The last time the Cardinals won in Minnesota, they were based in St. Louis and the Vikings played in an outdoor stadium designed for baseball.
The year was 1977. The Cardinals have changed names twice and the Vikings have changed stadiums twice. And the Cardinals have lost every game they’re played in Minnesota.
Part of the problem is that the Cardinals haven’t played in Minnesota all that often. After that 27-7 victory in November 1977 (Wayne Morris (pictured) had 182 rushing yards, another 20 receiving yards, and two touchdowns), the Cardinals didn’t return until 1991, the year of a home-and-home series between the fifth-place teams in the NFC East and NFC North.
The streak includes eight regular-season losses and one playoff loss over the last 41 years. Minnesota native Larry Fitzgerald, who is running out of chances to win a game in his home state, hopes to reverse the trend.
“Fran Tarkenton was playing there then,” Fitzgerald said of the last Cardinals victory in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “That’s a long time. It’s time to try to get a win in Minnesota.”
It won’t be easy; the Vikings are double-digit favorites. Then again, they were 17-point favorites over Buffalo three weeks ago and blew it. In Minnesota’s only other home game this season, Week One against the 49ers, the Vikings looked sluggish at times in securing a victory that should have been much easier.
On Sunday, the Vikings will need to have a plan for stopping Cardinals pass-rusher Chandler Jones, especially with left tackle Reilly Reiff out for the game due to injury.