The final game of the Divisional Round was a ridiculous roller-coaster battle between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints. The Vikings nearly blew a 17-0 lead and had multiple heartbreaking moments near the end, but Stefon Diggs made the play of his life to seal the 29-24 victory.

The Vikings’ defense came to play in the first half, locking down Drew Brees and the Saints’ entire attack. It was an entirely different story after halftime, as Brees came to life and led the Saints to 14 unanswered points. They took the lead late in the fourth quarter, and that’s when madness ensued.

In the final minutes, the Saints and Vikings traded off the lead with field goals, making it one wild swing of emotion to another. Then in the final seconds, Case Keenum hooked up with Diggs for the improbable walkoff victory. Now the Vikings are headed to the NFC Championship for the first time since the 2009 season.

Recap

• Vikings beat the Saints and erased their playoff misery with the most spectacular comeback possible

Huge plays

• Xavier Rhodes briefly leaves Vikings’ game against Saints with injury
• The Saints nearly destroyed the Vikings’ postseason aspirations with a late field goal
• Stefon Diggs rescued the Vikings’ playoff hopes out of nowhere with a last-second touchdown
• The 6 moments that defined the Vikings’ shocking win over the Saints
• Kai Forbath broke the Vikings’ sad history of playoff kicks and it proved crucial in a magical finish

Silly highlights

• The Vikings’ freeze tag TD celebration was ice cold
• Sean Payton burned 2 quick timeouts on back-to-back 4th quarter challenges, whyyyyy
• Saints had the perfect trick play for second down, but they used it on 3rd-and-1

Final score: Vikings 29, Saints 24

Vikings 29, Saints 24 A MIRACLE PLAY AT THE END. Stefon Diggs grabbed a Keenum pass and sprinted 61 yards down the sideline for the walkoff win. An amazing finish to the best playoff game of the weekend.

Wil Lutz made a 43-yarder to give New Orleans the lead back. The Vikings now have 25 seconds and just one timeout.

Minnesota called a timeout with 33 seconds leftwhile the officials reviewed a catch that stood. Kamara lost a yard on third down and the Vikings used another timeout.

The Saints pulled it off, converting a fourth down with Willie Snead getting 13 yards.

Brees hit Hill for 18 yards and Ginn for 11, getting past midfield. On third and 10, the Vikings broke up a pass intended for Thomas, forcing New Orleans to go for it since they’re out of field goal range.

What a kick by Forbath! He drills a 53-yarder and Minnesota gets the lead back. The bad news is that Brees has 1:29 and one timeout.

Minnesota has one more shot to win the game, entering the two-minute warning with the ball at their own 36-yard line. Thielen made an incredible 24-yard catch to set them up in Saints territory.

Saints 21: Vikings 20 Two catches by Ginn got the Saints to the red zone and Kamara finished the comeback. A 14-yard touchdown catch stunned the home crowd. The Vikings blew a 17-0 lead.

The Vikings couldn’t manage any points after multiple flags killed their drive. The Saints also got a huge break by blocking the punt, setting up Brees with great field position with around five minutes left.

Payton dialed up the trick pass with Willie Snead. It almost worked perfectly, but Snead’s throw was ... less than accurate. It also happened on third and short, forcing a punt when the Saints could least afford it.

Vikings 20, Saints 14 After that madness, Kai Forbath nailed a clutch 49-yard field goal to make it a six-point game.

The Vikings’ drive stalled out, but Sean Payton inexplicably wasted both his challenges on calls that were never close to overturned. The Saints now have just one timeout with ten minutes left.

Keenum recovered from the horrible interception to hit Wright for a big gain into Saints territory. It was a beautiful throw and even better catch.

Vikings 17, Saints 14 We suddenly have a ballgame after Brees hit Thomas for his second touchdown.

Injuries are piling up on the Vikings defense. Sendejo was knocked out with a concussion after Thomas plowed into him, but the bigger concern is shutdown cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who had to be helped off the field.

Third quarter: Vikings 17, Saints 7

Keenum made a brutal error on the Vikings’ next drive, throwing a dead duck interception. Just like that, the Saints are picking up momentum as we head to the final frame.

Vikings 17, Saints 7 In what’s probably the Saints’ most important drive of the game, they marched down to the red zone late in the quarter, still looking for their first points of the day. New Orleans finally got on the board with a 14-yard strike to Michael Thomas.

Vikings 17, Saints 0: The Saints’ defense looked like it came out of halftime inspired, but then they let the Vikings convert a couple third downs. Sheldon Rankins finally put an end to the drive when he sacked Case Keenum for a 10-yard loss, putting the Vikings out of field goal range and forcing them to punt.

Minnesota is still 8 of 11 on third downs, though. That’s good news for Grandma Millie:

Second quarter: Vikings 17, Saints 0

Alvin Kamara got involved in the two-minute drill, moving the ball into Vikings territory with a big catch-and-run. But a critical third-down sack knocked them out of field goal range, and Wil Lutz missed the 58-yard attempt. The Vikings missed a field goal of their own to take it into halftime.

The Saints finally crossed midfield halfway through the second quarter with a Josh Hill 22-yard gain. They even got inside the red zone, but the drive came to a screeching halt when Anthony Barr caught a tipped pass for Brees’ second interception.

Vikings 17, Saints 0 Latavius Murray had a touchdown called back by holding, but Keenum hit Stefon Diggs for a huge third-down conversion at the 11. Murray got his touchdown a few plays later and the Vikings broke out the freeze frame celebration.

Adam Thielen made his presence felt by climbing the ladder on this catch.

First quarter: Vikings 10, Saints 0

Brees took a deep shot trying to ignite the offense, but the ball was underthrown to intended target Ted Ginn and picked off by Andrew Sendejo. New Orleans can’t do anything on offense right now.

Vikings 10, Saints 0 Two straight pass interference flags set up the Vikings near the goal line. They couldn’t convert the chance, but an easy field goal put them up two possessions.

The Saints couldn’t respond to that quick touchdown as Brees is struggling to find a rhythm against this Vikings defense. Two possessions, two punts for New Orleans.

Vikings 7, Saints 0 The Vikings forced a three-and-out and started off with the ball near midfield after a good punt return. Keenum dropped a perfect rainbow to Jarius Wright for a 22-yard gain to the 16, and Jerick McKinnon walked in untouched on a 14-yard touchdown.

Before the game

The Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints wrap up the Divisional Round when they face off in Minneapolis for a spot in the NFC Championship. The game kicks off Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX (live streams at Fox Sports Go, Yahoo! Sports, and FuboTV).

This game is technically a rematch of their Week 1 opener, where the Vikings pounded the Saints in a 29-19 win that wasn’t as close as the final score. Both teams are also vastly different from where they are today — that was Sam Bradford’s only complete game before his season got derailed by a knee injury, while the Saints quickly realized that Adrian Peterson wasn’t a good fit in their offense.

Now Minnesota has Case Keenum running the show, and he’s enjoyed a career year after toiling in journeyman status for several years. Their running suffered when Dalvin Cook tore his ACL, but Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon have done just fine as a committee. One thing that hasn’t changed since Week 1 was the defense, which finished the year ranked No. 1 in yards and points allowed.

New Orleans eventually shipped out Peterson and committed to Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara as the featured the backs. The result was a rejuvenated offense, with Kamara emerging as an Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate. Drew Brees wasn’t quite as prolific in years past, but the running game clicking meant he didn’t have to carry the offense as in previous years.

That said, the Saints can still count on Brees, and he delivered in last week’s Wild Card Round, throwing for 376 yards in a 31-26 win over the Carolina Panthers. They’ll likely need him again as the Saints try for a second time to solve this Vikings defense.

Pregame reading

• So what went wrong for the Saints in that Week 1 loss? Canal Street Chronicles breaks it down.

How much stock should you buy into what went down in week one? The Minnesota Vikings easily handled the New Orleans Saints, controlling the pace of the game and lining up one explosive play after another. But that was three months ago, and things have significantly changed since.

The Vikings have since lost their leading passer (Sam Bradford) and leading rusher (Dalvin Cook), but the Saints have lost a lot more. Four of New Orleans’ top nine defenders in snaps played (A.J. Klein, Kenny Vaccaro, Alex Okafor, and Alex Anzalone) have since been placed on injured reserve. Tenth-ranked De’Vante Harris was demoted to the practice squad, though he still manages to cameo in group celebration pics during games. Across the field, all eleven Vikings starters from the season-opener will be suiting up again this Sunday.

• Michael Thomas was a big reason for the Saints beating the Panthers last week.

Thomas obliterated the Panthers secondary for the third time this season, catching 8 passes for 131 yards in this playoff showdown, and has now averaged six receptions for 87 yards in five career games against the Panthers. On a day where his star teammates Ingram and Kamara were contained, Thomas proved that Carolina still had no answer for his talents. He made a number of acrobatic catches in key moments, diving for a 14-yd. reception to the Panthers goal line at the end of the first half for one touchdown, and snagging a back-breaking 46-yd. reception late in the 4th quarter to set up the Saints final touchdown.

• Daily Norseman goes position by position in its preview of the game.

The Vikings have the ability to match-up with the Saints’ receivers in press-man, off-man, and/or zone coverage, and likely will have Xavier Rhodes shadow Michael Thomas during the course of the game. He held him to 45 receiving yards week one, and given Rhodes’ shut-down of pretty much every big-time receiver he’s faced this year, I doubt Thomas will have a big game on Sunday. That creates fewer opportunities for Drew Brees compared to the zone coverage Carolina played most often in the wild card game, and may force him to hold the ball longer than he’d like, leading to pressures.

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The Vikings hope to break a Super Bowl curse