TJ Hockenson Reflects on Brutal Final Play of Vikings Season

The 2022 NFL season did not end as planned for Vikings tight end TJ Hockenson.

Instead of the two-time Pro Bowler competing for an opportunity to play in Super Bowl LVII, Minnesota was eliminated in this year’s wild-card round with a 31-24 loss to the Giants that included a questionable pass on fourth-and-eight from quarterback Kirk Cousins to Hockenson that fell four yards short of the first-down marker.

With the game on the line and a big play needed, critics pontificated about Cousins’s performance, saying he could not be trusted in big games. As the battle for the Vince Lombardi Trophy approaches, Hockenson weighed in on the final play of Minnesota’s season with Sports Illustrated’s Lacey Jane Brown, saying he wished the outcome would have been different.

However, the 25-year-old tight end said he and his teammates are turning the page to the next season.

“Kirk [Cousins] was under fire,” Hockenson said. “He threw it out to the flat, and it was one that I wish I could’ve been able to make a play, get that first down, but obviously it didn’t end up like that. It was definitely a tough one at the moment.

“… It was a great season. … a lot of close wins. We’re going to build on that and go toward the future.”

The Vikings finished the ’22 campaign at 13-4 and won the NFC North.