Neither snow, nor sleet, nor freezing rain was able to stop the Ravens from delivering a last-second victory in one of the greatest regular season games ever played in Baltimore.

The team has been standing up to wild weather for a while now. Last month, there had been a tornado when they were in Chicago and wind and sub-freezing temperatures when they played the Jets.

Today, the weather-resistant Ravens prevailed 29-26 over the Minnesota Vikings on a frozen, snow-swept Russell Street gridiron, keeping their playoff hopes alive.

“The snow is coming down harder now….Big time ‘back yard football,’” tweeted Michael Phelps, who had taken over the Ravens Twitter feed.

For anyone who had ever scrummed in a snow bowl, this game was a dream come true.

Coming into the stadium, John Ziemann’s Ravens Marching Band blared a rousing “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns & Roses to acknowledge that only the craziest football fans in the world would suit up for this one.

The stadium was three-quarters full at kick-off.

Offense Cold – Then Crazy

The game began in a swirling whiteout, with three to four inches of snow pelting down faster than the plows could clean the field. It had been billed as a battle between the Vikings’ all-powerful running back Adrian Peterson and the Ravens defense. Slick field conditions and an injury to Peterson’s ankle spoiled that storyline.

The Ravens scored first on a one-yard TD pass and then for a while – a long while, nearly an hour, actually – the Ravens offense went cold and so did the mood in the crowd, which was dwindling to the hardy few. They watched as the Vikings crawled slowly back. The Ravens held a slim 7-6 lead until the 4th, when the Vikings scored a touchdown to take their first lead, 12-7.

Then in the fourth quarter, the strangest of snowball fights began. With 2:05 remaining, the Ravens scraped ahead 15-12 on a one-yard pass from Joe Flacco to Dennis Pitta (back from a hip injury in the preseason). The surviving snow-covered faithful at M&T Bank stadium breathed a sigh of relief. A loss to the lowly Vikings would dampen playoff hopes.

But Pitta’s catch was only the beginning – a blizzard of touchdowns ensued.

Flurry of Snowballs and Scoring

Minnesota regained the lead 19-15 two plays later on a 41-yard touchdown run by Toby Gerhart, the replacement for Peterson. The Vikings kicked off and Jacoby Jones fielded the ball on his own 23. He shot through a seam on the left side for 77 yards – igniting the stunned and diminished crowd into pandemonium.

The Ravens led 22-19 with 1:16 left.

But Minnesota silenced the Ravens again. On third down, Matt Cassell hit Cordarelle Patterson on a 79-yard screen play for a touchdown with 45 seconds left. The Vikings had scored twice in five plays and they led 26-22.

(The snowball war was not only metaphorical, by the way. Each Vikings touchdown unleashed a cannonade of snowballs onto their sidelines like it was the Battle of Fort McHenry.)

Flacco Keeps His Cool

Joe Flacco had thrown three interceptions and two touchdowns as he came to the line from his own 20. He’d been harassed and chased by Jared Allen and the rest of the Vikings defense.

But Flacco found receiver Marlon Brown on a post pattern across the middle for 35 yards to the Minnesota 45. After an interference penalty that negated an interception, Joe found Pitta for 18 yards to the Minnesota 9.

As cool as a quarterback who once wore #19, he connected with Marlon Brown again on a tightrope in the back of the end zone.

There were five touchdowns and five lead changes in the last two minutes and five seconds. Six touchdowns were scored in the final quarter.

John Harbaugh asked after the game, “Will we ever see another game like that again?”

Greatest Ever – Or Business As Usual

The contest evoked memories of a seesaw battle in 1960 with the Lions beating the Colts on an Earl Morrill 65-yard touchdown pass, 20-15 after Johnny Unitas had thrown a 38 yarder to Lenny Moore. Four touchdowns were scored in the final quarter.

With no offensive line to speak of and running for his life on several occasions, Flacco found a way to win the game by throwing the ball 50 times into nastiest conditions yet. Ray Rice played well with big catches and runs. The secondary made some incredible plays to deflect passes. Rookie receiver Marlon Brown won the game.

The way this team plays, we could see another game like this one – a week from Monday in Detroit against the Lions.