We’ve officially entered the (relatively) quiet portion of the offseason. Minicamps and OTAs will soon be here, but not yet. Same with the NFL schedule release. Chris, Mark, Warren, et al. have done the usual excellent job of covering where we stand. So, in the meantime, let’s have some fun with this one – and by “fun” I mean laugh at our collective anguish.
The term “a trip down memory lane” usually evokes enjoyable or pleasant experiences. Not for Minnesota Vikings fans. More often than not, memory lane entails a carrot of hope, followed by crushing heartbreak. Rinse. Repeat. It’s the hope that distinguishes us from other tortured fan bases (Browns, Lions, etc.) and makes the psychological damage cut deeper. Historically, we rarely bottom-out. We have the 4th highest winning percentage in the Super Bowl era. Of course, every other team in the Top 10 has at least 2 Super Bowl victories. That’s the problem. It’s about being just good enough to believe, to rationalize a path to a Super Bowl without setting up camp outside the boundaries of reality. Not including the move up last year to grab J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings have only drafted in the Top 10…drumroll…9 times since 1980.
With that in mind, it takes a certain amount of time and currency as a fan for a loss to truly gash your will and break your spirit. So, for the purposes of this personal list, I’ll start it in the mid-1990s. Thirty years of pain is enough. So, without further ado – for debate, agreement, disagreement, rage, tears (none of joy) – here is my Top 10 ranking of the most devastating Vikings losses.
Some context: These rankings are based off what I remember feeling at the time, not what subsequent years may have done to intensify or dilute a particular heartbreak.
#10 – Hey it Happened Once, Why Not Again? 1997 Divisional Round (January 3, 1998) (San Francisco 38, Minnesota Vikings 22): It’s utterly ridiculous in hindsight, but I actually thought the playoff magic in San Francisco 10 years prior was poised for a repeat. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. The thrilling come from behind road victory over the Giants in the Wild Card round, where we scored 10 points in the final 1 ½ minutes, did nothing to alter my delusional state. Neither did the fact that it was our first playoff win since the 1988 season. This was gonna be great! A magical run! Yeah…no. In the end, it wasn’t even as close as the score. It felt lousy. I was deflated. Oh, if I only knew what was coming in 12 months.
#9 – Cousins Era Begins, No Playoffs, Everything Sucks: 2018 Week 17 (December 30, 2018) (Chicago Bears 24, Minnesota Vikings 10): I was so pumped for the 2018 season. In other news, I’m an idiot. Kirk Cousins was supposed to be the missing piece, the guy who finally got us over the hump. If Case Keenan got us to the NFC Championship Game, Cousins lifts the Lombardi. LOL. It started out fine: 4-2-1 with a nice revenge win at Philadelphia in Week 5. Then we were 6-6-1. Then we needed to beat the Bears at home in Week 17 just to make the damn playoffs. It was OK. Just a minor obstacle. Once we get into the dance that’s when we do our damage. We got Cousins for those moments, not the regular season. The Bears had one of their patented fluky good seasons and had already locked up the NFC North. Sure, some seeding was at play, but it was Mitchell Trubisky. We were at home. It was all right there. We win and ride the momentum to Super Bowl glory. The term is “one step up, two steps back.” Well, the Vikings can’t even bother with the first part. Oh, Kirk Cousins? 20/33 for 132 yards, 1 TD and a 23.5 QBR. His only highlight was the famous argument with Adam Thielen on the sidelines.
#8 – The Beginning of the End: 2000 NFC Championship Game (January 14, 2001) (NY Giants 41, Minnesota Vikings 0): Of the NFC Championship Game losses, this one stung the least. Maybe it’s my warped mind, but I’d rather get blown out than get Gary Anderson’d or Blair Walsh’d. Plus, I had very little confidence we would have beaten the 2000 Ravens with that historic defense (165 pts allowed in 16 regular season games/16 pts in 3 playoff games). Not that it didn’t suck, but afterwards I remember thinking that we may have gone as far as we could under Dennis Green. It was the realization that an era was ending that drove this pain, not so much the loss itself. Indeed, the 2001 season was a 5-11 disaster with Red McCombs meddling and Green not even making it to the final game.
#7 – Yeah, About That Potential Mini-Dynasty: 1999 Divisional Round (January 16, 2000) (St. Louis Rams 49, Minnesota Vikings 37): Sure, 1998 happened. Heading into the 1999 season – in delusional Vikings fans’ minds anyway – the table was still set for a nice, little mini-dynasty. The bad news? The 2-4 start and Randall Cunningham benching were ugly. The good news? Jeff George was put on this planet to throw ropes to Cris Carter and Randy Moss. Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face. Given the aforementioned circumstances, finishing 8-2 for a 10-6 season was more than enough to keep the dream alive. Handling an (aging) Cowboys team in the Wild Card round did nothing to damper the enthusiasm. Hey, we’re still talking about Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Deion Sanders here (Michael Irvin was hurt). Oh yeah, the St. Louis Rams. It sounds so mind-numbingly stupid now that I’m embarrassed to even say it but…I really thought they were a fluke. Even at the time that mindset was ridiculous. People immediately think of the offense, but their defense was also a Top 5 unit. It wasn’t like they were like, well, the 2022 Vikings. I kept thinking that teams don’t just go from 4-12 to 13-3 and the Super Bowl; QBs don’t go from the freakin’ Amsterdam Admirals to 3rd string disaster QB to NFL MVP in consecutive seasons. It just doesn’t happen, dammit! Their collective carriage was going to turn into a pumpkin, thanks to the glorious arm of Jeff George. Oh, and we were up 17-14 at half. Then, like all things Vikings, it crumbled like a Jenga Board. Twenty-one unanswered points in the 3rd quarter and 35 total 2nd half points made it official: Like Batman stole the Joker’s balloons, the Rams stole the Vikings’ mini-dynasty.
#6 – Case Closed, No Super Bowl: 2017 NFC Championship Game (January 21, 2018) (Philadelphia Eagles 38, Vikings 7): Very similar dynamic to #8 – i.e. I’d rather lose big than in heartbreaking fashion late. Something just never felt “right” to me as this surprising season unfolded. It was probably the idea that Case Keenum’s luck was going to run out. As we’re the Vikings, that means at the worst possible time. Of course, that shockingly didn’t happen until the NFC Championship Game, and only after Keenum created arguably most magical moment in Vikings history with the “Minneapolis Miracle.” However, when a victory is literally dubbed a miracle that means it otherwise shouldn’t have happened in the first place. We blew a 17-0 halftime lead against the Saints and were thoroughly outplayed in the 2nd half. As the joy and thrill eventually wore off, my psychological scar tissue as a Vikings fan rushed to fill the void: “What about an emotional letdown?” Bingo. The Oscar for “Best Backup QB in a Lead Role for the 2017 Season” would go to Nick Foles. When it hit 24-7 at half, it was all over.
#5 – Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss: 1994 Wild Card Round (January 1, 1995) (Chicago Bears 38, Minnesota Vikings 18): The only New Year’s Day game on the list. New year, same Vikings. The Dennis Green era had gotten off to an impressive if unsatisfying start. Two years, two Wild Card playoff appearances, two losses. Rich Gannon and Jim McMahon were perfectly fine – but you don’t win the Super Bowl with perfectly fine. You needed the guy who was the conductor of a real-life video game offense: the Run N’ Shoot baby! Warren Moon plus our strong defense? C’mon now. We won the (then) NFC Central and had beaten the Bears twice during the season: one handily (42-14 at Soldier Field), the other an OT thriller (33-27 at the Metrodome). Yes, it’s difficult to beat a team 3 times in a season. Yes, it was a division rival. No, none of this mattered a lick to me. We were winning this game. It was all about taking the next step. That was the whole point of bringing Moon in. I’m having horrific flashbacks of Steve Young Walsh hitting wide open guys on shallow crossers and curl routes, all while it looked like the Vikings were playing with 8 guys on defense. Thirty years later I’m still at a loss trying to figure out WTF happened in this game. This was a worse version of the Cousins game above because: A) It was actually a playoff game, and B) Moon is a Hall of Famer, which makes this loss harder to take. Either way, same outcome: Heartbreak at the hands of a freakin’ Chicago Bears’ team with a ridiculously inferior quarterback.
#4 – Wide Left, The Sequel: 2015 Wild Card Round (January 10, 2016) (Seattle Seahawks 10, Minnesota Vikings 9): The Zimmer Era was progressing nicely: from 5 wins to 7 in Year 1, to 11 wins and the NFC North crown in Year 2. The defense had been turned around, the QBOTF was coming into his own. Teddy Bridgewater had orchestrated a potential game-winning drive against the Legion of Boom, highlighted by a huge completion to Kyle Rudolph that got us down to Seattle’s 17-yard line. Blair Walsh already nailed 3 field goals of 22, 43, and 47. This was only 27 yards. Bud Grant was there in freakin’ short sleeves in -20 windchill; it was that 70s show. It all felt perfect. Nice little run ya had Seattle, but it’s over. The NFC was about to be put on notice. Smells like teen spirit….and a new sheriff in town. Something in the way this team rips your heart out. Despair is always in bloom. All apologies for the references. As Vikings fans, the last thing we’re familiar with is nirvana. A small part of me expected the miss, it really did. That’s how much 1998 broke me. Even so, it did nothing to numb the pain or alleviate the shock.
#3 – Devastation in the Desert: Week 17 (December 28, 2003) (Arizona Cardinals 18, Minnesota Vikings 17): He could be the greatest quarterbacks coach of all-time, but I still cringe every time I see or hear the name Josh McCown. I remember it like it was yesterday. I had a dinner date that I was dreading that night, but, hey, at least I would have a Minnesota Vikings playoff berth to get me through it, right? Right??? I mean, the Arizona Cardinals were 3-12 and in the driver’s seat for the #1 overall pick. Sure, we started 6-0 and risked becoming only the 2nd team in NFL history to start that hot and miss the playoffs. I did some research to find a bar with the NFL Sunday Ticket closest to my required location later in the evening. Upon leaving my place the Vikings were losing 6-0 at half, but I wasn’t that worried. In what must be the greatest incident of misplaced confidence ever, I thought we’d be fine. We choke in the playoffs, after all. That’s our time to implode. Heartbreak will come in a week or two but not…here. Not…now. Indeed, as I settled in near the small corner TV we were up 7-6 heading into the 4th. Ahhh, Duante Culpepper to Randy Moss. 14-6. Field goal, Vikings! 17-6. Now we’re cookin’ with gas. 17-12. Not ideal, but we’ll hold. 4th and 27. McCown escapes the pocket, rolls right. Hey, is that Nate Poole? Take it Paul Allen. I was in such a state of shock and disbelief that, staring at the TV, I tried to place my drink on the nearby table except…there was no table. I just dropped the damn thing on the floor. All bearings had been lost. The bartender, witnessing this whole sordid ordeal, looked over and gave me a look that said, “Don’t worry about it, pal.” Pity. Vikings fans are magnets for it. But wait, there’s more! The suffering wasn’t over. We didn’t just choke away the playoffs in historic fashion…but…we handed the division to the Green Bay Packers. Worst dinner date ever.
#2 – Murphy’s Law, Meet the Minnesota Vikings: 2009 NFC Championship Game (January 24, 2010) (New Orleans Saints 31, Minnesota Vikings 28): I was fairly jaded by this point, but if someone told me we’d outgain the New Orleans Saints 475 to 257 and hold Drew Brees to under 200 yards passing (at the Superdome), I would’ve tempted fate and booked that Super Bowl trip. Only the perfect combination of unlucky bounces, bad decisions, and Bobby “the Brain” Heenan-level heel tactics could cost us this one. Five turnovers (-4 differential), capped off by the ill-fated, across the body Brett Favre interception (take it Paul Allen). Twelve men in the huddle. Bountygate. Only we could check all the boxes. It took about half the season for me to actually embrace the idea of Brett Favre quarterbacking this team, but when I did, I was all-in. I was ready to be hurt again. Like they’ve always done, the Vikings took those hopes, put them in an industrial-sized shredder, laid them out across a field, and then dropped an atomic bomb for good measure. I believe the 2009 team may have had a better chance to win the Super Bowl than even the 1998 squad. Of course, the Colts had Peyton Manning – but also a glaring weakness in their run defense. Adrian Peterson and a smart, ball-control game-plan could have kept Manning on the sidelines. Indeed, the team we thoroughly outplayed beat them (31-17). Those Mike Shanahan late-90s Broncos teams were absolutely loaded, and far more than simply John Elway, Terrell Davis, and a passable supporting cast. Yeah, back-to-back Super Bowl victories. It would have been a challenge. Absolutely possible, but a challenge. Oh, speaking of the 1998 Vikings…
#1 – Wide Left, The GOAT: 1998 NFC Championship Game (January 17, 1999) (Atlanta Falcons 30, Minnesota Vikings 27): Duh. A recap is meaningless as anyone who experienced this game has it seared into their memory in a section of their brain cordoned off by caution tape. I did not experience the 4 Super Bowl losses, or the Drew Pearson push off, so this was my true initiation to The Pain. Up until 1998, with the exception of #5 above, playoff losses were to established/better teams – Washington and New York (’87, ’92 and ’93), mid-90s Dallas (’96), San Francisco (’89, ’97). This was of a different order. Like not in the same galaxy (even though we laughably thought the stars were aligned). We. Were. 11. Point. Favorites. I can’t write anymore. I’m getting nauseous.
OK I’m back…
To conclude I’ll simply quote…myself: Yet at some point the end credits have to roll. This football version of Groundhog Day has gone on long enough. Something feels different this time. It just does. My optimism seems to be genuine, and not merely a coping mechanism to cloud reality. I don’t know what the heck this even is.
All of the anguish must be preparing us for the ultimate reward. It just has to. It’ll make it all the more satisfying. We aren’t the Browns, after all. KAM, KOC, J.J. throwing touchdowns to J.J. The Lombardi Trophy will be ours.
It’s destiny.
Poll
Which NFC Championship Loss Cut the Deepest in the Modern Era?
-
2%
1987 – Washington 17, Minnesota 10
(5 votes)
-
68%
1998 – Atlanta 30, Minnesota 27
(164 votes)
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0%
2000 – New York 41, Minnesota 0
(2 votes)
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24%
2009 – New Orleans 31, Minnesota 28
(59 votes)
-
3%
2017 – Philadelphia 38, Minnesota 7
(9 votes)
239 votes total
Vote Now
