On the NFL: Vikings executed Dalvin Cook's screen-turned-TD to perfection, with Ezra Cleveland leading the way

Dalvin Cook, one of the NFL's fastest and more electrifying running backs, was 49 yards into his 64-yard, game-tying touchdown reception off a simple looking but hard to execute screen pass in Saturday's record-setting comeback win over the Colts at U.S. Bank Stadium.

He already had made a great inside cut 39 yards earlier and was righting himself after a great outside cut 3 yards earlier when he bumped into someone to his left that he assumed was another defender.

"I kind of balled up to brace myself," Cook said Tuesday. "And then I was like, 'Hey, it's Ezra.'"

That would be teammate Ezra Cleveland, a 6-6, 312-pound left guard, unlikely speed demon and one of the stars of the team's film review of the 39-36 overtime win that clinched the NFC North title.

"Yeah, I've heard a few guys talk to me about it," said Cleveland, who ran a 4.93 40-yard dash at the 2020 combine. "I've heard 18 miles per hour around the facility, and that's what the little tracker in my jersey said."

Cook and Cleveland were among the players working out Tuesday morning when Cook complimented the big fella on his wheels.

"He was like, 'Let me tell you something. I wasn't even running fast,'" Cook said. "I'm like, 'What?!'"

Quarterback Kirk Cousins, who threw for 417 yards after trailing 33-0 at halftime, went up to Cleveland in the locker room after the game.

"I told him, 'I'll always remember you running step-for-step with Dalvin,'" Cousins said.

Cleveland said he, too, will always remember that play, but for other reasons.

"For almost knocking Dalvin down and then tripping on the turf and rolling into the end zone," he laughed. "I looked like a goofball."

Coach Kevin O'Connell called the hustle and execution on that play a "season-defining" moment. And that's saying a lot in a year that's seen the Vikings go 10-0 in one-score games with a league-high seven fourth-quarter comebacks added to Cousins' résumé.

If that's the case, let's give credit to the blockers because, as Cousins said himself, a screen pass thrown a yard behind the line of scrimmage is a "breather" for the quarterback.

Cook was lined up outside the numbers to the left on first-and-10 at the Vikings 36-yard line with 2:28 left in regulation. It was one of a career-high eight times he lined up that wide against the Colts.

Receivers Adam Thielen and K.J. Osborn were in the slot to Cook's right. When the ball was snapped, Cook took a couple steps forward, then a few backward as Thielen and Osborn locked on cornerback Isaiah Rodgers Sr. and safety Julian Blackmon, respectively.

"My job is to block the most dangerous guy at the start," said Osborn, who had a career-high 157 yards receiving. "Just get in the way until Dalvin gets by me."

Meanwhile, Cleveland and left tackle Christian Darrisaw pulled to their left.

"CD and I really like that play because we can just go run and hit people," Cleveland said. "When we got out there, there was no one there, so we ended up doubling [linebacker Zaire Franklin]."

Said Darrisaw: "Coach called the perfect play at the exact right moment and we executed it, all 11 of us, to the best we possibly could. It might have looked simple, but it's not simple."

At the Vikings 46-yard line, Cook cut inside to avoid safety Rodney McLeod Jr. Poor Rodney got spun around while another safety, Rodney Thomas II, fell down, taking end Yannick Ngakoue to the ground with him.

At this point, Thielen raised his left arm in celebration. With nothing but green turf in front of Cook and a linebacker, Dayo Odeyingbo, a few steps behind him, Cook said, "I kind of put my speed on."

Bye-bye, Dayo.

"Honestly, at that point, I'm just running to go celebrate in the end zone," Cleveland said.

Rodgers caught up to Cook from the outside at the Colts 18. Cook cut hard to his left, managing to step over Rodgers while banging into Cleveland at the 15.

"You could see my arm wrapped around him, trying to keep him up," Cleveland said.

Cleveland tripped at the 7 as Cook slammed into linebacker Bobby Okereke at the 5. McLeod arrived at that point as well, but momentum and a somersaulting Cleveland helped Cook into the end zone.

That was one of too few screens the Vikings have run against defenses guarding against them more this season. Cousins hopes that changes.

"Like [former offensive coordinator] Kevin Stefanski used to say, 'They can be an outhouse or a castle when you call them,'" Cousins said. "When you call them, you don't know when you're going to get the outhouse or the castle, but you have to keep calling them."

Especially after witnessing the castle that Cook and his blockers constructed on Saturday.