Leave it to Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson to make the play of the season.

In wet conditions, Darnold feathered a game-long pass of 39 yards to Jefferson with less than four minutes left at Lumen Field. The connection was the difference Sunday in Minnesota's 27-24 victory.

Here's the situation in its simplest form: first-and-10 at Seattle's 39 with 3:58 remaining.

And some important context: The Seahawks had recently seized their first lead of the game courtesy an 11-play, 68-yard romp that resulted in a 24-20 advantage via a short touchdown. Ball in the Vikings court.

Now, who better to spearhead the club's first win at Seattle since 2006 than the budding QB-WR pairing?

On the decisive snap, Jefferson splintered Seattle's shell coverage with a squeaky clean inside release. He strided into his pattern, faded back outside the numbers then suction-cupped Darnold's flick of the wrist.

"I'm not gonna say too much about that play, but just something went on to where pretty much me and Sam were on the same page, and [he] just found me and we went up," Jefferson coolly recalled. "[There's] not really a secret to it or a formula. It's all about going out there making plays and executing."

That's the nonchalant way of putting it, which is how he makes everything spectacular look and sound.

"He felt the vertical grass and took it," Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell detailed the play. "And in honor of Randy Moss, threw the mailbox sign up, and Sam saw him as he climbed up in the pocket."

O'Connell continued his debriefing: "I think those guys have just gotten so comfortable with that stuff, that they're able to execute it like they did, which was maybe the play, absolutely the play of the game, maybe even considering just the moment and the circumstances, the [play of the] season, as well."

Darnold, who finished the game 22-of-35 passing (62.9%) with 246 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers, shouted out Jefferson's wherewithal to widen his route away from over-the-top safety help.

"I felt like I just needed to give him a shot, put it on his back hip and let him do the rest," Darnold stated.

Jefferson's go-ahead touchdown giftwrapped the great mix of everything he did in the Week 16 win.

On his first catch, he moved the sticks and set up the Vikings with a goal-to-go scenario – they cashed in on the next snap as Darnold found Jordan Addison for his sixth score in the past six games. Jefferson's fourth reception featured him beating single coverage for a 14-yard touchdown; his seventh converted another third down, and on his eighth he exploded on a cross-field route and laid out for a 27-yard catch.

Then the moment was magnified, and 'Jets' demonstrated why he's the NFL's gold standard playmaker.

With 4:21 left in the game, Jefferson lined up to Darnold's right, leaked out of the backfield and nabbed his ninth reception for 12 yards, which pushed him over the 100-yard mark for the fifth time this season.

The chunk gain helped overcome a rare false start by stalwart right tackle Brian O'Neill and kicked the Vikings go-ahead drive into overdrive. Three plays later, right after Seattle's defense was penalized for yanking Darnold's facemask while pulling the QB to the turf, Jefferson streaked free up the left sideline, twisted in mid-air to secure Darnold's touch pass and waltzed in for six. His final line: 10 catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

That's one way to bypass a rainy late matinee in Seattle.

"Obviously my teammates were pumped up about it," Darnold said. "I wouldn't expect anything less. And, I was just telling them, 'We've gotta get a stop here, it's not over,' so sure enough, we did that."

The Seahawks tried but missed a field goal from 60 yards on their next series and folded on Geno Smith's interception in the final minute, moving Jefferson's productivity to even-more-merrier status.

Vikings safety Theo Jackson, who was involved far more than usual on defense because Harrison Smith (foot) was unable to play, delivered the final blow in the form of his first pick this year – and chimed in on Jets.

"Some of the things he does, we just can't really explain," Jackson said. "He's 1-of-1."

"It's awesome to block your [butt] off as offensive linemen and then turn around and just hear the crowd going crazy, like, 'Oh Justin caught a touchdown! Let's freaking go!' " right guard Dalton Risner exclaimed.

Risner had a unique vantage point of the play because Seattle's pass rush changed its tempo in reaction to Darnold scooting up in the pocket. Risner's eyes lifted with Darnold's release, and he tracked the catch.

"I saw a touchdown and I saw [Sam] and I think I grabbed ahold of him, and I was just shaking and slobbering, and I don't even know what I told him," Risner shared. "I just kept saying, 'You did it Sammy!' "

The 10^th game-winning drive in Darnold's career was emblematic of his whole first season in Purple.

In the sense that it illustrated the elite traits – athleticism, toughness, accuracy and poise – that have played such an integral part in Darnold's personal success and Minnesota's 13 wins and eight in a row.

Even after taking another grueling body shot on the delivery to Jefferson – on top of three sacks and seven hits total – Darnold got his feet back under him and readied himself for a possible follow-up series.

"You've always got to keep your mind right," said Darnold, admitting he needed to catch his breath. "We had about a minute left, and if they drove it 45 yards, or whatever, and kicked a field goal, we were going to have to potentially go back out there and potentially go to overtime. It's never over in this league."

What shouldn't be lost in the chaos of the 25^th one-score win in O'Connell's tenure is the fortitude of Minnesota's stars, and specifically Darnold. On the snap before he located Jefferson for the lead, Darnold's left ankle was rolled up on. He walked gingerly. But when he had to, he moved powerfully.

The Vikings physicality supports its mentality.

"There's no flinch," Hockenson said about the offense. "When we're down or something's not maybe going our way, there's just – nobody ever doubts what we're able to do when we get out on the field."

"There's not much said," he added of the dialogue between the group and Darnold during final preparations. "Everybody knows what we have to do. Everybody knows the job that we have to get done. … Having him at the helm and him as the leader of the offense and leader of that huddle is huge."

Darnold offered that his play in moments like Sunday's witching hour stems from the work he toiled on before even facing his first opponent. His feet and eyes, his progressions, his scrambling is all practiced.

"I think it's being able to get a ton of reps in the offseason against our defense, a defense that can get to a lot of their calls, a lot of different pressures in 2-minute situations," Darnold remarked. "Being able to find that poise in training camp, OTAs, whenever we get that 2-minute drill going, it really starts there."

Jefferson stated his confidence that Minnesota can compete with anyone because of its off-field makeup, which exponentially strengthens its pool of talented players in all three phases – and sideline leadership.

"It's definitely something that's different in this locker room," Jefferson said, adding perspective. "And just like I said earlier this week – 2019 when I won a championship at LSU, it was the same type of vibe. The team was together, fighting for one another every single game. It definitely feels the same here."