Of all the wild finishes in the NFL this year, Sunday's Baltimore-Minnesota game may have been the craziest. After the teams combined for 27 points in the first 58 minutes of the game, the Ravens and the Vikings put up four touchdowns in the final 90 seconds. It was the first game in NFL history with six lead changes in the fourth quarter.
Many people thought the first of those four touchdowns, which came on a 44-yard run by Toby Gerhardt with 1:32 left, would seal the game for the Vikings. Indeed, it probably should have.
To give fans and poker players a better understanding of just how improbable the final 1:27 of the game was, Twitter user Bill Bowen produced this neat graphic.
As you can see, the Vikings had an 88 percent chance to win after Gerhardt scored. It was as if Minnesota was dealt pocket aces.
@FO_ScottKacsmar @PFF For poker players, here's approximate % of @Ravens last 1:27 yesterday in a Texas Hold Em hand: pic.twitter.com/U8mcTiNlHY
— Bill Bowen (@BillEBowen) December 9, 2013
But then Jacoby Jones returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, flipping the odds and giving the Ravens an 84 percent chance to win. It was as if Baltimore got a pair of kings on the flop.
When Matt Cassel connected with Cordarrelle Patterson for a 79-yard touchdown reception, the Vikings' win probability jumped to 96 percent. At this point, they were holding a full house (three aces and two kings) and the Ravens were holding three kings. There was only one card left that would give Baltimore the victory on the River, and that was a king.
Well, what do you know? Joe Flacco drove his squad down the field and found Marlon Brown in the end zone with four seconds left. The Ravens had been dealt their fourth king, topping the Vikings' hand of three aces.
“I’ve never played in a game like that," Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith said after the game. "I’ve never even played a video game like that. That’s probably the craziest thing I’ve ever been a part of.”
The Ravens pulled off the miracle at home in front of a sell-out crowd of nearly 71,000 fans. You could say they were dealt four of a kind in a full house.
(H/T to BaltimoreRavens.com )
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