Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins had just made two career-defining throws to lead Minnesota to its first overtime playoff victory in franchise history.
The normally raucous Mercedes-Benz Superdome went silent.
As tight end Kyle Rudolph caught the game-winning pass in the corner of the end zone, it was so silent that Kirk Cousins wasn't so sure that the play would send Minnesota to the next round.
"First of all, when you score and everything goes quiet, it throws you off a little bit," Cousins said on this week's episode of Under Center with Kirk Cousins. "Because you are used to cheers or some sort of reaction. It was so quiet that you are thinking 'Wait, what just happened?' "
The Vikings offensive line gathered around Rudolph to celebrate the final play of a 26-20 victory, but Cousins' first thought was to look over to the referee.
"I looked to the ref, and he gave the touchdown signal, so my first thought was 'Game over,' " Cousins said. "Our sideline was running on the field, and then Chris Myers from FOX came over and said 'Hey, we are going to do the postgame interview.' "
When Jeff Anderson of the Vikings PR staff told Cousins that the play was under review, his first thought was to find quarterbacks coach Klint Kubiak and get his mind right in case there was an ensuing play.
"So I told Chris, 'Hey, I can't do anything yet, and I said 'Hey, I am going to get my mind right in case we have to keep going.' I went over to the bench and sat down. I sat there for about 10 to 15 seconds talking to Klint Kubiak, just saying, 'Hey what's the thought here, what do you think of the drive?'
The quarterback put his head down on the Vikings team bench as the celebration continued.
"I was kind of looking down and wasn't looking up and [Offensive Coordinator] Kevin Stefanski came over after what felt like a while, but was probably only 15 seconds"
"He said 'Kirk, we won the game' and he walked away cause he could tell I didn't realize we won the game, so he felt the need to come over and tell me in his way," Cousins laughed.
Cousins could finally celebrate what will go down as one of the best plays in Vikings history.
"So I looked up, and it basically looked like a postgame scene with media all over the field and I thought, 'Well, I guess we [won].' At that point, I took the field and felt a huge sigh of relief."
Tune in to Under Center with Kirk Cousins at 6:30 P.M. on Tuesday night for the full episode.
