Minnesota Vikings believe playoff demons have been exorcised

EDEN PRAIRiE, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings are feeling charmed and invincible heading into their first NFC Championship Game in eight years.

They might be right.

A franchise tormented relentlessly by painful postseason letdowns going back to Super Bowl IV is one game from becoming the first team to play a Super Bowl in its own stadium. And all that stands in its way is Nick Foles and not Carson Wentz.

Actually, the Eagles have flexed an ample supporting cast since Foles, the career journeyman, had to step in for Wentz, the franchise quarterback who was having an MVP-worthy season before tearing an ACL. But the Vikings (14-3), who have their own surprising career journeyman quarterback in Case Keenum, still opened as a 3 1/2-point favorite at Philadelphia (14-3) on Sunday.

They just have to return to planet earth first after Sunday's 29-24 divisional playoff win over the Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium. With four lead changes in the final three minutes, the game ended with Stefon Diggs taking a Keenum pass 61 yards for the first game-winning touchdown as time expired in NFL postseason history. The name of the play is "Seven Heaven," something the Vikings have been working on since training camp.

"We had a meeting this morning, did our lift and our run, and I told them we can't make these mistakes (blowing a 17-0 halftime lead) in this playoff game or we'll be going home," head coach Mike Zimmer said on Monday. "Like everything, it's time for that one is done and gone with, and we're moving on to Philadelphia now. I verbally said that and I talked to the captains today. It's kind of what we do. We move on and go to the next one."

Zimmer and the Vikings set their sights on Foles a day after felling Drew Brees and the Saints' high-powered offense. But Brees did manage to score 24 second-half points and take two leads in the final three minutes until perhaps the best play in Vikings history unfolded in the final 10 seconds.

"When I woke up (Monday morning)," said receiver Adam Thielen, a Detroit Lakes, Minn., native and Vikings fan growing up, "I had to make sure that it wasn't a dream."

Diggs felt the same way.

"It's a storybook ending, and it never ends that way," Diggs said. "Usually, it's reality. It's real life. Things go, you walk home and worry about tomorrow. But there were other plans. I give it all to God because things like this don't happen."

Not to the snake-bitten Vikings, that's for sure.

Of course, the Vikings do have two more wins to go before all of their demons can be exorcised. And the next step is against an Eagles team that's relishing its underdog status, having already dismissed the Falcons as underdogs on Saturday.

But for now at least, the Vikings are feeling charmed and invincible.

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The Vikings have had only two defensive starters miss a total of three games due to injuries this season.

Strong safety Andrew Sendejo, who has two of the missed starts due to injury, could make it three in Sunday's NFC Championship Game at Philadelphia.

And teammates are still angry about the concussion Sendejo suffered when he was laid out on the turf by a blind-side collision with Saints receiver Michael Thomas during the third quarter of Sunday's divisional playoff win.

Sendejo stayed on the ground for a while before finally being able to sit up and walk off the field. Meanwhile, Vikings defenders were irate with the hit and the fact that the officials picked up the flag for unnecessary roughness after huddling to discuss the hit.

"I thought it was an illegal hit," safety Harrison Smith said. "Want to talk about defenseless receivers and all that stuff, it's got to go both ways. That's what I saw."

Sendejo served a one-game suspension earlier this season after taking Ravens receiver Mike Wallace out of the game with a vicious hit that gave him a concussion. Sendejo was flagged for unnecessary roughness on a defenseless receiver. His past offenses also played a role in his one-game suspension.

"I mean, Sendejo got suspended for what was a legal hit," Smith added. "So, I don't know. I don't know anymore."

If not for nose tackle Linval Joseph, the Vikings might have lost another defensive back on the play. Cornerback Xavier Rhodes was livid. He tried to go after Thomas, but couldn't get to him because he was wrapped in the massive arms of his nose tackle.

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It didn't factor into Sunday's result, but the Vikings did make an interesting roster move on the eve of the Saints game.

They activated quarterback Sam Bradford from injured reserve two months after arthroscopic knee surgery. Then, the next morning they announced that Bradford would be the No. 2 quarterback while Teddy Bridgewater would be deactivated.

Bridgewater had been the No. 2 quarterback for the last eight games of the season. His only action came during mop-up duty when the Vikings led the Bengals 34-0.

Head coach Mike Zimmer warned not to read too much into the decision long-term. The top three quarterbacks on the roster - Case Keenum, Bradford and Bridgewater - have contracts that expire after this season. The only quarterback on the roster under contract beyond this season is undrafted rookie Kyle Sloter, who hasn't played.

Zimmer hasn't activated three quarterbacks on game day since becoming Vikings coach in 2014. And he wasn't about to on Sunday with depth needed on the defensive line.

"(Tackle) Shamar Stephen was a little banged up, so I needed an extra defensive lineman," said Zimmer, proving himself correct when Stephen left the game in the first half with a knee injury. "And Bradford played great against this team in the past. So that's why I thought about it."

Bradford's only full game this season came when he posted a career-high 143.0 passer rating in a season-opening win over the Saints. He tried to play on the knee in Week 5, but couldn't move or protect himself and was pulled with the Vikings leading 3-2 late in the first half of a win at Chicago.

REPORT CARD VS. SAINTS

--PASSING OFFENSE: A - When you become the first team in NFL history to win with a touchdown as time expires, you deserve an A for the 61-yard Case Keenum-to-Stefon Diggs game-winner. Keenum wasn't perfect by any stretch. He threw a ball up for grabs that was intercepted. But he did pass for 318 yards while making some exceptional throws, particularly fourth-quarter connections of 24 yards to Adam Thielen and 27 yards to Jarius Wright. Diggs finished with 137 yards on six catches.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: B - The Vikings opened the scoring with a well-designed, well-blocked 14-yard toss sweep to Jerick McKinnon. Latavius Murray ran with power, but wasn't a consistent force. He was held to 50 yards on 19 carries (2.6 average), but also scored on a 1-yard run. The Vikings averaged 3.3 yards on 29 carries, but, overall, this wasn't a bad effort for a team using its eighth different combination on the offensive line this season. Mike Remmers, the team's original starting right tackle this year, played left guard Sunday. He was at right guard in the regular-season finale two weeks earlier.

--PASS DEFENSE: C-plus - It was solid in the first half, when the Vikings led 17-0, but was vulnerable to the great Drew Brees in the second half. The Vikings had two first-half interceptions, but gave up three second-half touchdowns while surrendering the lead not once, but twice. Nickel back Mackensie Alexander also was beaten for a 13-yard completion on fourth-and-10 in the closing minutes. That set up a 43-yard field goal to give the Saints a 24-23 lead with 25 seconds left.

--RUSH DEFENSE: A - The game-winning touchdown never would have happened had the Vikings not stopped Alvin Kamara for a 1-yard loss on third-and-1 with 29 seconds left in the game. Kamara tested the middle of the line and was met by strong safety Anthony Harris on a blitz off the right side and end Brian Robison in the middle. Harris was only in the game because starter Andrew Sendejo had been knocked out of the game with a concussion. The Vikings also stuffed Mark Ingram II for no gain on a similar third-and-1 dive play in the first half. The Vikings held Kamara and Ingram to 68 yards on 21 carries with a long of 10 yards.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: C - An up-and-down effort that left the special teams with plays that could have made them goats had the Vikings lost. Punter Ryan Quigley had a punt from his 40-yard line deflected. It wasn't ruled a block because the ball ended up traveling a yard past the line of scrimmage, where the Saints recovered. That play set up a 14-yard touchdown pass to Kamara to give the Saints their first lead, 21-20, with 3:01 left in the game. On the positive side, kicker Kai Forbath calmly nailed a 53-yarder to regain the lead with 1:29 left. Forbath made three-of-four field-goal attempts, missing from 49 yards.

--COACHING: A - Mike Zimmer had his players ready and raring to go in front of the loudest crowd in the two-year history of U.S. Bank Stadium. The defense dominated Drew Brees and the Saints while the Vikings took a 17-0 first-half lead. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur aided that first-half blanking by staying well balanced and helping Keenum ease into his first career playoff game. McKinnon's touchdown to open the scoring was a well-designed toss sweep that used receiver Adam Thielen's ability to block. The punt deflection was a blemish, but the Vikings overall were well-coached and ready for the tough test of having to take down Brees and his high-powered offense.