On opening night in U.S. Bank Stadium back in September, Stefon Diggs made big, explosive plays to help the Vikings beat the Saints. He didn't have the most impressive numbers — those belonged to Adam Thielen, on his way to the best season of his career. But Diggs broke the game open, because that has always been his greatest skill.
Everything he did that Monday night, and every game since then, and every one before that, going back to Pop Warner ball, was eclipsed Sunday night, 18 weeks after the season opener, in the same building, against the same Saints.
Explosive plays? The one he pulled off to beat the Saints 29-24 and carry the Vikings to within a game of their first Super Bowl since 1977 instantly joined the most unforgettable ones in NFL history — and as a byproduct sent onlookers scrambling to an alternative to the most fitting, but already taken, nickname … the Immaculate Reception.
PHOTOS: Diggs' miracle TD, frame by frame
It didn’t look like many other miraculous plays anyone has ever pulled off; however, it’s what Diggs has done his entire football life — made the most athletic play possible and turned it into points.
The fling downfield from Case Keenum with 10 seconds left and Minnesota trailing 24-23, the leap by Diggs to pull it down, the landing he stuck, the balance to stay inbounds, and the awareness to tear off downfield to finish the 61-yard game-winning touchdown … they were all in line with what he had done for three NFL seasons, including that opener.
Against the Saints then, he caught seven balls for 93 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half. By season's end — it was interrupted again by injury, this time two games with a groin issue — he had adjusted with everyone else to Keenum replacing Sam Bradford, catching more touchdown passes (eight) than he had in his previous two seasons combined and reaching a career high with 13.3 yards per catch on his 64 receptions.
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Either the Vikings got smart or lucky during the 2015 draft, because Diggs, who had played wideout and returned kicks at Maryland and left after his junior year, slipped to them in the fifth round. He became a threat on offense and on returns in his first two years, but this season saw him play with a third quarterback in three years: Teddy Bridgewater, Bradford and Keenum.
Thielen became the breakout star this year, but Diggs never stopped being a factor, and Keenum, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and head coach Mike Zimmer made sure he was a major part of the scheme. It never paid off quite as well as on that last play Sunday.
"A lot of people doubted the majority of our guys, especially on offense," Diggs told NFL Network. "We just got a lot of fighters, a lot of guys who don’t give up, and Case is one of them. It just felt so good on the last drive that he had faith in me — he had faith that I could make a play, and he believed in me."
On Sunday, Thielen made a breathtaking catch on the Vikings' previous possession, while being both held and interfered with, to set up a go-ahead field goal. Diggs took over on that final drive — he caught one for 19 yards to get the Vikings to their 39.
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The game-winner — the longest play of his NFL career — came three plays later, with the game seeming to ride on whether he could catch the ball and get out of bounds in time for another field-goal try. Breaking it all the way wasn't even a thought: "We've never practiced this particular situation before," Diggs admitted.
He simply took a pretty good situation and made it great.
