The Minnesota Vikings’ defence denied the Pittsburgh Steelers a touchdown at the death to claim a thrilling 36-28 victory on Thursday night.

After crawling back from a 29-point deficit late in the third quarter, it looked like the Steelers might pull off an incredible comeback when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger found Pat Freiermuth in the end zone as time expired.

However, Freiermuth was sandwiched by multiple Vikings defenders and was unable to hang onto the ball, resigning the Steelers to their seventh loss of the season.

It was an ending scenario the Vikings would not have envisaged happening when Greg Joseph kicked a 25-yard field goal to extend Minnesota’s lead to 29 with six minutes left in the third quarter.

But Najee Harris sparked life into Pittsburgh with back-to-back touchdowns, before Roethlisberger connected with James Washington on a 30-yard touchdown pass to draw within nine.

Although Minnesota again found the end zone to create some late breathing room, a 15-yard touchdown reception for Freiermuth kept Pittsburgh’s hopes of a remarkable comeback alive down the stretch.