Vikings Beat Raiders 3-0 in Historically Sloppy Slugfest of a Game
NFL football doesn’t get much sloppier than that.
But hey, as the saying goes, a win is a win.
The Vikings and Raiders were scoreless for 58 minutes and 3 seconds on Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium in Vegas. Things were getting dangerously close to the game going into overtime without any points. If that had happened, maybe the league’s first 0-0 tie since 1943 would’ve even been within reach.
Mercifully, Greg Joseph broke the tie with a 36-yard field with 1:57 on the clock, putting the Vikings ahead. On the very next play from scrimmage, rookie linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. capped an incredible individual performance — and sealed the victory for his team — with the first interception of his career. He read Aidan O’Connell’s eyes, dove for the pick, and then ran into the end zone to do a celebratory backflip.’
That was the longest an NFL game has been scoreless since the Steelers beat the Dolphins on a short field goal with 17 seconds left on November 26th, 2007. That was also the last time a game finished with a scoreline of 3-0.
The end result is a Vikings victory that moves them to 7-6 on the season and keeps them firmly in the playoff field as the No. 6 seed in the NFC. But although head coach Kevin O’Connell will be happy to have won the game, he’s got a lot of work to do with his offense.
The Vikings punted nine times on 11 possessions in this game (the Raiders had eight punts and three turnovers). They averaged 3.3 yards per play, took five sacks, and finished with 231 total yards. It was a complete and utter mess — especially before O’Connell finally made a quarterback change.
