The pace of NFL Sunday slows during the late period. Typically three or four games start between 4:00 PM and 4:25 PM EST. One is a featured matchup, such as Kansas City Chiefs vs Buffalo Billswith all the brilliant throws and the shouting over a wide receiver who was rightly flagged for lining up half of his foot over the line of scrimmage,
A much less convincing match took place between the Minnesota Vikings And Las Vegas Raiders. The two teams made NFL history in Week 14, but it wasn’t properly recognized. The Vikings and Raiders played the lowest scoring NFL game in 16 years.
It took just over 58 minutes of play before the points were finally put on the board. The Vikings kicked what turned out to be the game-winning field goal after a 13-play, 56-yard drive. No NFL game had gone scoreless for so long since the NFL game Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Miami Dolphins3-0, in 2007.
The title of the YouTube highlights of that game is “The Monday night mud bowl.” Both teams sloshed around the current Acrisure Stadium for almost an entire match without scoring. The 0-0 tie was broken with 20 seconds left when Jeff Reed made a 24-yard field goal. Prior to that game, the last time an NFL game went scoreless was the last game that ended in a 0-0 tie. That was a 1943 match between the New York Giants and the Detroit Lions.
On Sunday, in a climate-controlled building in Las Vegas, with a perfectly manicured natural grass surface, the Vikings and Raiders kicked the ball a total of 17 times. Neither team managed to pass even 150 yards. The Raiders also turned the ball over three times. As ineffective as the Vikings offense was all day, at least they kept the ball and didn’t commit turnovers.
While he didn’t give the ball away, passer Joshua Dobbs also didn’t put the ball in his teammates’ hands enough. Minnesota was dealt a major blow when Justin Jefferson was knocked out of the game in the first half with a pectoral injury. However, midway through the fourth quarter, Dobbs had completed just 10 of 23 passes for 63 yards, rushing for just 21 yards. A change had to be made, so Nick Mullens was inserted into the game. He led the field goal drive.
Keeping track of the game at RedZone was nearly impossible as both teams only reached that part of the field once. Neither offense was in a goal-to-go situation at any point in Week 14. They even combined for fewer than 25 first downs.
This match was truly a masterpiece of ugly football. Every part worked together to create a product so undesirable that it actually made the game entertaining. Once a game reaches the point where people are watching to see if it can reach an all-time low, it has reached a special place. The dark part of ourselves that enjoys watching people live in misery and throw nothing away, and the Real Housewives series where the main characters tear each other down, yet often hang out in fancy places.
Vikings vs. Raiders was ugly, disjointed, lacking explosion on offense and sloppy. Through all that mess, the Vikings kept crawling through a sewer and eventually came through the day with a nasty victory.
A match that will be largely forgotten until the next goalless draw in the fourth quarter.
