The Minnesota Vikings have come close to the Super Bowl three times early in the franchise’s history. The teams of the late ‘60s and the early ‘70s played with a dominating defense that featured Alan Page, Carl Eller, Gary Larson, and Jim Marshall. The tough defense became known as the Purple People Eaters and, with Frank Tarkenton at quarterback for the offense, was able to bring Vikings playoff tickets to the Minneapolis. The Vikings would never be able to overcome the opponent in that last game though. Minnesota lost Super Bowl IV to the Chiefs (without Tarkenton), Super Bowl VIII to the Dolphins, Super Bowl IX to the Steelers, and Super Bowl XI to the Raiders.
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The signing of Randall Cunningham as quarterback and Dennis Green as head coach in the ‘90s made the Vikings an offensive force. Minnesota reached its pinnacle in 1998. Chris Carter was the veteran, Randy Moss was the exciting rookie, and Robert Smith was the great runner. The team set the then-record for points in a season. Minnesota lone loss on the regular season schedule came against the Tampa Bay Bucs. The Vikings playoff tickets lasted until the NFC Championship game. The game against the Atlanta Falcons at the Metrodome had the Viking s as heavy favorites. Upset, the team left the field, after losing the game in overtime.
This season the Vikings have a defense similar to the great teams early in the franchise history and an offense with the potential for explosiveness not seen in Minneapolis since the a few years ago. The very fact that the defensive front four of Ray Edwards, Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, and Jared Allen make it almost impossible to run against them makes Vikings playoff tickets a good bet. Add in the play of cornerbacks Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin and a sack via quarterback pressure or excellent coverage are just as likely.
Tarvaris Jackson is the quarterback of the future, but for this team to be complete he has to be ready now. He has two young, speedy weapons in Bernard Berrian and Sidney Rice. While this does not leave him any established options downfield, the presence of Adrian Peterson will help. The tremendous runner requires eight or nine players in the box to stop him, so if Jackson can take advantage of the one-on-ones on the outside the Vikings could be a very potent offense. Playoff tickets in Minnesota might be possible even if Jackson does not shine this season thanks to Favre’s departure. The Packers have as many questions as the rest of the NFC North, so the title and likely lone playoff team coming out of the division are up for grabs among all four teams.