Vikings have more than their fair share of “worst moments” since 1987

Posted by Mike Florio on May 31, 2011, 4:04 PM EDT
AP

Each and every NFL team will slide under the microscope for a look at the franchise’s worst moments since the last work stoppage.

On Monday, we realized that we need a bigger microscope.

The Vikings arguably have provided more heart-wrenching moments for their fans than any other team since the last strike.

Bills fans may disagree; they’ll get their chance eventually.  For now, here’s a look at the five worst moments for the Minnesota Vikings since 1987.  The final segment of today’s edition of PFT Live included a honorable mention list that, frankly, could have gone on for hours.

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52 responses to “Vikings have more than their fair share of “worst moments” since 1987”

  2. The Vikings are clearly the most cursed team in the NFL, with more soul-crushing, you-can’t-make-it-up moments and embarrassing episodes than any other team. I think this can be traced to the retirement of Bud Grant and the collection of bozos that have led this team since then. I believe things are going to start turning around now that Leslie Frazier is in charge.

  5. ” I think this can be traced to the retirement of Bud Grant and the collection of bozos that have led this team since then. ”

    Didn’t Bud Grant lose 4 Super Bowls?

  6. Can’t watch til later but I hope the Cade McCown to Nate Poole TD made the list.

    NO!!! NO!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!

  7. As a Vikings fan, you have to have a sense of humor about these things or they’ll eat you up.

    The thing about the Vikings that sets them apart from other so called “hapless” franchises when you talk curses is the fact that this is one of the winningest teams in the NFL.

    I think they are something like #5 currently in winning percentage and they have won their division more than any other NFC North squad since the Vikings joined the NFL. They’ve won the division more times than the Packers and Bears since being in the division.

    We have a saying here. The always good, never great Vikings. Our bad moments wouldn’t stand out so badly if our team just generally stunk. The thing that makes them stand out so much is the fact that the Vikings have made the playoffs about as much as anyone in the last 50 years.

    With all that said, it is hard to top losing 4 CONSECUTIVE superbowls as the Bills manages. I mean, that is just epic. IN A ROW. Or with teams like the Raiders, Browns, and Colts who have had to endure the team being moved and what not. Nothing the Vikings have went through would amount the the heartache of seeing them leave.

    If they don’t get the stadium thing figured out though we could proudly take the reins as most brutalized fans in NFL history, lol. But hey, at least we don’t live in Green Bay! Now THAT would be a curse.

  9. Most Packer fans take more pleasure from a VIKINGS LOSS than they do from a PACKERS WIN.

    How pathetic??!!

  10. I would put the missed kick by Gary Anderson at the top of the list, but my personal favorite is the last second loss at Arizona. That last play was broadcast live on the Lambeau Field Jumbotron during the Packer game and the crowd erupted upon seeing the play, as it sent the Pack into the playoffs! 🙂

  11. Should have stayed at Metropolitan Stadium … fixed it up like the Packers fixed up Lambeau.

    But no … let’s get all fancy and put up a dome so we won’t have to sit out in the sun or in the snow. Besides, the wind might blow.

    And let’s not worry about a parking lot … fans can tailgate by chewing gum on the bus as they ride to our fancy new venue.

    Good Grief!

  14. thephantomstranger –

    Gotta agree with you about Frazier. Even as a Packer fan I’ve got a healthy respect for their new coach, and the Vikings made a great move in keeping him in charge. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll get any fantastically ridiculous post game comments from him like we did from Jerry Burns, Dennis Green, Mike Tice or Brad Childress. Bummer.

  15. Tired of people painting the 2009 NFC title game as if the Saints stole it, or the refs gave it away. Everybody’s full of “what ifs” and “only ifs”. Bunch of clowns. The thing people disrespect about the 2009 Saints is how scrappy they were. They would have found a way to win no matter what. And the Superdome crowd was on point, they played a role in that win.

  16. @leucas66 –

    I’ll take 4 Super Bowl losses in 8 years at this point.

    @kennyrogerschicken –

    You are absolutely correct. The best thing about having those guys as coaches was listening to the nonsensical quotes they would come up with. From now on the entertainment will have to come from on the field.

  17. and people say we are not real fans,,,,,,,,,,,only only real fans keep coming back. Drama is part of the fun but damn throw me a bone already.

    Go Vikes!

  19. Hey mike way to post this Vikes list on the same day when your on KFAN with P.A. Great stuff I Loved it P.A. didn’t hahahaha good stuff!!!

  20. Okay, okay….calm down!

    Huh-huh-hu-huh-Huh-huh-hu-huh-Huh-huh-hu-huh

    Mike Tice

  21. Roughing the passer not called resulting in INT. Stopped short on 4th & 1 but called first down. Offensive holding on nearly every play not called. Phantom PI giving the the win. The refs handed the game to the Saints on a silver platter. Everyone knows this.

    As far as the Vikes history. GOD must hate Minnesota.

    BlackAndGoldAllDay says: May 31, 2011 6:11 PM

    Tired of people painting the 2009 NFC title game as if the Saints stole it, or the refs gave it away. Everybody’s full of “what ifs” and “only ifs”. Bunch of clowns. The thing people disrespect about the 2009 Saints is how scrappy they were. They would have found a way to win no matter what. And the Superdome crowd was on point, they played a role in that win.

  23. I’ll always feel worst for the Bills for losing the four Super Bowls. I think most people forget thyey destroyed some pretty good teams in the AFC Championship games each year. They beat down the likes of Joe Montana and Dan Marino.

  24. i remember a game where a way overmatched bears team with a diminutive CB stole a TD from moss in the final seconds via INT in the end zone. 2 weeks before AZ loss mentioned above…

    also in 04, loss to wash in last week…

  25. seals1 says:
    May 31, 2011 6:18 PM
    and people say we are not real fans,,,,,,,,,,,only only real fans keep coming back. Drama is part of the fun but damn throw me a bone already.

    Go Vikes!
    ————
    Agreed! Its easy to be a bandwagon fan of a team thats winning all the time but true fans stick by their team in tough times.

  26. How about the Shiancoe TD at Green Bay last year? Questionable call, but refs decide to reverse it. One could argue that the Vikings win that game if that call stands. And if they do, the Packers don’t even make the playoffs.

  27. Thank god i live in Minneapolis and not Wisconsin. The only good thing about Wisconsin is the multi-million dollar cabins that folks from the Twin Cities build there. Seriously, every time i go to a bar there everyone is wearing a jean jacket (including women).

    Sincerely,

    Your better looking neighbors to the West.

  28. And another thing…Bud Grant once said that you should be far enough ahead in any game that a BAD CALL doesn’t matter. Hard to dispute that. But I don’t think anyone could have dreamed how many bad calls there could be in that Saints game.

    That game was handed to New Orleans…and everyone knows it.

  29. @emperorzero

    How could the Bills (an AFC team) have beaten’ down the “Likes of Joe Montana” (who played for the SF 49ers, an NFC team) in the AFC Champ. game?

  31. blaz0037 says:May 31, 2011 4:56 PM

    Most Packer fans take more pleasure from a VIKINGS LOSS than they do from a PACKERS WIN.

    — Not true, you’re not even our rival. We couldn’t care less, except it helps us in the division race.

    @leucas66 & phantom

    I’ll take 4 Super Bowl losses in 8 years at this point.

    — Like I said, a Super Bowl for us is one of our worst moments, but a Super Bowl loss for you is one of your BEST!

  32. mkepackfan, who is Cade McCown? Someone you made up in your head? You loved it so much you don’t even know a guys name? Don’t worry pack will soon go back to the glory of the 70s and 80s.

  33. Beast of Eden,

    You must have forgotten when Joe Montana was traded to the Chiefs after the 1992 season. The Chiefs were crushed 30-13 in the 1993 AFC Title Game by the Bills as the Bills lost to the Cowboys the 1st time.

  34. blaz0037 says:
    May 31, 2011 4:56 PM

    Most Packer fans take more pleasure from a VIKINGS LOSS than they do from a PACKERS WIN.

    How pathetic??!!
    ————————
    Umm, you would think that.

    For sure, a fan of one team will take pleasure in the loss by a divisional foe, but MORE pleasure than seeing their team win? Umm, don’t flatter yourself or heighten your team’s importance to the rest of the fans of other teams in the league including the Packers.

    Actually, the truth be told, (as I have to live in your gosh-forsaken state until I can get a job transfer), I remember in 2007 during the week leading up to the NFC Championship between the Packers and Giants…a poll question was asked on KFAN in the Twin Cities: “Would you rather see the Vikings win a Super Bowl or the Packer’s lose a Super Bowl?” By a large margin, the majority of MinnSOEduns chose to rather see the Packers lose a Super Bowl. I kid you not.

    While I can’t say I sympathize, I do agree, the Vike’s fan has suffered more misery than perhaps any other team, including Buffalo. Their whole history has been one of “close-but-no-cigar.” This also explains their utter “Packer envy” too.

  35. carlgerbilschidt says: May 31, 2011 9:05 PM

    – Not true, you’re not even our rival. We couldn’t care less, except it helps us in the division race.

    – Like I said, a Super Bowl for us is one of our worst moments, but a Super Bowl loss for you is one of your BEST!

    Lol, and here you are. Did Bud Grant screw your mom while your dad watched and you have a vendetta or something? That makes more sense than the absolute rubbish you and the other Packer losers spew on a regular basis for a team that “isn’t even a rival”.

  36. This also explains their utter “Packer envy” too.

    Repeating such tripe does make it true. We aren’t on a Packer thread, are we? Hmm? If we are so envious, you’d see us all on Packer sites but we can’t get rid of you louts.

  37. All of these brought me pain, but I’ll never stop rooting for the Vikings. Ever.

  38. I am so sick and tired of some Viking fans still whining about the 2009 NFC Title Game. The Vikes probably did outplay the Saints and yes, there may have been some questionable officiating. Did some of you ever think that maybe had the Vikes not turned the ball over not once, not twice, not 3 or 4 times but 5 times, maybe they would have went to the Super Bowl and most likely beat Indy?

    Sorry to tell you, but the bottome line is you don’t win big games like that when you turn the ball over 5 times in a game.

  40. One of the worst parts of being a Vikings fan is having to listen to Packer fans. While I realize that some of it is asked for, because there are some arrogant pricks on this side of the line too, for a group that considers themselves so much “classier” than Vikings fans, there sure are a lot who seem to delight in a peculiar form of schadenfreude involving Vikings fans.

    I guess I should just be thankful I haven’t had to suffer through a period of time where my team went 146-228 over a span of 24 years…. Really, one season at 6-10 is bad enough, but to average that over 24 years? That must be tough…..

  41. LA Rams didn’t win a superbowl til they moved to St. Louis.

    Just saying.

    “Agreed! Its easy to be a bandwagon fan of a team thats winning all the time but true fans stick by their team in tough times.”

    like the 70’s/80’s, or what the lions and bears had to go through in the late 90’s/2000’s?

  42. theytukrjobs says: May 31, 2011 4:51 PM
    But hey, at least we don’t live in Green Bay! Now THAT would be a curse.
    ————————————————————

    Jealousy is an ugly stepsister, isn’t it? If you lived in Green Bay, the curse would be on Green Bay…..not you.

  43. For the 2 people that put a thumbs down to my post about the Vikes losing the 2009 NFC Title Game, wake up! 5 turnovers are the facts, deal with reality!

  44. Jealousy is an ugly stepsister, isn’t it? If you lived in Green Bay, the curse would be on Green Bay…..not you.

    ————————————————–

    As an outsider who is from out east but has lived in both states due to school or work….12 times out of 10 I would take Minnesota over Wisconsin. But with that said neither one of has that much to gloat about. Once you get out of the Twin Cities, a bar in Cross Lake, MN is filled with the same morons cheering everytime the Tobey Keith says the word “beer” as a bar in Park Falls, WI.

  45. sevensixtwonato says:
    Jun 1, 2011 8:55 AM
    As an outsider who is from out east but has lived in both states due to school or work….12 times out of 10 I would take Minnesota over Wisconsin.
    —————————————————–

    Oh, you don’t live here now? Then why would we care what you think? Twelve times out of ten? Let me guess….you went to school in Minnesota?

  46. “As a Vikings fan, you have to have a sense of humor about these things or they’ll eat you up.

    The thing about the Vikings that sets them apart from other so called “hapless” franchises when you talk curses is the fact that this is one of the winningest teams in the NFL.

    I think they are something like #5 currently in winning percentage and they have won their division more than any other NFC North squad since the Vikings joined the NFL. They’ve won the division more times than the Packers and Bears since being in the division.

    We have a saying here. The always good, never great Vikings. Our bad moments wouldn’t stand out so badly if our team just generally stunk. The thing that makes them stand out so much is the fact that the Vikings have made the playoffs about as much as anyone in the last 50 years.

    With all that said, it is hard to top losing 4 CONSECUTIVE superbowls as the Bills manages. I mean, that is just epic. IN A ROW. Or with teams like the Raiders, Browns, and Colts who have had to endure the team being moved and what not. Nothing the Vikings have went through would amount the the heartache of seeing them leave.

    If they don’t get the stadium thing figured out though we could proudly take the reins as most brutalized fans in NFL history, lol. But hey, at least we don’t live in Green Bay! Now THAT would be a curse.”

    You sir, have my respect. Life long, die hard Vikings fan and I feel the same way. SKOL VIKINGS! Frazier, Singeltary and Musgrave will get us our Superbowl Ring!

    And to all the Packers “fans” here… if you didn’t care about the Vikings so much than why are you here? Go back to your coloring books.

  47. Let me guess….you went to school in Minnesota?
    ————————————————–

    La Crosse…..

  49. Oh, I forgot this one! In the 2005 playoffs (one week after crushing Green Bay at Lambeau), the Vikings were playing at Philadelphia. Things weren’t going real well, but the Vikings drove down to about the Eagles’ 3-yard line and wound up with 4th down. They lined up for a field goal, but the plan was for the holder Gus Frerotte to get up after taking the snap and throwing it to Randy Moss near the sideline for a momentum-turning touchdown. Moss, genius that he is, noticed that the Vikings had 12 men on the field, so he stepped off the field to avoid a penalty. Frerotte takes the snap, looks over to the sideline to throw, sees Moss has disappeared, runs around a little and gets tackled. Had Moss stayed on the field, he either would have scored or the play would have been called back if they called the penalty. The worst thing that could happen is you have to do it over and kick the field goal. Moss chose the absolute worst course of action.

  50. And how about Daunte Culpepper getting his knee destroyed in Carolina in 2005, one year after having one of the best quarterback seasons in NFL history? That’s what started the whole Brad Johnson, Tarvaris Jackson, Gus Frerotte, Brett Favre, Joe Webb saga.

  51. sevensixtwonato says:
    Jun 1, 2011 11:11 AM
    Let me guess….you went to school in Minnesota?
    ————————————————–

    La Crosse…..
    ——————————–

    That fits into what I noted on a different thread…. If Minnesota applied the same percentage of total state revenue to education that Wisconsin does, then the state could save $2 billion per year.

  52. “Your better looking neighbors to the West.”

    Are you really resorting to how people look when it comes to trash-talk? How old are you? 5?

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