From his living room in the Twin Cities’ east suburbs, Adam Thielen watched the Panthers’ final drive of the day in a hoodie and shorts, a football in one hand and his cellphone in the other as Carolina kicker Joey Slye lined up for a 54-yard field goal that would hand the Vikings their seventh loss if it went through the uprights.
Slye pulled the ball left and Thielen, stuck at home after positive COVID-19 tests put him out for the game, erupted with the same jubilation and disbelief that flowed out of plenty of living rooms in plenty of Twin Cities houses on Sunday.