This Iowa Moron Almost Missed Watching NFL History

The Iowa moron in this story is...you guessed it, me! I'm the moron who almost left the Vikings game early on Saturday and would've missed the biggest come-from-behind win in NFL history.

This past Saturday my fiance and I went to the Vikings game to watch them take on the Indianapolis Colts. I got the tickets from my future mother-in-law as a birthday/Christmas present. To say I owe her big would be an understatement. She ended up buying tickets to an NFL game that will be talked about forever and I almost missed the magic.

The first half of the game on Saturday was quite possibly the worst half of football by any team in NFL history. The Vikes were looking absolutely terrible. Before you could even blink, the Vikes were down 17 points in the first quarter. Now, no team wants to be down 17 but the Vikings have come back to win being down 17 before and everyone was hoping they'd turn it around and get going. They didn't. It just got worse. Turnovers, blocked punts, and not being able to stop anything on defense made for a pretty abysmal first half.

In the second quarter, they gave up another 16 points and found themselves down 33 points at halftime. 33-0 looks an awful lot worse when you're at the game than when you're watching on TV. When you're watching a game on TV, you can just change the channel and kind of forget about it for the rest of the afternoon. When you're at the game, there's really no hiding from the scoreboard.

I have never been so thankful for Kori and strangely enough, a bunch of mascots during the halftime show. Right before halftime, I was looking up different bars or restaurants by US Bank Stadium that Kori and I could go to and watch the rest of the game on TV and not have to spend $10 on beer. The halftime show saved the day and is one of the reasons Kori talked me into sticking around.

At halftime, the Vikings mascot, Viktor, and a bunch of other mascots from around the league played a scrimmage against a 4th-grade football team. Kori wanted to stay and watch the kids play and I'm pretty confident in saying that the halftime show kept us in the stadium. Once the kids and the mascots were done playing, I decided to show Kori a little bit of the stadium, as this was the first time she had been to U.S Bank Stadium.

We walked around for a bit, ate food, and grabbed a few more beers, all while we were kind of paying attention to what was going on during the game. All of a sudden the Vikings woke up. They scored 14 points in the 3rd quarter, which brought the game to 36-14. Still, a long way to go and not a lot of time left in the game. After that, we found a spot on the concourse to watch the rest of the game and boy are we glad we did.

Somehow, someway, the Vikings were able to score 22 points in the 4th quarter and win the game in overtime. With that win, the Vikings will now finish in first place in the NFC North division and will get to play at least 1 playoff game at home. I grew up in Minneapolis and have been a diehard Vikes fan for all 32 years of my life. .

Vikings fans are all too used to disappointment and games like this never seem to go the Viking's way. This past Saturday, the football gods said "not today Vikings fans" and somehow they pulled off something that has never been done before in football history.

The fans at the game deserve so much credit for sticking around. It would've been completely fair to leave at the half and chalk this game up as a loss. I'd like to think the fans played a little part in willing the team to victory. The SKOL chant was in full force during that 4th quarter.

It's hard to put into words what it was like being a part of what happened at the game. Being there with the crowd and going nuts when they tide it. Watching the team slowly come back to win, was a crazy experience. It hasn't really sunk in yet but it's a story I'll be able to tell for the rest of my life. This is why we love sports so much. To be a part of things you aren't sure are possible until they happen

I am far from saying this is the year the Vikings will win the Superbowl. They still have a lot to prove against some of the best teams in the NFL when playoff time comes around. I will say, this team does seem to have a horseshoe in their back pocket and maybe even a little magic attached to it. I can now officially say, the Vikings are the champions of the NFC North division and they now hold the record for the biggest comeback of all time, and I got to be there to see it happen.

Thank you mascots who played against that 4th-grade football team at halftime. You're the reason Kori made me stick around to watch the rest of the game.