Jeff Saturday was on the Indianapolis sideline that fateful day in Minneapolis when he witnessed the greatest comeback in NFL history—Minnesota defeating the Colts after trailing 33-0 at the half.
Saturday, the interim head coach after Frank Reich was sacked last season and who guided the Colts to one victory in eight games, remembered the disaster in Minnesota on December 17, 2022.
“Were you guys just munching orange slices when you went into the locker room in Minnesota and you were up 33-0? Simply put, ‘We accomplished it,'” enquired Ty Schmit of The Pat McAfee Show.
“I’ll give you my whole honest opinion. When we entered, I exclaimed, “Boys, we’re in trouble.” Saturday stated. “Hey, we didn’t score any points offensively, I guess. I mean it. We had to settle for field goals after, I believe, twice getting the ball within the 15-yard line. Even though everything seemed to be going our way—we got a block, I believe for a touchdown—I was still incredibly afraid. “Man, we can’t get a first down,” I thought to myself.
With the exception of the Colts’ 11 first downs in the first half, he is correct. Here’s how each series performed during the first part of the game.
“As soon as the second half got underway, I thought, ‘We really need to step it up.'” We called a shot play, and [Matt Ryan] doesn’t throw it, so it’s freaking wide open, buddy,” Saturday went on.
The astonishing thing about Minnesota’s comeback is that the Vikings’ third-quarter miscalculations carried over from the first half. They went three and out on their opening possession and didn’t score a touchdown until 8:22 remained in the third quarter.
“Listen, I’m not crying about something if you can’t laugh about it. I was like, ‘[Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley], what coverage are we in?’ when they spotted [Justin Jefferson] outside and you saw them like, just throwing the ball back behind and this dude is just jiggy-jacking and takes it to the house. He then said, “We’ve called them all.” We are not stopping anyone at this time. These guys are really going hard on us.”
The Vikings began the fourth quarter behind 36–14. With 12:53 remaining in the fourth quarter, Jefferson’s touchdown pass—which transformed standout cornerback Stephon Gilmore into a stone—made the score 36-21.
"Were you guys just eating oranges when you were up 33-0 at halftime in Minnesota" 😂😂@BostonConnr #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/BPuanuQZ3I
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 5, 2023
With 5:32 remaining, Kirk Cousins found Adam Thielen for a touchdown pass. Two minutes later, at 2:15 of the game, Dalvin Cook crossed the goal line after a 64-yard screen play. T.J. Hockenson’s two-point conversion sealed the victory, and Greg Joseph’s 40-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in OT sealed the victory.
“In the end, we had our opportunity. We simply didn’t act upon it, Saturday stated.
