Ryan Longwell is 34 years old and has been in the NFL for 12 seasons. Still, he felt the pressure before making a 50 yard field goal yesterday that gave the Vikings a 20-19 win over the New York Giants and sent the Purple to the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
When Longwell took the field with nine seconds remaining a lot of people in the Metrodome and elsewhere didn’t know whether Chicago would win or lose against Houston. A Chicago victory and Vikings loss would have meant Longwell’s team missed the playoffs. As it turned out the Vikings still could have made the playoffs with a loss to the Giants because the Bears lost to Houston but at the time it was an “all or nothing” situation in Longwell’s head.
Longwell responded with humor after the game when asked how much confidence he had because of his NFL experience and success including this season when he had made 28 of 33 field goal attempts, including five of five from over 50 yards. “Oh, probably zero,” he said. “You’re as nervous for that one as you are for the first one of your career.
“But like Tiger Woods says, once you’ve won one, you can rely on that for the next one. You just rely on yourself, and the good Lord has blessed me with a mind that kind of stays even keel through the whole game and through every situation.
“So you approach it as calm as you can and just do what you do. Don’t try to be super human and hit it harder, or hit it any different. Do the same thing that has worked.”
Well, it worked and the Vikings walked away with their first division championship since 2000. In an elated locker room after the game owner Zygi Wilf talked about how “it doesn’t get any better than this” and forecast more success for his franchise.
“I know that this is the beginning of many things to come,” he said. “…We look forward to many seasons ahead of great football. …I am very proud of everybody and what they did.”
Even if they have to do it like they did against the Giants in a pressure situation with time running out, the Vikings hope to make their owner proud next Sunday in their playoff game at home against Philadelphia.