Week 15 was a historic one for the NFL. It was the first time in league history that three teams had comebacks of 17+ points in the same week. One of those comebacks came on Saturday night in what was the biggest comeback in NFL history. The Indianapolis Colts went on the road to face off against the Minnesota Vikings in what ended up being a tale of two halves. Indianapolis was dominant in the first half, as they took a 33-0 lead into halftime after holding the Vikings to only 82 total yards in the first half.
The Colts’ defense was playing like world beaters, as they have two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the first half and were cruising to what seemed like an easy victory. But, whatever was said in the Minnesota locker room at halftime must have stuck as they flipped the script in the second half.
The Vikings outscored the Colts 36-3 in the second half, forcing the game into overtime. With three seconds remaining in the extra period, Greg Joseph knocked through a 40-yard field goal to cap off the comeback and give Minnesota the single largest come-from-behind victory in league history.
Unsurprisingly, it left everyone stunned, especially the Colts players. Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner did not mince his words when discussing what had happened.
“I’m still in disbelief,” Buckner said, via the Indianapolis Star.
In addition to the two touchdowns scored by the defense, the Colts had seven sacks and another forced turnover. It was just more salt in the wound for Buckner, who was still struggling to grasp how his team could suffer such a defeat, calling it embarrassing as well.
“That’s an unbelievable stat,” Buckner said. “Hearing that, I’m just even more in disbelief.”
This season has been full of embarrassment for the Colts, who are 4-9-1 on the season. They fired head coach Frank Reich after a 26-3 loss to the New England Patriots in Week 9, replacing him with Jeff Saturday on an interim basis.
Saturday had zero head coaching experience above the high school level, which left many people perplexed by the move. It paid off for one week, as the Colts won his debut 25-20 over the Las Vegas Raiders. But, all of the positive vibes and goodwill from that game have been wiped away as Saturday has botched time management and suffered two utterly embarrassing defeats in a row.
This season cannot get over soon enough for the Colts, who will be looking to make some major changes this upcoming offseason.
