the end zone on their first three possessions for a 21-3 lead midway through the second quarter. Three times last week against New Orleans, they had to settle for field goals after crossing the 20.

    After a punt, two missed field goals and an interception threatened to ruin Minnesota’s stellar start, the Vikings had one more commanding drive.

    David Montgomery scored Chicago’s’ first touchdown on a 9-yard run. Fields hit Velus Jones Jr. from 9 yards out on the first possession of the third quarter get the Bears back into it.

    Early in the fourth, Kindle Vildor picked off Cousins as he rolled right on first down and tried to connect with Adam Thielen at the 30, and the return gave the Bears the ball near midfield. Two plays later, Fields got loose for what would’ve been a 52-yard touchdown run, but Smith-Marsette was called for an illegal block above the waist to wipe that out.

    Cairo Santos instead made his third field goal of the game to give the Bears for a 22-21 lead with 9:31 to go. The Vikings responded with a 17-play, 80-yard march that drained an even 7 minutes off the clock. That drive included a 5-yard run with less than three minutes left by the pocket-preferring Cousins on third-and-5 from the Chicago 20.

    PREGAME

    With division rival Green Bay playing early in London, much of the broadcast was shown on the videoboards as fans filed in and sunlight streamed through the west-facing windows.

    When the Giants took the lead for good in the 29-22 victory over the Packers, the Vikings’ game operations crew sounded the celebratory Gjallarhorn. The crowd roared as Green Bay fell to 3-2 and put Minnesota ahead in the division standings.

    STILL SPECIAL?

    The Vikings under new special teams coordinator Matt Daniels had been stellar in nearly every facet of the kicking game over the first four games, but there were some hiccups Sunday.

    Greg Joseph, who was the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after going 5 for 5 on field goals to beat the Saints, had a 53-yard try go wide right at the halftime gun and a 51-yard attempt blocked by Dominique Robinson on Minnesota’s only possession of the third quarter.

    Jalen Reagor, who had his first Vikings touchdown on a jet-motion shovel pass from Cousins, fumbled a punt return that he recovered around midfield in the second quarter.

    INJURY REPORT

    Chicago: CB Jaylon Johnson (quadriceps) sat out for the second straight game. … LB Matthew Adams (calf) was hurt in the third quarter.

    Minnesota: Rookie RB Ty Chandler left the game with a hand injury on special teams. … Rookie CB Akayleb Evans was being evaluated for a concussion in the fourth quarter.

    UP NEXT

    Chicago: Hosts Washington on Thursday night.

    Minnesota: At Miami next Sunday.

    ———

    More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP—NFL

    Source link