Vikings Rewind: Chris Hogan's 28-yard catch

The situation: With the Vikings up 16-10, the Bills faced a 2^nd and 20 at the Vikings' 30 with 27 seconds left.

The reason: The Vikings caught a break on the previous drive with quarterback Kyle Orton called for intentional grounding, pushing the Bills back 10 yards and burning 10 seconds on the clock. The Bills needed to gain a decent chunk here for a manageable third down and no timeouts.

The result: Orton found wide receiver Chris Hogan for a 28-yard gain that brought the Bills down to the 2.

How it happened:

The Bills have trips left bunched tight in the formation with rookie wide receiver Sammy Watkins isolated on the right. They're in an "11″ personnel, with running back Anthony Dixon in the backfield and tight end Scott Chandler lined up between wide receivers Robert Woods and Hogan.

The Vikings were in the nickel package, subbing out linebacker Jasper Brinkley for cornerback Josh Robinson. Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn slid into the slot with Robinson covering Watkins.

It appeared that the cornerbacks were in man coverage, while linebackers Anthony Barr and Chad Greenway dropped into zone to cover the middle of the field. Woods (circled in black) and Hogan (circled in red) both initially appeared to run "out" routes near the sideline. The Bills didn't have any timeouts and needed to get out of bounds to stop the clock. Munnerlyn (circled) in blue and Rhodes (circled in yellow) both broke on the coverage with Chandler drawing linebacker and safety attention on his post route down the middle of the field.

What happened from there was pretty unbelievable given where Rhodes was at this point. Here's the GIF of the play to follow along with three screenshots of a great angle from the broadcast.

Again, Rhodes was in good position to make a play. He was in front of Hogan and tracked the ball down. He had his inside shoulder in front of Hogan, which was exactly how Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer taught his cornerbacks since Day 1 in terms of technique.

But Hogan had better anticipation and caught the ball at its highest point, which is exactly what a receiver is supposed to do. He bumped into Rhodes while leaping for the catch, which threw Rhodes off balance. He didn't get vertical on the ball as a result. Some might think that's offensive pass interference, but it was a good no call.

"[Rhodes] recovered [from the double move], he pinned the guy on the sideline, had him on his back and the guy went up and made a catch," Zimmer said. "Other than when you get in that position, making the play, and that's the thing I talk to the players about – part of my job is to get them in the right position to be able to make the play and when they get in position their job is to make the play. He's been in those positions a lot and made an awful lot of plays. With the receivers in the NFL and the quarterbacks, they're going to make some plays too."

Blanton was late to help, a he had to account for Chandler running down the middle of the field. Safety Harrison Smith had to help Robinson over the top to cover Watkins on the other side of the play.

The 4th and 20 play was definitely the biggest blunder for the Vikings on that drive, but it amazes me how Rhodes didn't make a play on the ball. I've felt like I've said this a few times already this season, but Rhodes should've had his first career interception. But even if he deflected the ball, the Bills would've faced a 3rd and 20 with about 15 seconds left.