SI’s Vault is pretty slick. I vividly remember this playoff game and Bobby Bryant taking the blocked kick back for a touchdown.
The scoring in pro football games generally features spiraling passes from quarterbacks like Tarkenton to smooth-gaited receivers like White, but Allen won the game over the Rams as surely as Bud Grant is a duck hunter. He did it just when the Vikings were reeling back on their own one-inch line in the first quarter, shoved up against their funny old end-zone bleachers by the Rams. After a 54-yard drive, the visitors were lined up and ready to get at least three points for their efforts.
Suddenly, it wasn’t a Los Angeles field goal at all, it was a 7-0 Minnesota lead. The center’s snap to the Ram holder, Steve Preece, was true enough, and Tom Dempsey’s leg did reach the ball. The thing was, Dempsey’s leg got there at the same time as a purple-shirted blaze wearing No. 25.