The tempo of NFL Sunday slows down in the course of the late window. Normally three or 4 video games kick off between 4 and 4:25 p.m. EST. A kind of is a featured matchup, like Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills, with all the sensible throws and yelling a couple of large receiver being rightly flagged for lining up half of his foot across the line of scrimmage,
A a lot much less compelling matchup befell between the Minnesota Vikings and Las Vegas Raiders. The 2 groups made NFL historical past in Week 14 and it was not correctly acknowledged. The Vikings and Raiders performed the bottom scoring NFL recreation in 16 years.
It took simply over 58 minutes of recreation time for factors to lastly be placed on the board. The Vikings kicked what turned out to be the game-winning area purpose following a 13-play, 56-yard drive. No NFL recreation had gone scoreless for that lengthy because the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Miami Dolphins, 3-0, in 2007.
The title of the YouTube highlights of that recreation is “The Monday Night Mud Bowl.” Each groups sloshed round what’s at present generally known as Acrisure Stadium for almost a whole recreation with out scoring. The 0-0 tie was damaged with 20 seconds remaining when Jeff Reed made a 24-yard area purpose. Previous to that recreation, the newest that an NFL recreation went scoreless was the final recreation that resulted in a 0-0 tie. That was a 1943 matchup between the New York Giants and the Detroit Lions.
On Sunday, in a local weather managed Las Vegas constructing, with a wonderfully manicured pure grass floor, the Vikings and Raiders punted the ball a mixed 17 occasions. Neither group was in a position to accumulate even 150 yards passing. The Raiders additionally managed to show the ball over 3 times. As ineffective because the Vikings’ offense was all day, a minimum of they held onto the ball and dedicated no turnovers.
Whereas he didn’t give the ball away, passtronaunt Joshua Dobbs didn’t put the ball within the arms of his teammates sufficient, both. Minnesota was dealt a troublesome blow when Justin Jefferson was knocked out of the sport within the first half with a chest damage. Nonetheless, halfway by way of the fourth quarter, Dobbs had solely accomplished 10-of-23 passes for 63 yards, and rushed for a mere 21. A change needed to be made, so Nick Mullens was inserted into the sport. He led the field-goal drive.
Maintaining with the sport on RedZone was almost inconceivable as a result of each groups solely reached that space of the sector one time every. Neither offense was in a goal-to-go state of affairs at any second in Week 14. They even mixed for lower than 25 complete first downs.
This recreation was actually a masterpiece of ugly soccer. Each a part of it labored collectively to create a product so undesirable that the sport truly turned entertaining. As soon as a recreation will get to the purpose the place persons are watching to see if it might probably attain an historic low, it has reached a particular place. The darkish a part of ourselves that enjoys watching individuals who reside in squalor and throw nothing away, and the Actual Housewives sequence by which the principle contributors lower one another down, however nonetheless hang around usually at swanky locations.
Vikings vs. Raiders was ugly, disjointed, missing explosion on offense, and sloppy. By way of all of that mess, the Vikings continued to crawl by way of a sewer and finally obtained by way of the day with a nasty victory.
A recreation that might be largely forgotten till the subsequent scoreless fourth-quarter tie.
