All Day: A NFL TLIAD

This is going to be a Minnesota Vikings winning a Superbowl Timeline. In this specific piece of alternate history, the curse will be lifted.

Uh, okay. I suppose it's about 1998, then? Or else Tarkenton, the Purple People Eaters, and Bud Frank finally win one?

No.

I see. Then it has to be 2009, the title gives it away.

Closer, but no.

Okay, now you're getting really obscure. Do you honestly expect me to believe the Minnesota Vikings could win a Superbowl with Adrian Peterson at the start or end of his career? Is this a 2008 "Favre comes early" TL, or is it him sticking around and everything falling into place under in Zimmer in 2015 or 2016?

It's neither.

Okay, you've got me stumped. What year do the Vikings win it?

2012.

...

And this will not be a long reaching TL. The 2012 Minnesota Vikings will start the year exactly as they did in OTL.

You mean with some other guy drafted instead of Christian Ponder, right?

No, he is there. And Joe Webb is going to start games. And Leslie Frazier is going to be their superbowl winning head coach.

You sure you've thought this out?

Yes. And I'm not even going to change the regular season much.

I've given up at this point. Up is down.

Our PoD will be in week 2 of the NFL season, but its effects will be small.

The sky is yellow.

Only 3 regular season results will be changed.

The Pope is a confirmed heretic.

Of course, this time AD will break the single season rushing record.

It's not like this is the 80s, it's 2012. These are modern NFL passing offenses. A running back simply can't keep up.

And coming off a torn ACL, he will still be the NFL MVP.

Look, there's a little bit of talent on that defense between Allen, Greenway, Robison and Winfield. Just bring in a FA or two and then maybe...

Maybe the Vikings won't be the best team in the league. Maybe they won't even be top ten.

Of course, even a better defense requires halfway competent coaching. You have to avoid Frazier at the very least

But in football, that doesn't always matter. Some times you don't need to be the best... sometimes one man can stand up to conventional wisdom and logic and force it to move all the way.

This is the Minnesota Vikings' 2012 season. This is.... All Day.

 
Well, color me shocked with this idea. Definitely will keep an eye on this one and interested to see who falls to them in the Super Bowl.
 
The Injury
In 2011, in a game against the Washington Redskins, Adrian Peterson suffered a torn ACL. In these days, few recovered from such an injury, and even fewer running backs did. With AD only playing 12 games that year, the Vikings posted a record of 3-13. It was speculated that Peterson's career might be over.

It was not over.

An intensive rehab, followed closely by fans, saw Peterson recovering and showing confidence of returning. He even claimed he felt stronger than he was before, though few fans believed it. Even still, he was listed as a game time decision for the week 1 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars

The start
AD returned for a respectable start against the Jaguars, rushing for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Posting 91 against the Colts* and 86 against San Francisco, his numbers were respectable and a good showing for any running back. But this wasn't any running back. This was Adrian Peterson. Some wondered if his injury was still holding him back.

102 yards against the Lions and another 88 against the Buccaneers started to silence the doubters. Not only was he back to running all over defenses, but he had led the Vikings to a surprise 5-0 record. A loss to the Redskins diminished hopes somewhat, and people still wondered where an Adrian Peterson performance of old was.
All Day ran over the Arizona Cardinals in week 7, putting up 153 yards and carrying the Vikings to victory. There was no other way to put it- he was back. And with the Vikings at 6-1, things hadn't looked this good since 2009.

*So far this is the only change, with the Vikings beating the Colts 23-21 instead of losing 24-20 with them getting a FG instead of fumbling.
 
4 of 5
“Without him, the Vikings don’t just make the playoffs; they don’t make it to .500.”- Voter, on why he selected Adrian Peterson for MVP.

The 2012 Minnesota Vikings were, simply put, not a good football team. The team with 3 wins in 2011 continued to disappoint on a 5 game stretch in 2012, with 4 losses in 5 games after a promising 6-1 start. These 4 games were lost despite AD running for 123 yards against Tampa Bay, 182 yards against Seattle, 108 yards against the number 1 run defense Chicago Bears, and 210 yards against Green Bay.

The easiest explanation as to why was the Vikings' Quarterback, Christian Ponder. Despite fans' continued insistence that he was developing, he would often throw interceptions right before would-be scores to lose the Vikings games. In that same 210 yard day against Green Bay, Ponder threw for less than 150 yards and two interceptions. He had few receiving weapons, but all the same it was an abysmal performance.

Vikings fans wondered if it all was coming apart. They were now 7-5, but after starting 6-1 it seemed like a disaster. Minnesotans remembered how less than a decade ago, the Vikings had started 6-0 and missed the playoffs- it could happen again. AD was not being stopped, but the team around him (besides rookie kicker, Blair Walsh) just did not have what it takes.

But the Vikings were about to turn it around.

No changes here from OTL. However, 2 games have changed in this week 8-13 stretch. Try and guess which ones.
 
Down the Stretch
The Vikings stood at 7-5. They were coming off of a loss to their rivals, the Green Bay Packers, in a game that many assumed knocked them out of the running for the division. Ahead of them were games with 4 teams with winning records, with the 31st passing offense in the league and a middle of the road defense. But they had one thing keeping them going, one man who was determined the greatest season of a runninback in the NFL in history.

Thanks in part to a pair of interceptions Jay Cutler, the Vikings would beat the Bears at home and advance to 8-5. After taking care of the Rams, the Vikings would shock the NFL by demolishing the 12-2 Houston Texans, with Peterson playing like a man possessed. Sitting at 10-5, the Vikings had clinched a playoff spot due to tiebreakers with the Chicago Bears. But two final goals remained in reach; the single season rushing record, and the NFC North.

With 177 yards left to go before breaking Eric Dickerson's NFL Rushing Record, and the division on the line, AD was not going to let the Packers stop him. He carried the Vikings to a lead early, and kept on going. The Vikings were playing all time great Aaron Rodgers, however, and he led a comeback that tied the score up at 34-34 with just over two minutes left to go. Could AD do it one more time and win the game with everything on the line?

Of course he could.

Two thousand, two hundred and twenty eight yards. A NFCN Division title. And there was something more. Because with the Packers falling to 10-6 and the wildcard spot, and with the 49ers tied with the Vikings at 11-5, the number 2 seed fell to tiebreakers. A week 3 head to head win gave the Vikings the edge. They weren't just going to the playoffs, they weren't just going to win the division. They were getting a first round bye.

Tom Brady did not win the MVP award that season. Neither did a resurgent Peyton Manning, who led the Denver Broncos. It wasn't the electric Colin Kaepernick, or Aaron Rodgers, or anyone from a 13-3 Falcons squad. It was one man, who had carried his team kicking and screaming with him into relevance. One man who was about to go even further.
 
Didn’t see a first round bye coming, great stuff!
Sometimes you've just gotta be lucky. The Vikings were here, with the Packers dropping one to the Lions they won IOTL and the 49ers losing instead of tieing against the Rams. With a 11-5 record, that's all it took.
 
The Divisional Round
A pair of upsets in the NFC and AFC Wildcard roinds marked the 2012 playoffs as strange right out the gate. Surprisingly, the Vikings would be playing a wild card team in the number five Seattle Seahawks. The Legion of Boom had already met and beaten the Vikings at home during the regular season, but now they had to travel to the Metrodome.

Few gave the Vikings any chance in this game. Everyone recognized the talent of the NFL MVP, but no one trusted the team around him. Christian Ponder, the Viking's imperfect but suitable starting Quarterback, was too injured to play. In his place was Joe Webb, a man had faith in to win a playoff game. Seattle was hot off an upset of the Washington Redskins and were ready to unleash their potent defense.

The game started off well for the Vikings. The Seahawks were held 3 and out, and the Vikings marched right down the field with Adrian Peterson and Joe Webb forming a two-headed rushing attack that ran 11 plays for 61 yards, all of them rushing. The Vikings Defense would continue to hold the Seattle offense, and the ever reliable Blair Walsh kicked two field goals to put the Vikings up 13-0.

Things changed in the second quarter. Russel Wilson took control of the game, rattling off 2 touchdowns before the half with only a Vikings FG serving as a response. Joe Webb looked lost as the Seattle Defense intercepted two of his throws and the team gave up on the double rushing attack which had initially worked so well. The stadium was quiet as although the Vikings ended the first half up 17-14, everything seemed to be going against them.

The mood of the crowd did not improve in the third quarter. The first Vikings drive seemed to be exactly what was needed, with AD running again and again and ticking 8 minutes off the clock to give the Vikings another FG, putting their lead at 20-14. But then came yet another drive by Wilson, and yet another Webb interception, and yet another drive for a touchdown. It was a script all Vikings fans had seen before; one of hope followed by brutal, crushing hopelessness. Even Adrian Peterson, who already had 112 yards on the day, could not seem to carry this team on his back forever.

Up 28-20 with 8:31 left to go in the 4th quarter, the Seahawks kicked the ball back to the endzone, where Percy Harvin was waiting.
Obviously switch the team, score, and time. I just wanted to show a cool Harvin return so you can imagine what it was like.

In one kickoff return, the stadium atmosphere became electrifying. With momentum back in their favor, the Vikings would stop Wilson right in his tracks on the ensuing drives, allowing Peterson to drive down the field one more time and score a TD to put the score at 34-28. With less than 2 minutes left to go, young Russel Wilson would have to lead a game winning drive to save the Seahawks season. And he may have done it. One 4th and 2 on the Vikings' 43 yard line, with one timeout and 50 seconds left to go, Wilson scrambled towards the sticks. He had a wide open lane, having escaped pressure up the middle. If he ran straight ahead, he would get a 20 yard game and set up the Seahawks to have a shot at a game winning touchdown.

But he tripped and fell. It wasn't a player that made him do it, or pressure causing him to make a mistake. It was a patch of turf that was torn up, and pure dumb luck for the Vikings.

It didn't matter. They were going to the NFC Championship game once again, 3 years removed from Favre. And coming for them in Minnesota, looking for a rematch, were the Green Bay Packers.
 
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Hopefully that 4th and 2 play is nicknamed something silly by Vikings fans. Overall, was a pretty exciting game was expecting a bit of a low scoring game so nice to see a shootout. Looking forward to the NFCCG!
 

Skollar

Donor
Small nitpick, because I'm loving this story and I'm afraid to add it, but the Metrodome had grassy turf, not actual grass.
 
Let's ignore the first four letters of the title. I am just gonna finish this side project with glory and leave it at that.

NFC Championship Game
The NFCCG was not a new sight for the Vikings, but winning it hadn't been done since the seventies. With a great stroke of luck, the Vikings had gotten to play the NFC Championship Game in the Metrodome, courtesy of the 6 seed Packers upsetting the 49ers and Falcons. It was to be a repeat of their week 17 game, but even despite their sure victory weeks past, most still predicted a Packer victory. They had done it just 2 years ago, after all, and everyone knew you needed a star Quarterback to win a Championship, no matter how good your running back was. The Packers had a star QB, the Vikings did not.

"Everyone" was wrong. The Vikings started off strong and never stopped. On offense, the return of Ponder made the Green Bay Defense respect the passing game even as his greatest accomplishment was continuously handing the ball off to Adrian Peterson. The Minnesota team did nothing fancy; they just played complimentary football. AD ran for 213 yards and a score, and was still not the Vikings' most valuable player that day, as Jared Allen led the defense with 4.5 sacks and one fumble recovery. Late game heroics by Rodgers ultimately resulted in padding the stats, and the Vikings won it 33-24.

It was a foregone conclusion when Adrian Peterson was named MVP in the weeks before the superbowl. But the accolades were not over. Because for the first time in decades, the Vikings were going to the Superbowl.

The Superbowl
Going into it, some thought that the Vikings were lucky to be given a team like the Baltimore Ravens to play in Super Bowl XLVII. They were the #2 seed and had to only play a #6 seed, after all. But perhaps they weren't, because the Ravens dominated the first half, with the Vikings being lucky to only be down 24-17 despite being destroyed in time of possession and almost every statistical category. There would be no kickoff return for a touchdown in the second half, and the Ravens went up 27-17 with only a bit of a time to go in the 3rd quarter. Then the lights went out.

09LIGHTS-IMG-articleLarge.jpg

The Blackout that likely saved the Vikings' season.

Both teams's momentum was cut, and the players were given a chance to center themselves. When the lights went back on, it was a completely different game. In 9 plays, 8 of them runs, the Vikings traveled 74 yards for a touchdown. Their defense made a stop, their offense advanced down the field again for a Field Goal, and by the middle of the 4th quarter the game was tied at 27 all.

But the Ravens were not out of it yet. Joe Flacco, continuing his miraculous playoff performance, led the Ravens down the field inside the redzone. The Vikings Defense was able to stop the Touchdown, but not running down the clock, and with 1:03 to go and the Vikings out of timeouts, Justin Tucker knocked a chip shot through the uprights to give the Ravens the lead.

The Ravens Defense tightened up, and the Vikings faced a 3rd and 3 from their own 42 with just 13 seconds left in the game. It's unclear why they decided to hand the ball off. The casual football observer would say such a move would never work, and 99 times out of 100 they would just see the clock run down to almost nothing even if they picked up a first down. And given the performance of the Vikings coaching staff outside of the 2012 season, perhaps that casual observer would be right to call them stupid. Maybe. But maybe Head Coach Leslie Frazier remembered, in that moment of truth, just what it was that got them to this point. Not an elite Quarterback, or a great defense, or an innovate scheme that left other teams clueless. It was instead one man, one Running Back, who would defy all conventions, and for one strange season, take the game of football back 30 seasons.

Of course the Vikings asked Adrian Peterson to put the team on his back. And of course, one last time, when it counted most, he succeeded. His 58 yard was at first compared to beastquake, and "Beastquake 2.0" was considered as a name. But to every Vikings fan, many of whom had waited decades to see a Vikings superbowl win, and gone through heartbreak after heartbrake to not avail, it needed no innovative name. No, to them, the run Adrian Peterson pulled off in the waning moments of the superbowl, with everything on the line, to cap off the perfect running back season, was simply known as "The Run".

Final score: Baltimore Ravens 30, Minnesota Adrian Peterson's 34.
 
Amazing, at least you finished, that was a season to remember and would be something amazing....till certain thing explode...still what a ride.
 
Nice ending, especially considering how badly Ravens fans would cry about the blackout. Nice to see this finished.
 
Nice ending, especially considering how badly Ravens fans would cry about the blackout. Nice to see this finished.
Amazing, at least you finished, that was a season to remember and would be something amazing....till certain thing explode...still what a ride.
I thought the blackout was a nice finisher. But when you can't stop a run up the middle for going for 58 yards, Ravens complaints will fall on deaf ears.

Glad you both like it! I'm also glad I wrapped it up. I thought about looking at the aftermath of this, and am still unsure. As Nivek implies, things would not go well for the Vikings after this. I think they might promote Musgrave to HC when they fire Frazier, and that means they miss out on hiring Zimmer. Their defense therefore never improves, they don't grab Linval Joseph or the good defensive players they got through drafting OTL. Maybe they trade up in the draft to draft a stub QB... like Mariota or Winston. Ultimately I think they would be in for a rough few years, and not be a good team until 2019 or 2020 at least.

The Ravens probably still extend Flacco, I don't see that changing as he still plays great ITTL. The butterflies will start flapping though, and we'll see a whole different set of QBs and young coaches. The Legion of Boom is not derailed by any means, and I expect Denver to be very good, so a lot of the top teams will have similar faces. But the mid level teams will vary greatly. I really like the idea of McVay ending up as the Redskins' HC with Kirk Cousins and turning into a Super Bowl contender, for example.
 
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