[crowd cheering]
[announcer] 9:59 to go, second quarter, 7-3, Kansas City.
Blue 80, set, hut!
[announcer] Third down, a goal-to-go for Mahomes.
Moving to the right is Mahomes. He'll scramble now. Throws it late.
Chiefs will have to try a field goal after having first and goal at the four
and thought they had a touchdown.
Go blue 80, set!
[announcer] Third and two, snapped to Mahomes.
Through the arms of Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
But again, the Chiefs settle for a field goal.
Blue 80, hut!
[announcer] Third down, goal-to-go at the four.
Mahomes will fire it late for the end zone. It's intercepted.
As Mahomes kind of short-armed that one…
[Mahomes] My dumb ass.
[announcer] Now Mahomes scrambling to his right side, a spy on him.
Firing it late. The pass is tipped and almost intercepted again.
[whistle blows]
[announcer] The Chiefs getting stopped in the red zone.
[Mahomes] Fuck me, man.
[announcer 2] Chiefs have been in the red zone 4 times. Only scored once.
[Mahomes] Fuck!
[announcer] Sixteen-point lead with 1:44 to go.
We got the win. This is a weird game.
Coming in here, it's a weird game,
but we did what we were supposed to do
and we won the game. And we learned now.
We learned from some of this stuff. Right?
No one's gotta tell you anything about that red zone throw. You know.
-[Mahomes] Yeah. -You haven't done it all year.
-Yeah. -That's it. Get it out of your bag.
[announcer] And the Kansas City Chiefs
have beaten the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 26 to 10.
Man! Win's a win, but that's an ugly one right there.
-Yes, sir. -[man] Never easy, is it?
Your heart, your soul, your spirit, the way you do it.
I appreciate you, always. Great seeing you.
Yes, sir.
Hello. Hello.
Um, before we're on camera, I know that…
Well, Matthew had told me that y'all are gonna have the baby tomorrow.
Can I mention that on air or leave it alone?
I wouldn't say tomorrow, but you can say it's coming soon.
-Yeah. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[crowd cheering]
[Mahomes] What's up? What's up?
Being a dad, you have to flip that switch immediately.
No matter how you play,
even after the Rams game I felt like I didn't play my best,
whenever you see your… see your daughter and you see your family,
you have to change that mindset and know you have to go out there and be that dad.
Uh, you have the diaper bag?
[Mahomes] Gonna get in the car seat? Mama's coming.
Sterling was good though?
[Brittany] Yeah.
-She was good. -She just chilled, cheered?
[Brittany] Yeah, she has to watch. She has to be able to see.
You kind of, like, weren't there at the very beginning of our warm-ups.
-I looked over and didn't see you. -[Brittany] Were you scared?
And I was like, "Man, she's for sure having the baby right now."
[Brittany] On Twitter I wasn't tweeting. Like, I didn't tweet at all today.
And literally, I open Twitter, and it was blowing up.
Everybody's like, "Brittany's in labor!"
"Patrick's having an off game, and he's distracted
because he's having a baby right now."
I'm like, "Y'all need to chill. I'm not in labor."
I said, "I'm at the game. I'm just distracted." [chuckles]
"I have my daughter."
[Mahomes] That was not a great game for us there.
[Brittany] Yeah. It was only in the red zone y'all struggled.
We drove down the field every time, then got to the red zone and struggled.
[Brittany] And then struggle.
It's crazy 'cause, like,
I'm just so used to scoring in the red zone every time, but, like,
when you don't score in the red zone, or you get field goals, the game stays close.
It's crazy how seven points is so much different than three points.
[Brittany] Whoo! Made it.
-I made it. [chuckles] -[Mahomes] You made it.
-What's up? What's up? What's up? -[man] Bro! Good game.
[Mahomes] Appreciate you. I mean, not really, but I appreciate it.
-[man] Good win. -[Mahomes] 'Sup, bro?
[man 2] Good to see you.
Good seeing you.
All right, man, good to see you, bro.
Haven't seen you in forever, bro.
-What's up? -How you doing?
It's really nice to get him to be able to relax
and enjoy the time with friends and family
and not just thinking about football constantly.
I think it's nice for him to have a little relaxation time here and there, for sure.
You don't want any?
Your belly does look pretty full, sister.
Oh.
Mmm.
That was good, huh?
It's past your bedtime, way past your bedtime.
[man] "Me no sleepy!"
[Brittany] This is the last day she's an only child.
I know.
Brittany's out here like nothing's going on.
-[man] What? -You're having a…
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
You'd never be able to tell with Brittany. She's over here just chilling.
Want me to give you kisses?
Just the fact that she's delivering a baby…
She had on your board "8:00 a.m." Then she looked at it and goes…
-8:30. -Erased it and put 8:30.
[Mahomes laughs]
[Brittany] Mommy's having baby brother tomorrow.
Are you ready to meet him?
[laughs]
Whoa!
-[woman] Uh-oh! -[Brittany] Oh man!
It's okay.
Are you ready to go night-night?
-Oh! -[Mahomes] Let's go to bed.
-Say bye-bye. -[woman] Night, Ster-Ster.
-[Brittany] Blow them kisses. -Say bye-bye. [chuckles]
-You wanna read a book? -[girl babbles]
[Mahomes] Want me to read you ABCs and 1-2-3s?
"A is for Arrowhead."
That's where you were today, you saw that? That's where the football game was.
"That's where we play, and there's no finer stadium in the whole USA."
[man] Touchdown!
[Mahomes] "D is for defense. They work to the max
to stop runs and catches--"
-[girl] Football! -[Mahomes] Hey, the football!
Yeah, good job!
Give me lovins. Give me lovins. Good night.
We love you, Sterling.
[GPS] At the stop sign, take a slight right turn onto Best Road.
Soon as we go to a new city, um,
we try to just dive right in with foundation stuff
and really making our presence known in the community.
-How you doing, man? I'm Marcus. -Matthew.
Nice to meet you. Enjoy, okay?
[Kiyomi] He wants to be a part of not only the team and the organization,
but the city itself.
What size you got? Nine and a half? All right.
There you go.
As much as football is so much of his life,
we always talk about how it's bigger than football.
[Mariota] Good job, buddy.
Muscles, ready? Flex.
Yeah, there you go!
We really try to stay true to that.
I'm about to be a dad for a little girl. Do you have any advice for me?
-Uh, give her lots of hugs. -[Mariota] I will.
-Can I give you one? -[girl] Yes.
-[Mariota] Nice to meet you, Madison. -[Madison] Nice to meet you too.
[Mariota] All right, boys, let's be sharp, huh?
Look at you, brand-new kicks?
Ooh!
-What size are your shoes? -[man] Eighteen.
Oh my goodness.
White 80!
White, set, hut!
[announcer] The Panthers-Falcons game is for first place in the NFC South.
The Falcons can have sole possession of first
with a win in that game.
[announcer 2] Very into this Falcons team.
Let's see if they bounce back from a horrendous loss last week.
[Mariota] Left! Left!
[announcer] A lot of players'll talk about they remember playing division games
kind of had that weight.
You don't say it but you kind of feel it.
This is a tightly-bunched operation with these four teams.
Those guys are one game back. Does that make any difference in a game?
Um, yeah, absolutely. Any time you have a division game, it's super important.
And the way our division is shaking out right now,
each one of these games are so important.
Um, so with our division, especially at home, you gotta pull these out
so that you can get kind of a head start on the rest of the group.
[announcer] Mercedes-Benz Stadium, downtown Atlanta.
We're getting ready for Falcons and Panthers.
[Mariota] Let's go, huh?
Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
-[man] It's his birthday! -[man 2] Yeah.
-[man] It's his birthday! -[man 3] Happy birthday!
It's his birthday!
Yours? Okay.
Stay present! One play at a time for four quarters!
Let's get this win! Falcons on three! One, two, three!
[team] Falcons!
Just need a win today, please.
-Here we go! Here we go! Turbo, set, hut! -[dramatic music playing]
Let it fly. Let it fly.
Birthday tuddy. Come on.
[announcer] Marcus'll take, play fake, cross, caught!
Touchdown!
-Yeah! -[crowd cheering]
Whoo!
I just thought I pulled my hip flexor. [chuckles]
Good drive. Good drive. Good drive. Yeah.
[indistinct yelling]
[announcer] Off the play fake.
Catch made by Allgeier.
First down and more.
Go all the way!
Whoo!
[announcer] Tyler Allgeier!
It is a Atlanta touchdown!
[Kiyomi] Touchdown!
[cheering]
[Mariota] Great job.
[laughs] Good catch!
[crowd cheering]
Feel how hard that is?
Oh my gosh.
Oh my God, yeah!
So I just, like… In my head, like, her foot is, like, pushing out.
I'm gonna, like, see this foot.
Turbo, set!
[dramatic music continues]
[announcer] Mariota's gonna shoot it downfield.
Caught Byrd, 35, Damiere far side, 30.
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] 25, 20. Byrd, 15, 10, 5…
Touchdown Atlanta!
Yeah!
[announcer] Mariota with three touchdown passes on his 29th birthday.
-[Mariota] Good job, boys. -Let's go!
[cheering]
Whoo!
I ain't gonna sing "Happy Birthday" yet. I'm gonna wait till after the game.
-Hell of a play by you. -Good.
Keep dialing it. Yeah. Yeah.
-You threaded that. -I was like, "Oh!"
-[indistinct chatter] -[Mariota laughs]
Throughout the game, you never really know what's gonna happen, um, obviously.
You can be up by several points and think that it's a wrap,
and then slowly the momentum starts to change,
and then you kind of start feeling like you're going down.
[announcer] Seesaw battle here in Atlanta.
Winner moves into first place.
-Rub the Buddha belly! -Come on, baby! Come on, baby!
Daddy's birthday wish!
[announcer] Twenty-three seconds left.
And the lead is six at 34 to 28.
And now Walker fires downfield, looking for DJ Moore!
-[announcer 2] Oh my God! -[announcer] To the end zone.
It's a diving catch for a Panthers touchdown!
Wow!
Sixty-two yards!
[whistle blows]
[announcer] There is a flag thrown during the celebration.
Unsportsmanlike conduct,
offense number two, for removing his helmet.
Atlanta has chosen to enforce this 15-yard penalty on the try.
Miss the kick.
Like a free throw. Like a free throw, right?
[crowd clamoring]
[announcer] This is a 48-yard extra point
to give the Panthers the lead.
And it is no good!
Oh!
Oh my God.
Okay! Okay!
-Okay! -[woman] What is going on?
What is going on?
It worked!
[announcer] So we go to overtime.
How about this little ballgame we've walked ourselves into today?
Hot. Hot.
It's getting spicy in here.
[Kiyomi] I don't like to say I ever get nervous.
To me, if you can get the ball in Marcus's hand,
I always believe there's a chance.
Just do X-strike with a three,
and if I come around, that safety's low, I'm taking a shot.
All right, let's go finish it, huh? Let's go finish it.
Turbo, set, hut!
[announcer] Snap to Mariota, gotta get rid of the ball.
Slips it middle of the field.
Getting close to another Atlanta first down.
Got up the field.
[Mariota] Turbo, set!
[announcer] Here's Marcus. He's got the first down.
Mariota breaking here to the near side.
Bring it home, baby! Take it home!
Take it home!
[announcer] Thirty-five, 30, Mariota to the 25-yard line.
Let's go!
-Whoo! -[crowd cheering]
[announcer] And Mariota just gives you the meanest juke. Ooh, oh, oh.
Shook him right out of his cleats for that one.
That boy fast!
[announcer] Right now, it's a 41-yard try for Younghoe Koo.
Snap, spot, here's Koo for the win.
Kick is away!
Koo's kick…
It's good!
[cheering]
Koo!
Younghoe Koo wins the ballgame!
I'll take it! I'll take it!
-Happy birthday. -[Mariota] I appreciate it.
[Mariota] You go through so many highs and lows.
You're like, "We're gonna win," and then, like, "Okay."
You're up again, and then you're down, and then you're back up.
It was crazy.
I don't think I've been part of a wilder game than that.
[announcer] It took a while, but everybody goes home happy.
[man] Amazing! Congratulations!
Thank you.
And the Falcons are four and four
Little birthday win?
Thank God.
-[man] Happy birthday, man. -[Mariota] Thank you.
-[chuckles] Appreciate you. Thank you. -What a win.
[Mariota] That was unbelievable.
Ooh-wee!
-[team] ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ -No, no, no, no.
We don't need all that. No, no, no, we don't need all that.
-How you feeling? -I'm good.
-You've been living right. -[Mariota chuckles]
[Kiyomi] It's kind of like a roller-coaster ride,
but I just try to keep him grounded afterwards.
Like, "Okay, we did it."
"Whether it's a win or loss, let's enjoy it for what it is,
and we got another game next week."
Are you eating cookies?
No, somebody had birthday brownies.
Birthday brownie, birthday win. Let's go.
Harder than it needed to be.
It happens.
-[man] Good game. -Thank you.
[Mariota] Being four and four,
not exactly where we want to be, but at the same time, I thought
our guys find ways to dig ourselves out of holes, um,
you know, build, kind of, confidence,
and at the end of the day,
when you're sitting at .500, there's a lot of opportunities.
Proud of the guys being able to fight through that
and find a way to get us back to .500.
[Mariota] All right, you got the instructions?
[Kiyomi] Um, no.
We are building our little girl's crib.
Kiyomi's due in six weeks, so
I figure we should kind of start… start getting things ready to go.
I'm not the most handy person in the world,
so I let her take the instructions.
I just do all the manual stuff.
Wheels, check. Okay. Um…
I think it's finally starting to hit me.
I'm, like, starting to hunker down, and settling in, building the crib.
-[Mariota] You talking about these ones? -[Kiyomi] The big ones.
So this blanket is really cool.
His parents had it made for us. Um…
This designer did custom attire for our wedding last year.
This color was inside of Marcus's jacket.
Dark yellow, our siblings were in.
The light green,
we had our parents in.
And then the dark green, our grandparents were in.
So it was kind of like all the same print, but different colors.
I think I need another mattress. This is, like,
not comfy.
Come here.
[Mariota] Not comfy?
Yeah. Is it dog-approved?
[Mariota] Put her in and see if it worked.
[Kiyomi] What do you think?
-[Mariota] I think we're good. -[Kiyomi] Good girl.
[Mariota] Hey! Every single one of you is meant to be here!
Let's go separate from the pack and do what we do! Let's go.
-Falcons on three! One, two, three! -[team] Falcons!
[Mariota] The direction of the season can totally rely on one play.
And that's what's wild about the NFL,
is that it can be a good play for you, and all of a sudden,
you're sitting and you're, you know, 10-7 or 11-6,
and you're going to the playoffs. Or all of a sudden, you know,
6-11 and you're staying at home.
That's why, week in and week out, it's important to understand
just how critical each situation is and each play
and just try to be your best when it's counted.
[announcer] Tie game at 17. Atlanta's gotta come up with a money ball.
[Mariota] White 80, set, hut!
[announcer] And a play fake by Mariota, who wants to throw,
moves the pocket, now sails for Pitts!
Kyle's there, and it's overthrown.
[crowd yelling]
♪ And way down we go ♪
♪ Go, go, go… ♪
[announcer] And on the final play of the game,
the Chargers have beaten the Falcons.
Atlanta will go to 4-5.
♪ Way down we go… ♪
[announcer] Falcons and Panthers.
We know Atlanta won in overtime 11 days ago.
I think at that point in time there was a little bit of a lull, offensively.
My natural instinct has always been I'll be the guy to make a play.
And I think that selfish attitude kind of gets me in trouble.
[announcer] Marcus goes down.
He put it up for grabs as he did.
[announcer 2] And he just throws it without really knowing
or having any idea where it might go.
[announcer] And the Falcons will fall to 4-6.
[announcer 2] A lot of talk about Desmond Ridder,
the rookie who's waiting as the backup. Is he gonna get a chance?
[announcer 3] Arthur Smith has to get better play
out of the quarterback position.
[interviewer] Arthur, is that something you'll look at for the next game,
a quarterback change?
We look every week to make sure that
we got the right guys in the right spots.
[announcer] A six-point lead for Washington.
One minute to go in the ball game.
-[Mariota] Oh no. -[announcer] Batted in the air!
Intercepted.
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] Just a bad break right there.
Bruh, that was a touchdown.
[announcer] It will cost Atlanta their seventh loss of the year.
Marcus Mariota is gonna try to get Atlanta, at worst,
in the field goal position.
Quick throw intercepted.
♪ Way down we go ♪
♪ Go, go, go, go ♪
♪ Oh, way down go, oh… ♪
The Falcons are falling out of the playoff race.
Is it time to see what you have with your rookie quarterback?
[interviewer] Arthur, are you planning on making a change at quarterback?
Well, Mike, it's a unique time when you're ready to go on the bye,
so we'll evaluate everything.
Certainly every option's on the table.
[Mariota] Great game, man.
[interviewer] Would you understand if he decided to make a change at quarterback?
Uh, that's not necessarily where my mind's at.
At the end of the day, they gotta make a decision that's best for the team.
[somber music playing]
Two teams who have really good records, but something seems just sort of off, and…
Wouldn't you say that about these two teams, year after year?
The game Peter mentioned was a great game, records-wise, quarterback storyline-wise.
Minnesota just won the game of the year.
[commentator] It was probably the most surprising Vikings win of recent memory,
where in Buffalo with all the crazy things that happened,
they fought, they were resilient, it was this awesome moment.
[commentator 2] I can't believe they won that game, still. Now go home,
don't lose 31-13 to Dallas.
[commentator 3] Big ramifications, Dallas versus Minnesota.
[interviewer] Kirk, after a big win at Buffalo,
you guys have become media darlings,
lot more hype, you know, Super Bowl talk.
How do you handle that change, more of a spotlight on the Vikings now?
I live such an insulated life that I have no idea that that's going on.
You know, I go to my house, I play with my kids,
I come back here, I grind.
So I need to practice a stride takeoff.
Who should I grab to run it post-practice?
Blake. Okay.
When you lose, you don't deviate. When you win, you don't deviate.
Hey, Blake?
I need a couple routes. They're not short routes.
You just sort of methodically…
Turbo, set, hut!
…go about your process week in and week out,
and that's what I'll keep doing.
Yeah, that feels good.
[interviewer] Kirk, the Cowboys have come into U.S. Bank
the last two years to beat you.
-Now you got another shot at them. -[Cousins] Yeah, great football team.
You know, they've been in the playoffs several times the last several years.
They've given us a challenge the last several times we played them
and gotten the better of us. So we got our work cut out for us.
[announcer] Good one today.
This is a Vikings team coming off an amazing victory in overtime
against Buffalo last week.
[Cousins] Eighty, set, hut!
[grunting]
[grunts]
Hey. You had no chance. You're gonna have to stand in there.
[Cousins] Yeah.
Coming back from the Buffalo game, we were saying on the plane,
football's a game of emotion. We just had this emotional high.
We cannot allow a game like that
to cause us to be, you know, down next week.
Hell yeah!
And
it was just a complete disappointment.
[announcer] A week removed
from one of the most dramatic, dynamic, and exciting games
in the history of regular-season football for the Vikings,
I mean, you talk about flipping the script…
It was just a deal where I think, that Buffalo game lingered a little bit
just in how much it took out of us, and we weren't able to play
up to the level we needed to the following Sunday.
-Just gonna take our medicine. -Yeah. Yeah.
Short week, you can find a way to turn these guys around.
Come right back here and try to get a win.
Yeah. Yep.
I don't think we gave you much of a chance today, you know.
No, it was, uh…
It was just the combination of everything, man.
Wasn't any one thing.
[announcer] Do you respect the Vikings, what they've done this year? Absolutely.
Do I have any more questions about the Vikings? Yes, I do.
Great job, man. Great job. Big-time job.
-Appreciate you. -[Cousins] For sure.
[announcer] I'm not ruling the Vikings out
from making another charge up the standings.
Let's see what they do on Thursday against the Patriots.
But that is a very tough loss, and it's eye-opening.
[woman] That was a short week. We didn't really have time to mope.
I don't know if they watched the film much, because it was like,
"We have to get ready for the Patriots. Thanksgiving night, prime-time game,
we gotta get going."
And we had a community event that week that was really sweet.
[Cousins] Hi there.
Green bean casserole?
-[man] Yes, sir. -All right.
Very good.
We barely had any time to even talk that week. [chuckles]
It was just, "Get ready for Thursday."
And trying to figure out how to fit Thanksgiving into it all too.
Would you guys like green beans at all?
Okay, all right, here we go.
[Julie] I think that was really an important thing for us to go and do
after such a terrible loss when you're, "Poor me, oh man."
Are you a football player?
[Cousins] I try to be.
-Here. -[Cousins] Hop in here.
Go on, Keith, you by the football player.
To just say, "Forget all that. This is about family this week."
"It's about reflecting on all of our blessings."
[Cousins] Hopefully after being here, we can make a few more Vikings fans.
And certainly winning is important, you know?
We need to keep it going.
All right.
-[man] Thank you. -Here you go.
[reporter] Here's something to be thankful for,
after getting destroyed by the Cowboys last week,
you now have a short week.
Thursday, the Vikings play against Bill Belichick's Patriots defense
on Thanksgiving in prime time.
Take a bite of that.
[Cousins] You know what today is, Nick? Today's an opportunity.
Turbo, set, hut!
[reporter] Kirk Cousins trying to erase the stench of I'm-not-prime-time Kirk.
[reporter 2] Everyone's watching NBC.
Please don't lay another egg.
Vikings fans have been through this for years and years and years.
[Cousins] I'm aware, you know, going back years,
that people have this narrative that, you know, I struggle in prime time.
[reporter 3] There's so many slights and doubts against Cousins.
[Julie] A lot of people talking about, "Can he do it?"
I don't want to say I'm numb to it, but I'm used to it,
and I just can laugh at it now.
[pensive music playing]
Although sometimes I think what he does best is he blocks a lot of that stuff out,
I still know that he hears it sometimes.
[Cousins] I keep going back, scratching my head,
"I feel like I played pretty well at night games."
At home, I've got a bunch, uh, of the game balls
that NBC gives for their games. I've got five or six of them.
You're like, "I don't think I'd get those if I'm struggling at night games."
But, uh, the reality is,
you tend to play really good football teams in those prime-time games,
so they tend to be games that, you know, are gonna be hard to win
unless you play really, really well as a team.
We certainly haven't won enough.
Playing the Patriots, just a huge sense of urgency to get back on the right track,
get a win on a bigger stage, on Thanksgiving,
against a really good football team, and a really good defense, and…
And then enjoy Thanksgiving weekend.
That weekend is a different experience if you win that game than if you lose.
So, like, I'm trying to go home on Friday after the game
and eat some turkey dinner and enjoy my Thanksgiving.
Dive into your first Thanksgiving morsel here.
[Cousins] In Washington, I got to do it, where they had me after with a turkey leg.
The dream would be to do it again.
There you go. Pass it around.
Honoring John Madden, I'm sure they'll have some turducken,
which would be even better.
I've always been amazed with the Patriots' ability
to be a top-ten defense year after year after year.
Coach Belichick's sustained success gets in your head a little bit,
in a good way, where you're saying, "I've gotta be on it,
because if I'm not, he'll expose me."
New England's gonna be willing to play a fair amount of man coverage.
There's just that ultimate respect for their staff and their scheme.
They're very creative in how they play man coverage.
Where the middle/post safety is.
You know, is he reading my eyes aggressively?
Is he flat-footed?
Is he leaning to Justin? Is he leaning away from Justin
because Justin's being doubled in man coverage by somebody else?
It's a really good scheme.
It's why they're one of the better-ranked defenses in the league
in just about every area.
As I say that, I'm watching an interception happen.
They're not gonna play man coverage the whole time,
but they are gonna play it,
and we've gotta make them pay when they do
and find creases and find seams.
Um…
We've got a chance to, uh…
to score when they… when they do.
[dramatic rhythmic music playing]
[announcer] Welcome to U.S. Bank Stadium. Happy Thanksgiving.
The 6-4 Patriots are in town to take on the Minnesota Vikings.
-Coach. -Hi, Coach.
-How are you? Good to see you. -You're doing a great job. You too.
[crowd cheering]
[announcer 2] Here comes Kirk Cousins.
His performance in prime-time games,
10 and 18 overall.
This includes his stint with the Washington Commanders.
Let's go, brother.
Let's roll.
White 80, set, hut!
[announcer] He needs to be better at these prime-time games.
It does feel different as a player.
You know the world is watching. You have to perform.
[announcer 2] If we were in the Mall of America last week
talking to Viking fans, they'd say, "Beat Dallas, nine and one,
maybe the best team in the NFL."
Then they lose 40 to three to Dallas.
And around the dinner tables in the Twin Cities,
it's, "Are we any good?"
[announcer] Lot of doubters out there, but the short week came at a perfect time
for the Vikings. They wanna get that bad taste from the Cowboys loss
out of their mouth as quickly as they can.
-Happy Thanksgiving, buddy. -Let's roll. Happy Thanksgiving.
It's prime time, national game, on Thanksgiving.
You knew to be able to come out of this game 9-2
would really be able to, you know, catapult us
to the backstretch of the season.
Turbo, set, hut!
[announcer] Four-man rush.
Kirk with a straight drop, over the middle…
Intercepted! He threw it right to Jonathan Jones.
[whistle blows]
[announcer 2] That was actually a double-team on Jefferson.
Jonathan Jones came off him and got the interception.
Who was he? If it's man coverage, he just fell off.
See, I'm seeing him as my hole player.
Once I saw him go, I thought I was fine. Does that make sense?
-My bad. I made it too quick. -It's all good. It's all good.
Does that make sense? I thought I had a safe throw out there to lead him.
[Cousins] You prepare like crazy
to make sure those negative plays never happen.
But when they inevitably do happen, um,
you know, your mind goes to,
first, "Let's fix it. Why'd it happen?" So it doesn't happen again. But then,
saying, "Hey, it's one play."
And emotionally, we can't let that seep into any negativity moving forward.
-[O'Connell] Let's start a new streak. -Yeah, no doubt.
[indistinct chatter]
Yeah. Yeah.
Turbo, set, hut!
[announcer] Cousins, four-man rush.
JJ.
[Cousins] Kirk is gonna fire to JJ, who's there!
And caught it!
Yes!
Boom.
[crowd cheering]
[O'Connell] Hey, that's a great ball.
[announcer] In-and-out double.
They did that the last third down, so what do you do?
You run through it.
-So we'll put 23 Jumbo out there. -[Cousins] Mm-hmm.
-All right, just be smart. -[Cousins] Yes, sir.
23 Jumbo!
Hey, take some pride in this right here.
Take some pride in this. Let's go.
White 80, set, hut!
[announcer] Cousins looks left, throws to the end zone…
Touchdown!
Yeah! Great job, Kirk!
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] And the Vikings have a 16-13 lead.
[announcer 2] Perfect patience by Kirk Cousins.
The play wasn't there right away.
TJ Hockenson getting the perfect patient pass
from Kirk Cousins for the touchdown.
Great job! Great job!
-Nice drive. -Great job! Great job!
Oh, that hurts so much.
[Cousins] Thankfully, the Dallas game I didn't re-aggravate anything,
but because it was a short week, my ribs really hadn't healed
to where I'd be feeling great.
So I knew I was one hit away from them being hurt again.
And sure enough…
Turbo, set, hut!
Ow! My ribs.
Ah. Ah.
…I re-aggravated them again. It was like, "Ugh, here we go again."
So the rest of that game I was kind of gutting through it.
[announcer] Twenty-six all, 13:06 to go in the game.
Vikings ball.
[Cousins] Hey, double move. Best takeoff.
Turbo, set, hut!
[announcer 2] Here's a deep shot. Jefferson got loose.
He caught it! No way!
Yes! At the 15!
[announcer] Big-time throw by Kirk Cousins.
Talk about making a contested catch.
In traffic. Wow.
[Jefferson] Boy, good throw!
[announcer] First and 10 from the Patriot 15.
We gotta go! We gotta go!
When you're getting the ideal look, you can't get the ball fast enough,
'cause you're so excited. Like, "Here we go!"
"I don't wanna give them a chance to change covers. Snap the ball."
We want them to be in man coverage.
[announcer] Play action to Dalvin.
Kirk, straight drop.
Looks to the end zone for Thielen…
Yeah! Touchdown!
-[crowd cheering] -Yeah!
Yeah!
-[announcer] A bullet from Cousins! -You take that thing!
[announcer 2] It's a double crisscross against man coverage,
plenty of time to work through it
and find Thielen in the back of the end zone.
And the Vikings will win.
In that moment, we had, you know, the right look,
and we were able to make the play.
[man] Hell of a game, man. Interception early, come back from there.
-Nice going, man. -[man 2] Great job.
-Happy Thanksgiving, buddy. -Happy Thanksgiving, man.
[announcer] And the Vikings are gonna win their ninth game against two losses.
-Coach. -[Belichick] Great job.
Lot of respect. I said to Steve, you got a great defense.
You make it hard on us, man.
-You kill us sometimes. -Thank you.
-Wanna get some turkey? -[Cousins] I'd love that.
I was really looking forward to that.
This is the only reason I wanted to win. I wanted to do this right here.
-Yeah, dive in. -[Cousins] Let's go!
I gotta take my gloves off.
Kirk, you said you wanted to win the game just for this.
Yeah, it's a great memory.
I got to do this in 2017 back in Washington,
and I've always remembered it.
You know, to get this opportunity is a lot of fun,
so love this. This is a great tradition.
We have the turducken right there.
-Is that what that is? -Yeah.
Yeah, we brought a knife if anybody wants to try it. Wanna try it?
[Cousins] You only get to do this so often, so…
[reporter] Kirk's trying the turducken, if you wanna come back down.
[Cousins] How do we, uh… I don't even know what I'm cutting.
I'm not a surgeon, but…
[Thielen] Just get in there.
[reporter] You can do it with your hands, like John Madden.
There we go. That's actually pretty good.
-Yeah. -There it is.
-You got layers there. It looks juicy. -Yeah.
-Get in there. -We got the turducken going.
-That's it right there. -That's not as dry.
-I get that. You want some? -I'm good.
I'm gonna hop in here. Let me hop in here. One more!
Hop in here.
[chuckles] Turducken.
[O'Connell] Thanksgiving night, talking about the prime-time games.
I knew exactly what time the game started.
I knew, um, the importance of that performance for our organization
and for our team in 2022,
um, and I wanted them to get the credit for that.
[man] Oh, he got the turkey! Yeah!
Yeah!
Is it good?
-This was the turducken. -Oh, nice.
Had all of it.
[O'Connell] It was four days ago, men.
Four days ago, we were in this very locker room
with the taste…
of something that we hadn't experienced a whole lot this year.
That game started at 7:25.
That makes it a prime-time football game.
Your quarterback went 30 of 37 for 299, and three touchdowns.
[team cheering]
Hey, great job, men. Another… another team win, men!
Hey, I'm telling you, this team is uncommon, men!
We win as a team! That's how we win every time, men.
Let's remain uncommon the rest of this way, men!
Take care of yourselves this weekend. Come back ready to win against the Jets.
[man] Yes, sir!
-Team on three! One, two, three. -[team] Team!
[team cheering]
[Mahomes] Here we go. Set, hut!
Fucking ready, bro. I'm fucking ready.
I'm fucking ready.
I'm too amped up today.
I gotta calm down.
[reporter] Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes' team just got bigger,
because he and wife Brittany just welcomed a baby boy with a winning name.
My son, Patrick Lavon Mahomes III, we call him Bronze, for being the third.
Um, he was born on November 28th.
What are you doing? What are you doing?
Are you hungry? Okay, let's go eat.
[Mahomes] Brittany's a champ, man.
She, like, waited until the last moment.
She was like, "All right, time to have the baby."
Then she went out there. Then the baby was here.
Then she was back moving the next day.
[Sterling] Buddy!
-[woman] Where's Buddy? -Right here.
I think he's behind you. Wanna sit with him?
Buddy.
Sterling loves him. Sterling calls him Buddy
'cause she heard Brittany call him Buddy one time.
And it just has stuck ever since.
So she just screams "Buddy" all day, every day.
-[Brittany] That's a good job! -Buddy! Buddy!
Buddy! Buddy!
Hi. Hi.
-Ha, ha. -[Brittany] Give him kisses.
[Sterling laughs]
[ethereal music playing]
[commentator] No decision has been made yet on the Falcons quarterback change.
[commentator 2] If losses are piling up,
you might as well see what you have in Desmond Ridder, right?
-[man] Good job. -[Mariota] We lost four of the last five.
Yes, you know, it sucks to lose. Yes,
you feel like you're letting a bunch of people down.
[commentator 3] Mariota should be on the bench moving forward.
[Mariota] You sit there like, "Man, what more can I do? What can I do to fix this?"
[commentator 4] Desmond Ridder should be the starter.
[Mariota] You know, you really go, kind of, in a dark place.
I got you.
-[reporter] As far as the quarterback-- -[Smith] We're still working through that.
Every change, especially in regards of personnel,
I'll be transparent, and we'll have decisions made.
Um, you know, like today…
I'm sure the next question is gonna be about the quarterback.
Marcus isn't in the building today. His wife went into labor this morning.
[inspirational music plays]
[Mariota] So Makaia was born, eight pounds, five ounces.
She's our little Christmas gift.
It's crazy, really.
Like, you sit there and you're like,
"You sure you're gonna let us take her home?"
That was wild for me.
So I go in the next day, Thursday,
and Art wants to talk about the future.
And didn't hear from him for a couple of hours.
And I'm just sitting at the hospital with our newborn,
just kind of, you know, waiting for the call, and…
Got a text from him, just like,
"They're going in a different direction."
[ominous music playing]
[Smith] All right, just a few things here before I get, uh, started with questions.
In regards to the roster move, we did make a switch of quarterback.
Desmond Ridder will be the starter. It was a performance-based decision.
And, uh, again, I wouldn't have made this decision
if I didn't think it was in the best interest for this team,
uh, not only short-term, but probably long-term as well.
[reporter] Is there some value in having Marcus,
or the guy who's been in the system, back in the building to help Des?
You know, Josh… Of course. You want all your guys to be here.
But he's not here right now.
[reporter] Breaking news out of Atlanta.
The Falcons are making a change at quarterback.
Desmond Ridder taking over for the Falcons.
Marcus Mariota went, like, AWOL?
-[reporter 2] He's not with the team. -[reporter] Not with the team?
-[reporter 2] He left the team. -[reporter] Interesting.
[reporter 3] Let's talk about this Marcus Mariota situation.
It's interesting, the timing of his decision to step away from the team
with a month to go.
A month to go in the season?
[reporter 4] Did Marcus Mariota quit on the Falcons?
[reporter 3] I can't say I've ever heard of this in the NFL.
[reporter 4] It seems like Mariota quit on this team.
[reporter 3] What is going through this guy's mind?
[reporter] Do you expect Marcus back this season?
I can't… I can't answer that right now.
[interviewer] Are there any young quarterbacks you feel like it means more
when you're playing each other?
[Mahomes] Joe Burrow, man.
Hey, go do your thing. Good luck.
Everything that could go wrong, did.
[announcer] The Vikings trail 33-nothing.
[O'Connell] No, no, no, don't get frustrated.
Oh, I'm getting frustrated.
[announcer 2] The Minnesota Vikings are attempting the greatest comeback
in the history of the National Football League.
[Cousins] Whoo!
[intense music playing]