Lucky left hook saves Vikings

Reactions on the Vikings side were varied Sunday moments after a 44-yard field-goal attempt by Steve Hauschka sailed wide left with no time remaining, preserving a 33-31 victory over the Baltimore Ravens that was made far more difficult than it should have been.

Quarterback Brett Favre, who couldn't stand to watch, grabbed his helmet with both hands in disbelief. Wide receiver Sidney Rice, coming off the best game of his three-year career, wound up at the other end of the field, appearing to give thanks as he crouched on his hands and knees on the Metrodome turf.

Defensive end Jared Allen -- who was among a large group unimpressed with how his team finished -- put aside any frustration, at least for a moment. "Absolutely relieved," he said when asked to express his emotions. "You get disgusted if you lose that game. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. You look at that fourth quarter and you say there is no way this is the same team that was playing the first three quarters. We had a little wake-up call. You've got to keep playing."

The Vikings seemed to forget this as the Ravens came storming back to score 21 points in the final quarter and for 15 minutes looked like an offensive juggernaut.

This doesn't mean the Vikings are about to make any apologies. They are off to a 6-0 start for the first time since 2003 and the sixth time in franchise history. That is the best record in the NFL -- New Orleans and Indianapolis are 5-0 -- although Denver could equal the Vikings' mark tonight by winning at San Diego.

But even the Vikings have to know they are extremely lucky to still be perfect. Favre engineered a last-second drive in a 27-24 victory over San Francisco in Week 3 and again worked his magic Sunday in a game in which the Vikings had appeared poised to run away with early on.

"We were fortunate to win that game, and we were fortunate to beat San Francisco," Favre said. "I have no idea what will happen in the future. That's what I tried to tell some of the guys.

"[Linebacker] Chad Greenway and I walked up the tunnel together. The type of guy he is, he was disappointed. He was looking at the negative. I said, 'Hey, maybe next week just the opposite. You guys [on defense] will have to pull it out for us.' But that's not to say there's things you can't improve on."

The mistakes that will need to be cleaned up today in film review, especially from the defensive standpoint, won't be the Vikings' only concerns. Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield suffered an injury to his right foot in the first half that ended his day, and rookie receiver Percy Harvin re-injured his left shoulder on a fourth-quarter kickoff return. There also was a scary moment when Adrian Peterson limped off the field in the fourth quarter after being twisted awkwardly as he was tackled, but the Pro Bowl running back was able to return.

As much as the Vikings would like to focus on the things they did right Sunday in handing the Ravens a third consecutive loss -- touchdowns on their first two drives gave the Vikings a 14-0 lead, the Ravens rushed for 13 yards in the first half -- they are going to have to take a good long look at the fourth quarter.

It isn't going to be pretty.

The Ravens accumulated 222 of their 448 yards in the final 15 minutes, including 196 passing yards by quarterback Joe Flacco. The Ravens' yardage total was a season-high against the Vikings and marked the third game in a row they have surrendered 400 or more yards. Flacco finished with 385 yards passing, 1 more than the total Aaron Rodgers had in Week 4 when the Packers put together a fourth-quarter rally.

Some of Sunday's meltdown had to do with the fact that with Winfield not on the field, Flacco went at his replacement, Karl Paymah, on a regular basis. The Ravens trailed 27-10 with 10 minutes, 8 seconds left and by 13 with 6:01 to go but managed to take a 31-30 lead when running back Ray Rice sliced through the defense for a 33-yard touchdown with 3:37 remaining.

There appeared to be a level of panic on the Vikings sideline, but Favre provided his usual calming influence. A 58-yard completion to Sidney Rice -- a play in which the receiver made a spectacular catch despite being interfered with by cornerback Frank Walker -- set up Ryan Longwell's 31-yard field goal that gave the Vikings a two-point lead with 1:56 to play.

However, starting at his own 33-yard line with no timeouts, Flacco continued to have his way with the Vikings defense. He advanced Baltimore to the Vikings 29 on the strength of four completions on seven attempts. Rice then gained 3 yards before Flacco spiked the ball on third down to set up Hauschka's attempt.

Hauschka spent 2008 training camp with the Vikings and had the ultimate chance to get some revenge. It didn't happen that way. Vikings coach Brad Childress first attempted to ice Hauschka by calling time right before his attempt -- "I will admit that I second-guessed myself when [Hauschka] stumbled on the way to the kick before they got the timeout in," Childress said -- and then celebrated along with his players and an announced crowd of 63,689 as the kick sailed wide.

"I thought I hit it pretty good on my foot," Hauschka said. "I looked up and it was going left, so I was disappointed."

As for Childress' emotions? Well, it turns out there was never a doubt in his mind that his team would prevail. At least that's what he told Peterson as they stood on the sideline right before Hauschka's kick.

"I just told him we were going to win this football game right here," Childress said. "And that crowd over there [the Ravens] had a heart of a champion to fight back and get it where they got it to. We've got that same heart. We just need to learn how to finish."

Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com