The Vikings Radio Broadcast Thought Greg Joseph Made the Game-Winning Field Goal
If you were listening to the Vikings' Week 2 game against the Cardinals on the radio, there was a full second where you thought Greg Joseph had made a game-winning 37-yard field goal as time expired, sealing the Vikings' first win of the season.
Then it all came crashing down.
Vikings radio play-by-play announcer Paul Allen is one of the best in the business, but whether due to a bad viewing angle or some miscommunication inside the radio booth, he jumped the gun on his call of Joseph's game-deciding attempt.
"High snap, put down, Joseph...C'MON...it is...GOOOOOD!" Allen called. "No, he missed it! Are you kidding me? He missed it right. Oh my heavens."
What a wild swing of emotions that must have caused in anyone listening to the broadcast and not watching the game.
After the dust had settled, realization settled in that the Vikings were 0-2. They lost a very winnable game in Cincinnati last week when Dalvin Cook fumbled in OT, and they lost an even more winnable game this time around thanks to a missed chip shot from a guy who was 3 for 3 on field goal attempts from 52 or 53 yards. Joseph also missed an extra point earlier in the game, which ended up being the difference in the final score.
Hindsight is 20/20, but the controversy immediately following the game was whether or not the Vikings should've been more aggressive in trying to set up an even shorter field goal or win the game with a touchdown. When Kirk Cousins hit K.J. Osborn to get to the Cardinals' 18, there were 41 seconds on the clock. Mike Zimmer elected to run it down to four seconds, take his final timeout, and send Joseph out there for the kick. He was satisfied with where they were and confident in his kicker.
“I felt good about that kick," Zimmer said. "I know he missed the extra point earlier, but it’s kind of like that. He’s been kicking good, we’re indoors, it’s a perfect surface. I’m thinking, ‘This should be an easy one here.’"
There are plenty of risks that would've come with playing more aggressively. A penalty or sack could move the offense back, and a turnover — like, say, Cook's fumble last week — would've kept them from even having a chance at an easy field goal.
“That kick didn’t lose us the game," K.J. Osborn said. "It’s a bunch of different plays throughout the game. He had a great kick last week in Cincinnati. That one kick today didn’t lose us the game. We’re a team. We love him, and he’s going to keep knocking ’em in for us. It happens. We love him. That’s our guy."
The Vikings could easily be 2-0, but instead they're 0-2 as they head back to Minneapolis for a massive three-game homestand against the Seahawks, Browns, and Lions.
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