Through the first five weeks of the 2023 NFL season, six teams held a 1-4 record: Minnesota, New England, Denver, Chicago, Arizona and the New York Giants.
Five weeks later, two of those teams are currently among the hottest in the league.
The Vikings (6-4) have won five consecutive games – the longest active streak in the NFL – and six of their past seven. Minnesota has won those contests despite several key players on both sides of the ball missing time at one point during the stretch.
Denver (4-5), meanwhile, has won three in a row and four of six since a 70-20 loss at Miami in Week 3. The Broncos defeated Chicago the following week before dropping bouts with the Jets and Chiefs. Consecutive home wins against Green Bay and Kansas City, the latter of which snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Chiefs, provided a bounce back. This past week, Denver beat Buffalo on the road on Monday Night Football thanks to a 36-yard do-over field-goal attempt by kicker Wil Lutz with no time remaining after the Bills were flagged for too many players on the field.
The two teams will look to keep their streaks going this week on Sunday Night Football in Denver.
Minnesota and Denver have met 15 times in their history, with the Vikings holding a slight 8-7 advantage. Although the Vikings have defeated the Broncos twice in the past five matchups, Minnesota hasn’t won in the Mile-High City in the 21st century; the Vikings last victory in Denver was on Halloween in 1999 on a last-second field goal.
The battles have been extremely close, however. Of the 15 total games, 10 have been decided by four points or fewer, including the past four matchups. Minnesota and Denver split those 10 games, with the Vikings winning the most recent meeting 27-23 in 2019.
Examining those 10 games a little further, six were decided in either the final seconds of regulation or in the overtime period. The Vikings and the Broncos each won a game on a touchdown pass with 19 seconds or fewer remaining in the fourth quarter, a field goal as time expired in regulation, and a game-winning kick in overtime.
2023-11-16 20:21:48
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