The Cardinals got down to the Minnesota 13 with more than a minute left, jump-started by a 30-yard pass interference drawn by Bryant Johnson. The comeback, amazingly, seemed inevitable.
“It was like, ‘Four shots from here, I like our chances,’ ” McCown said. “Then, as fate would have it, I think we were thinking degree of difficulty, like we could get more points if we just back it up a little bit.”
After an Emmitt Smith four-yard run, McCown took a sack, and the Cardinals took their final timeout. And then he was sacked again, pushing the Cardinals back to the 26 and fourth down, and the clock was running. Smith was yelling at McCown to get up and get ready to run a play. It was the eighth time McCown was sacked in the game.
“It’s chaos, right?” Poole said. “Definitely chaos and panic. Then you take a deep breath and the ball’s gotta get snapped.”
When McCown was installed as late-season starter, Blake gave him a piece of advice: Look for Boldin and tight end Freddie Jones. Those were his go-to guys. But as the Vikings pass rush once again split the Cardinals’ line on the final play, McCown was forced right, and forced him to really one choice in the end zone – Poole.
“He’s pointing to the right and inside,” Poole said. “I know he’s about to throw it over there. And the defender, he had no clue.”
Poole snatched the ball on the sideline of the end zone. One foot came down, the other did not as he was pushed out of bounds by Vikings defensive back Brian Russell. In those days, the officials could deem a catch good if a receiver was pushed out, and that’s exactly what happened, changing everything in a split-second miracle.
The Vikings were out of the playoffs, Allen screaming “NOOOOOOOOOOOO” as the play happened.
“It hits me so vividly because of how emotional it was at the moment,” Allen said, noting that he heard later that Vikings owner Red McCombs hated the call.
Pasch was incredulous, thinking of the draft pick the Cardinals would not have. Minnesota native Larry Fitzgerald, about to enter the NFL draft, just knew his beloved Vikings – for whom he once was a ball boy – were done for the season.
“It was just being one of those days where like, it was after the sun fell out of the sky,” Fitzgerald said. “It was a miserable day of existence.”
The Packers, who hammered the Broncos at home that day, were in the playoffs when they thought it was impossible – the Lambeau Field crowd erupting as news of Poole’s catch circulated the stadium.
In the locker room, the immediate jubilation turned quickly as McGinnis gave a poignant final speech. At one point, he turned to Poole, the emotions catching in his voice.
“I cut this man four times,” McGinnis said. “I cut him four times. And every time he stood up in my office and hugged me and said, ‘Mac, if you need me, I’ll be back.’ “
“I was like, you know, your last family hug,” Poole recalled.
As bad as the season had gone, it was the perfect ending.
“It was a special moment for a team that didn’t have a whole lot to play for,” McCown said.
