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          Numbers behind the Vikings' historic win over the Colts

          • William E. Ricks
          Dec 17, 2022, 10:19 PM

          The first Saturday game of the NFL season between the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings was arguably the best game of the year.

          The Colts jumped on the Vikings early, building a 33-0 lead by halftime. But Minnesota turned things around in the second half, outscoring Indy 36-3 to tie things up. Then, in overtime, the Vikings emerged victorious, 39-36, thanks to a 40-yard field goal by kicker Greg Joseph. Minnesota's comeback win is the largest in NFL history.

          The numbers behind Minnesota's comeback are eye-popping and have some connections to the Colts.

          33: The Vikings were down 33-0 at the half before orchestrating their historic comeback. The 33-point rally is the largest comeback in NFL history, overtaking the 32-point comeback the Buffalo Bills completed against the Houston Oilers in the 1992 AFC wild-card game. Frank Reich, who was fired by the Colts earlier this season, was the man under center and led the Bills to victory.

          Colts quarterback Matt Ryan is now on the losing side of two of the five largest comebacks in league history. He was the Atlanta Falcons quarterback during Super Bowl LI when his squad gave up a 28-3 lead against the New England Patriots. So now he's been on the losing team of the largest comeback in Super Bowl history and NFL history.

          25: Minnesota's win was the eighth comeback victory of 25-plus points in NFL history. For Ryan, he is now the only quarterback to lose twice when leading by 25 or more points in league history.

          10: After Saturday's win, the Vikings have won 10 one-score games this season, which ties the 2019 Seattle Seahawks and 1978 Houston Oilers for the most in NFL history.

          400 and 4: Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins torched the Colts after halftime, completing 28 of 42 passes for 417 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Cousins is the third quarterback in Vikings history to throw four passing touchdowns in the second half of a game, joining Tommy Kramer (who did it twice) and Fran Tarkenton. Cousins' final stat line is 34-of-54 for 460 yards with four scores and two interceptions.

          Cousins is also the first Vikings player to throw for 400-plus yards in consecutive games and now has the most 400-yard games in Vikings franchise history (five).

          10/25/2015: Before Saturday's game, Cousins' largest comeback win was 24 points on October 25, 2015, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That was also the game that spawned Cousins' famous postgame celebration when he yelled, "You like that!"

          Stars across Twitter chimed in on the thrilling affair:

          NFL world

          Vikings community

          Mascot Madness

          ESPN Stats and Information contributed to this story