Last-gasp Longwell goal lifts Vikings past Saints (Reuters)
27 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ryan Longwell kicked a 30-yard field goal with 13 seconds remaining to lift the Minnesota Vikings to a 30-27 road victory over the New Orleans Saints on Monday.
The Vikings rallied from seven points down in the final quarter to claim victory in a game that witnessed several lead changes and swings in momentum.
"That's as good a win as it gets," Minnesota coach Brad Childress told reporters. "I don't know if I've ever been in one quite that way."
Minnesota's triumph overshadowed a stellar performance from Saints running back Reggie Bush, who became the 12th player in league history to return two punts for touchdowns in one game.
His 64-yard return in the fourth provided a 27-20 lead for New Orleans, who had trailed 20-10 at halftime.
However, Childress admitted that both of Bush's touchdowns came from punts that were supposed to be kicked out of play.
"When you say to someone 'kick the ball out of bounds', that's what you expect to happen," he said.
Despite falling behind to Bush's second score, the Vikings rallied again and quarterback Gus Frerotte found Bernard Berrian with a 33-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 27-27 with a little over seven minutes remaining.
Berrian finished with a game-high 110 yards receiving.
Saints (2-3) kicker Martin Gramatica then missed a 46-yard field goal attempt that would have given his team the late lead before Minnesota (2-3) used a pass interference call to position Longwell for the game-winning score.
New Orleans's defense did a good job of shackling explosive rusher Adrian Peterson, limiting him to just 32 yards on 21 carries, but the Vikings still found ways to score.
Antoine Winfield returned a blocked field goal attempt 59 yards to put Minnesota on the board, Frerotte added a second-quarter TD pass and Longwell had two first-half field goals to build the Vikings' lead by the interval.
"We couldn't get the running game going," Frerotte said. "We just stuck together as a team."
Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw for 330 yards and one TD in the loss.
(Editing by John O'Brien)