MINNEAPOLIS — Greg Joseph swung his right leg near midfield, drawing a ball toward the center of the uprights in U.S. Bank Stadium's west end zone. It disappeared from view against the backdrop of fans in white jerseys, and the final Vikings home game of a thrilling regular season had its fitting sendoff.
Joseph's 61-yard field goal, the longest in team history, gave the Vikings a 27-24 win over the Giants on Saturday afternoon, lifting the team to 12-3 and keeping it in line for the NFC's No. 2 seed. The Vikings (12-3) will finish the season at Green Bay and Chicago; they will be at home for their first playoff game, and could have more postseason games at U.S. Bank Stadium than just that one.
Joseph had struggled on longer kicks after a terrific training camp and preseason, with special teams coordinator Matt Daniels pinning the problem on the kicker's follow-through when he pushed the ball to the right. But he'd made 19 straight field goals or extra points when he lined up for the game winner on Saturday, and his final kick cleared the uprights with plenty of room to spare.
Justin Jefferson had 12 catches for 133 yards to set Vikings records for yards (1,756) and receptions (123) in a season. T.J. Hockenson had a career-best 13 catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns.
The Vikings took a 10-0 lead in the first half; Kirk Cousins' touchdown pass to . Hockenson came on a flashback to a previous Vikings offense, where they lined up in a heavy set and made Jefferson the only receiver on the field. C.J. Ham pancaked a Giants pass rusher on his way out of the backfield, and Hockenson slipped beyond the Giants' coverage into a wide swath of open turf in the back of the end zone.
The Giants (8-6-1) made it 10-7 with 4:30 to go in the second quarter after Daniel Jones stepped up in the pocket and hit Isaiah Hodgins with one of the crossing routes New York used throughout the day to target Patrick Peterson. The Vikings built on the approach they'd used against the Colts last Saturday, playing more man coverage than they had for much of the season and lining Peterson up as their cornerback on the short side of the field. The Giants countered by challenging the veteran to run across the field for much of the day.
They also tested nickel corner Chandon Sullivan, with Jones hitting Darius Slayton for 22 yards on a crossing route against Sullivan early in the third quarter. The play put the Giants in field-goal range; New York had to settle for three points after Danielle Hunter forced right tackle Evan Neal deep into the pocket, then used a spin move on him to break back inside and pressure Jones into throwing the ball away.
But the field goal tied the game at 10, and the Giants put themselves in position to take the lead with another Graham Gano field goal after Jones hit Richie James for 33 yards on a play designed to target the Vikings' man coverage. The Giants lined up with James inside of Kenny Golladay, and ran a switch release that freed James up downfield when Golladay effectively screened Sullivan. D.J. Wonnum ended the drive with a sack, but the Giants went up 13-10.
Cousins came back with three big completions on the Vikings' next drive. He hit a 16-yarder to Johnny Mundt on a tight end screen. Then, after Adam Thielen alertly knocked the ball out of Cor'Dale Flott's hands, leading officials to overturn Flott's interception on Cousins' throw into double coverage, the quarterback hit Jefferson for 17.
The drive ended with a 15-yard touchdown to Hockenson, when the tight end leaped and reached over the back of safety Julian Love, holding the ball aloft as he got up to invalidate Love's protests he'd bobbled the catch on the way to the ground.
The Vikings stopped the Giants' next drive when Jones tried Peterson on another crossing route at the Minnesota 28; Peterson undercut the route for his fourth interception of the season. The turnover did not yield points after Cousins threw for a yard on third-and-3 and fired deep off a rollout on fourth-and-2. Jefferson and Thielen were in the same area and Giants defenders broke up the pass as Jefferson leaped for it.
The Giants got a field goal to pull within a point on the next drive.
But after Josh Metellus blocked a punt with just over four minutes left in the game, Cousins found Jefferson for a 17-yard touchdown across the middle to make it 24-16. Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell opted for an extra point instead of going for two.
It gave the Giants enough life to drive for a game-tying score on Saquon Barkley's 27-yard run up the middle on fourth-and-2 and Jones' two-point conversion to Daniel Bellinger over Peterson's outstretched fingertips.
Getting the ball right before the two-minute warning, Cousins found Jefferson for 17 yards on a third-and-11 screen that put the Vikings in range to send Joseph in for the 61-yarder.
When it went through the uprights, the kicker sprinted off the field with his index finger spinning. Cousins lifted his arms in jubilation, and players mobbed O'Connell on the sideline.
