Favorite Vikings Team of all time.

[majorm]

the last two years, the teams the vikings have fielded might be my favorite teams I've ever watched. I didn't get to see the Vikings in the 70s but ever since I started watching them in the 80s, they've had a lot of exciting seasons, a lot of great players, but as a team they've never really been tough or had character during those years. Its part of why they always collapsed in crucial moments. This team may be 3-9-1 but they have grit and effort and I think they reflect Leslie Frazier's character. I'm proud of this team actually. They aren't the best but they continue to play really hard. Last year they had better results, and it was first time I could ever remember a vikings defense arriving at the ball even close to "on time" and looking a little bit like they belonged in the NFL. They finally began to look like they were playing downhill at times. This years loss of Winfield and H.Smith have hampered that but I respect the effort and the character in spite of the limitations.

There is no way any team with Christian Ponder at QB could ever make a favorite of all-time list of mine.

I doubt you would find many who WERE around for the 70s that won't pick one of those teams. It's an easy call for me. My favorite team was 1976.

Fran Tarkenton, my all-time favorite Viking Chuck Foreman, ROTY Sammie White and Ahmad Rashad at WR. They were just loaded on offense. They were good in '73-'75 with John Gilliam at WR, but I though the addition of White and Rashad made them even more dangerous.

The defense was getting long in the tooth but was still very good. Well, until the Super Bowl. They were very opportunistic. They blocked a ton of kicks and made big plays on defense and special teams. The playoff run that year was awesome. They crushed Washington and then beat the Rams in the NFCC game with some big plays by special teams and Foreman.

Of course the Super Bowl was heart-ripping. Maybe not the best ever Viking squad, but easily MY favorite. And the last Viking team to go to the Super Bowl. How sad is that?!!

[Delaqure]

Well, my favorite vikings team is the 70s team. Those guys and coaches new how to play football. They just didn't know how to win a championship. They are my favorite because they played well on both sides of the ball.

I do agree that this team has some character. They haven't rolled over and played dead and I give them credit for that. However they have also made some really bad mistakes and have played very poorly too many times this year. They have been unable to execute properly and the coaching decisions, play calling and the coaches inability to coach players have led to loses that very well could have been wins. So, though the team may get an A for effort the team gets a D for execution and the coaches get an F for their coaching performance.

[losperros]

For me it's the '98 Vikings. I've never had so much fun during a season as a Vikings fan.

[Just Me]

I'd pick the '75 Vikings (even though they never made it to the SB). Tarkenton was MVP that year and other then Pearson pushing off, we'd have won the SB IMHO. Krause had 10 interceptions that year.

[mansquatch]

1998 and 2009. Both were a ton of fun. The 1998 Randy Moss coming out party on MNF in Lambeau is still the greatest single Viking's game I've ever had the privilege of watching. Just a perfect storm of events, given where I was in life, who lived with ,etc., what a blast.

Peterson's rookie season was fun to watch before teams realized Jackson couldn't complete a pass against 9 in the box. As much as 2012 was a tale of two Ponder's, I really enjoyed watching AP push for the record.

I'm probably drinking the kool-aid, but I think 2014 could be a good year for us.

[tmscr]

1998, but I was only 12 so I really didn't appreciate it as I should have, and the vikings were competitive every year from 93 when I started watching them. 2009 was great too but it just felt dirty because of who the QB was. I enjoyed last year's team a lot because they weren't expected to do much and had to fight to get into the postseason, and of course watching Peterson put up almost historical numbers.

This year is agonizing, but they absolutely do fight outside of that rough 3 game patch in the middle of the year.

[mavherzog]

I was born in 1970 to parents that aren't at all invested in sports. Even though both were from Minnesota, I didn't have an appreciation for football until I played it in high school (9-man in rural North Dakota)

In my early adult life, I was VERY emotionally invested in the Vikings. 1998 was a special year...I label it my favorite team for a different reason than most, however. It was the team that taught me perspective. I was SO depressed after the NFCC game, I missed two days of work. I vowed never to take sports that seriously again. That 1998 team allows me to, now, enjoy watching my team without letting the season define my mood. I can handle seeing a heartbreaking loss without adversely affecting my life. And I can STILL get excited and cheer for the positives.


My son was crying uncontrollably last year when Peterson came up short to break the season rushing record. He still needs some perspective.

[Funkytown]

My favorite Vikings team is: The Minnesota Vikings.

They're all my favorite because of who they are: The Minnesota Vikings.

Win or lose, they'll always be my favorite. All of them. The End.

[tmscr]

The 98 team was awesome. I was also really invested in the team that year too. That was the most talented Vikings team I can remember but what they had in talent they lacked in character and toughness. It was all flash, high flying, big plays, but once a little adversity was tossed their way they folded up like an accordion.

I think its a question of what you value most. Talent and excitement, not to mention wins, the 98 team was tops IMO, but character and getting the most out of limited ability, I like this version of the Vikings.

Eh, I think those vikings were just beaten by a team that was on their level. The falcons were 15-2 and were playing with nothing to lose because everyone expected the vikings to win. I don't disagree that that team was on the finesse/soft side, but I think the defense that year had flaws that were hidden by the offense putting up 30+ points a game. Plus, the defense had been hit hard by injuries both before and during that game. I know that game will never be remembered as anything but a choke, but look back at the falcons' numbers from that year. 4th in points scored and 4th in fewest points allowed, won 10 in a row going into the NFCCG. I think if those two teams play 10 times, they might have just split.

[majorm]

Come on, need some more "old timers" in here that remember the great teams from the 70s. Not only were those some great teams with great players, I was a teenager and the Vikings were pretty much my life back then.

I remember meeting Chuck Foreman in the mid 90s when I was up there for a game. He was doing a signing at the MOA. I was in line with all these kids. None of them were old enough to have seen him play. Maybe their parents felt silly getting in line to get the autograph of a football player. But it was FOREMAN!! I talked to him about the NFCC game against the Rams in '76. It was awesome! Those kids were in the presence of true Viking royalty and they didn't have a clue.

[yezzir]

My favorite Vikings team is: The Minnesota Vikings.

They're all my favorite because of who they are: The Minnesota Vikings.

Win or lose, they'll always be my favorite. All of them. The End.

I couldn't find a barf smiley for this.

My favorite team(s) are: 1 a. 2009, 1 b. 1998.

[J. Kapp 11]

I'd pick the '75 Vikings (even though they never made it to the SB). Tarkenton was MVP that year and other then Pearson pushing off, we'd have won the SB IMHO. Krause had 10 interceptions that year.

I agree completely. The '75 team was monstrous. A joy to watch, and in my opinion, the BEST Vikings team ever assembled.

Fran may have been named MVP, but to me Chuck Foreman was even better. He had 1,781 yards from scrimmage, 73 receptions, and 22 TD in 14 games ... that extrapolates to 2,035 yards, 83 receptions, and 25 TDs in a 16-game season. Those are numbers that would stack up very well in today's NFL, and Foreman did that long before the rules were skewed so hard toward the defense. A.P. is the best running back I've ever seen, but Foreman was the most complete.

The defense in 1975 was still ferocious. They were first in fewest yards allowed and third in fewest points allowed. And the offense was great, as well, ranking third in points and third in yards. To this day, I still believe they would have won it all if not for the Hail Mary.

[majorm]

I agree completely. The '75 team was monstrous. A joy to watch, and in my opinion, the BEST Vikings team ever assembled.

Fran may have been named MVP, but to me Chuck Foreman was even better. He had 1,781 yards from scrimmage, 73 receptions, and 22 TD in 14 games ... that extrapolates to 2,035 yards, 83 receptions, and 25 TDs in a 16-game season. Those are numbers that would stack up very well in today's NFL, and Foreman did that long before the rules were skewed so hard toward the defense. A.P. is the best running back I've ever seen, but Foreman was the most complete.

The defense in 1975 was still ferocious. They were first in fewest yards allowed and third in fewest points allowed. And the offense was great, as well, ranking third in points and third in yards. To this day, I still believe they would have won it all if not for the Hail Mary.

I agree. As I said earlier, I liked the addition of White and Rashad at WR in '76. That is the only thing that bumps them slightly ahead of the '75 team for me.

And of course I agree about Foreman in '75. I heard John Sullivan on with PA this morning complaining about the fans throwing snowballs in Baltimore. You know what it made me think of. Foreman was hit in the EYE with an iceball at Buffalo in the season's final game in '75 and sat out some of that game with blurred vision. May have cost him the TD title and record that year, which he lost to O.J. by one. Also certainly cost him the NFC rushing crown. He lost that by six yards to Jim Ottis of the Cardinals.

He was a HOF talent. One of the best players in the league for a few years. He just didn't do it long enough. Had he continued on the pace he set in '73-'77 for another three or four years, he'd be in the Hall. But he hurt his knee in '78 and was never the same player again.

[J. Kapp 11]

I agree. As I said earlier, I liked the addition of White and Rashad at WR in '76. That is the only thing that bumps them slightly ahead of the '75 team for me.

And of course I agree about Foreman in '75. I heard John Sullivan on with PA this morning complaining about the fans throwing snowballs in Baltimore. You know what it made me think of. Foreman was hit in the EYE with an iceball at Buffalo in the season's final game in '75 and sat out some of that game with blurred vision. May have cost him the TD title and record that year, which he lost to O.J. by one. Also certainly cost him the NFC rushing crown. He lost that by six yards to Jim Ottis of the Cardinals.

He was a HOF talent. One of the best players in the league for a few years. He just didn't do it long enough. Had he continued on the pace he set in '73-'77 for another three or four years, he'd be in the Hall. But he hurt his knee in '78 and was never the same player again.

White and Rashad sure did make the '76 team explosive, no doubt. It's very close.

I just looked this up ... Vikings running backs had 150 receptions for more than 1,200 yards in 1975. Foreman had 73, which is remarkable, but Ed Marinaro had 50 in a third the playing time. Unbelievable!

[Funkytown]

I couldn't find a barf smiley for this.

My favorite team(s) are: 1 a. 2009, 1 b. 1998.

?

What defines "favorite"? The team(s) that people thought was the best, the most fun to watch, and in the end they still broke their heart? Uh yeah. That's the Minnesota Vikings. ALL OF THEM!