Dwight Freeney's late strip-sack of Teddy Bridgewater earned the Arizona Cardinals a dramatic 23-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings and an NFL play-off berth.
Adrian Peterson's 100th touchdown for the Vikings, a tally second only to Cris Carter's 110 in the club's history, gave the NFC North side an early 7-3 lead but Carson Palmer threw long touchdowns to John Brown and Michael Floyd to put the Cards 17-10 up going into the fourth quarter.
Chandler Catanzaro and Blair Walsh traded field goals, Walsh from 54 yards for the Vikings, and Mike Wallace's touchdown from a Bridgewater pass tied the game at 20-20.
Catanzaro split the uprights again but the Vikings had time for another drive and they got within range for Walsh, with a potential 48-yard shot in the offing. On third down with 13 seconds left, they opted for a final play to try to reduce the distance - but it proved costly as Freeney slapped the ball out of Bridgewater's hand and Calais Campbell recovered to ice the game for Bruce Arians' Cardinals.
An 11th win of the season lifts them out of range of nearest pursuers the Seattle Seahawks to secure the NFC West title and they join unbeaten NFC South leaders the Carolina Panthers in the post-season.
