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Broncos defeat Vikings in overtime

Dec 31, 2007 - 2:31 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Vikings couldn't secure the football or their chances for making the playoffs.

Jason Elam's 30-yard field goal just 42 seconds into overtime lifted the Denver Broncos to a 22-19 victory over the Vikings on Sunday.

Even before the overtime started, Minnesota was eliminated from the playoffs, when the Washington Redskins posted a 27-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys. The Redskins grabbed the NFC's final playoff spot.

"The moral of the story is to not turn over the football," Minnesota coach Brad Childress said. "I thought this group battled hard all year long."

Elam was brought on to attempt the winning kick immediately after the Broncos recovered a fumble by Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson at the Minnesota 12-yard line.

Jackson rallied the Vikings from a 19-3 deficit in the fourth quarter, throwing two touchdown passes and rushing for a pair of two-point conversions.

But on the first possession of the extra period, Denver defensive lineman Elvis Dumervil sacked Jackson, forcing a fumble.

Ironically, the Broncos also won their first game - 15-14 over the Buffalo Bills - on a game-winning field goal by Elam.

In between, however, Denver won only five games and missed the playoffs for the second straight year following a 7-9 finish.

"It's been a tough year and you always like to end it on a positive note," Denver coach Mike Shanahan said. "We kept their team in check for most of the game."

The Vikings (8-8) needed a win in their regular-season finale, coupled with a loss or tie by the Redskins, to secure a playoff berth.

But Minnesota appeared demoralized following last week's 32-21 home defeat to Washington and was flat until rallying in the fourth quarter.

"We beat ourselves on the last two games," Jackson said. "We need to take better care of the ball."

Two costly fumbles by Chester Taylor - one of which negated a touchdown - helped the Broncos build a 14-3 halftime lead.

Denver quarterback Jay Cutler tossed second-quarter TD passes to Brandon Marshall and Tony Scheffler as the Broncos scored 19 straight points after falling behind, 3-0.

"We started off well and I thought we were able to throw ball well," said Cutler, who completed 26-of-37 passes for 246 yards. "We wanted to win. We just wanted to finish strong."

Marshall had 10 receptions Sunday, giving him 102 for the year, to become just the fourth Denver player to reach the century mark for receptions in a season.

"I'm not going to lie, sometimes I like to be a little shy but I had my eye on it (100 receptions)", said Marshall, who also earned praise from his coach.

"He played extremely well and made a number of great plays for us," Shanahan said. "I was really impressed by his maturity. He will continue to grow on the football field and as a person. He will be one of our top guys coming back next year."

The future also may be bright for Jackson, who sparked the Vikings' late rally.

Jackson connected with Bobby Wade for a 5-yard touchdown pass and then rushed in for the conversion to bring the Vikings within 19-11 with 5:21 to play.

Jackson scrambled on the Vikings' next possession, finding Wade for a 22-yard touchdown to bring Minnesota within 21-19 before diving off right tackle on the conversion attempt to tie the game with 2:21 remaining.

"It just shows we are not going to quit," Jackson said. "It shows our character and the type of guys on our team."

"He did some good things with his feet," Childress of Jackson. "He was better at getting up to the line of scrimmage, that is one of the things he has not been best at. He will improve."

But the Vikings saw their postseason hopes unravel early as a replay review cost them a touchdown on their opening drive.

Taylor dove with the ball, touching the right pylon at the goal line, and the play originally was ruled a touchdown. But after the video review, it was ruled that Taylor lost control of the ball before crossing the plane of the goal line, resulting in a touchback.

Ryan Longwell's 22-yard field goal gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter, but the Broncos took control behind Cutler.

After Elam kicked a 43-yard field in the third quarter, the Broncos got a safety when Minnesota lineman Ryan Cook was called for a face-mask penalty in the end zone.