Devin Singletary celebrates after scoring a touchdown. (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)Source: Getty ImagesA Tyler Bass field goal opened the second quarter to give the Bills a 17-7 lead, soon after reduced to seven again as Greg Joseph made a 27-yard attempt for the Vikings.
In a close affair Buffalo had to lean on Josh Allen more than they would have liked, with the quarterback suiting up despite picking up a shoulder injury the week prior.
It did not look to be limiting Allen though, with the 26-year-old making an impact both on the ground and in the air, finding Gabe Davis for a 11-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of the second quarter.
That gave Buffalo a strong 24-10 lead heading into the second half, pushed out to a 17-point lead after play restarted in the third quarter.
In desperate need of a touchdown, the Vikings went to running back Dalvin Cook who exploded for 81 yards to score and make it 27-17 heading into the final quarter.
A rare touchdown for C.J. Ham then reduced the deficit to just four, with Joseph failing to add the extra point and the Vikings needing another score to win.
It looked unlikely until Jefferson rose above to take an other-worldly catch, putting Minnesota inside the red zone and with a shot to win the game.
Cook appeared to have a shot at his second touchdown of the day when he got open on the right side but the running back dropped the pass from Cousins, setting up a 4th-and-short.
Cousins then went for a quarterback sneak but was just denied by the Buffalo defence, with the Bills seemingly assured victory.
But in a game full of twists there was one more to come, with Allen fumbling the ball in the end zone and the Vikings recovering to score the touchdown.
There were still over 40 seconds on the clock for Allen and the Bills to work with and they quickly worked their way down the field, albeit with more controversy.
On this occasion, one of Allen’s passes to Davis to move the chains appeared incomplete with replays later confirming as much.
The Vikings though were also to blame for not using their coach’s challenge, with Bass going on to kick the game-levelling field goal and send it to overtime.
Minnesota dominated the opening stages of overtime, going back to their two biggest offensive weapons — Cook and Jefferson — to march into scoring territory.
The Vikings were able to take over six minutes off the clock but had to settle for a Joseph field goal, giving the ball back to Allen, with a touchdown to win it.
Allen looked to have done just that when he targeted Bills tight end Dawson Knox in the corner only for the play to be broken up.
Taking one more shot at the end zone, Allen was then picked off as the Vikings celebrated a stunning win.
“Losing sucks. Sucks this way even worse,” Allen said post-game.
“Horrendous second half. I’ve got to be better. We were horrendous in the red zone and that’s on my shoulders.”
