Skorich was considered the logical choice after the club gave Norm Van Brocklin permission to seek the head coaching job with the Minnesota Vikings, the newest National Football League entry.

In the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Falcons made the playoffs but lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 30 – 24.

On January 18, 1999, the Falcons upset the top-seeded 15 – 1 Vikings at Minnesota in the NFC Championship Game, 30 – 27 in an epic overtime victory.

On December 21, 2008, Atlanta beat the Minnesota Vikings 24 – 17 to clinch a wild card spot, earning a trip to the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

He missed several important field goals, including a 31-yarder which would have sent the Panthers into overtime against the Minnesota Vikings.

On December 20, 2010, Hester set an NFL record for most touchdowns on a punt or kickoff return with his 14th career return coming against the Minnesota Vikings.

Later that same year, they would trade veteran running back Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for five veteran players and eight draft choices.

Gailey led the team to two playoff appearances with a 10 – 6 record in 1998 and an NFC East championship, but the Cowboys were defeated in the playoffs by the Arizona Cardinals 20-7 ; after an 8 – 8 season in 1999 ( during which Irvin suffered a career-ending spinal injury in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles ) ending in another playoff loss ( this time to the Minnesota Vikings 27-10 ), he was fired and became the first Cowboys coach who did not take the team to a Super Bowl.

Dallas ended their playoff run after a hard divisional playoff loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

There were also five teams which the Texans had never beaten: the Baltimore Ravens ( 0-5 in regular season, 0-1 in playoffs ), Minnesota Vikings ( 0-2 ), New York Jets ( 0-5 ), Philadelphia Eagles ( 0-3 ) and San Diego Chargers ( 0-4 ).

Although the white jerseys of the Minnesota Vikings at the time also had a similar striping pattern and continued as such ( as well as the throwbacks the New England Patriots wore in the Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions in 2002, though the Patriots later wore the same throwbacks in 2009 with truncated stripes and in 2010 became their official alternate uniform ), the Colts and most college teams with this striping pattern did not make this adjustment.

In the years 1953 – 66 the Colts played in the NFL Western Conference ( also known as division ), but were never known to have a significant rivalry with any of the other franchises in that alignment, seeing as they were the eastern-most team and the rest of the division included the Great Lakes franchises Green Bay, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and after 1961, the Minnesota Vikings.

Weaver ultimately narrowed his choices down to three: Mike Shanahan, an assistant coach for the San Francisco 49ers, Tony Dungy, defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, and Tom Coughlin, head coach for Boston College.

In 1982, the Twins moved into the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which they shared with the Minnesota Vikings, but the team continued to struggle.

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The team was officially named the Minnesota Vikings on September 27, 1960 ; the name is partly meant to reflect Minnesota's place as a center of Scandinavian American culture.

The Vikings played their first game at the Metrodome in a preseason matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on August 21, 1982 in a game Minnesota won, 7 – 3.

This injury was a very significant part to this Minnesota Vikings team due to the fact they also lost Moss.

Minnesota began the 2006 season 4 – 2 ( Childress became the first coach in Vikings history to start 2 – 0 in his first year ), but would finish the year at 6 – 10, receiving the 7th pick in the NFL Draft ; with it, the Vikings selected Adrian Peterson out of the University of Oklahoma.

Because of on-going repairs to the roof of the Metrodome, the Vikings played their December 20 game versus the Chicago Bears at TCF Bank Stadium ( the home of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers ).

The 2010 season was a step down for the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota Vikings uniform combination

Minnesota Vikings uniform: 1996 – 2005

Four plays later, on the first play of the second quarter, a pass interference penalty on Vikings defensive back Ed Sharockman nullified Dawson's third down incompletion and gave Kansas City a first down at the Minnesota 31-yard line.

On the second play of their next drive, Vikings wide receiver John Henderson fumbled the ball after catching a 16-yard reception, and Chiefs defensive back Johnny Robinson recovered the ball at the Minnesota 46-yard line.

Two plays later, Tarkenton was sacked for a six-yard loss by defensive tackle Manny Fernandez on third down, forcing Minnesota to punt from their own 7-yard line.

The Redskins won a defensive battle against the surprising Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game, 17-10.

* Kevin Williams-NFL Pro-Bowl defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings

Notable staff included 9 year NFL Veteran John " JT " Turner of the Minnesota Vikings and Sam Adams, 6 time pro bowl defensive tackle who had two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl ring while playing for the Baltimore Ravens.

* James White ( defensive tackle ) ( born 1953 ), former National Football League defensive / nose tackle for the Minnesota Vikings

* Jared Allen — Minnesota Vikings defensive end

Despite this, Grant was traded in 1974 in a surprising deal for defensive forward Henry Boucha ( whose attraction to the franchise may have been that he was a Minnesota native ), and the trade backfired badly: Grant had his best season that season, scoring 50 goals for the Detroit Red Wings while on a line with superstar centre Marcel Dionne, and becoming only the 12th player in NHL history to accomplish that feat.

* Terry Dillon, NFL football player ; Minnesota Vikings defensive back.

* Steve Smith ( offensive lineman ) ( born 1944 ), offensive tackle and defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings, and Philadelphia Eagles

Notable alumni include Roxana Saberi, who was charged with espionage by Iran and later released in 2009, Clint Hill, the United States Secret Service agent who is credited with saving the life of Jacqueline Kennedy during the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Sidney Rand, former United States Ambassador to Norway and President of St. Olaf College, Cynthia L. Bauerly, member of the Federal Election Commission, Alan Bjerga, president of the National Press Club, Jim Christopherson, former linebacker and placekicker for the Minnesota Vikings, Gary Larsen, defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings, Chris Coste, former Major league baseball catcher and infielder, Coya Knutson, former United States congresswoman, Ole H. Olson, former Governor of North Dakota, Adolph Murie, a biologist who was the first scientist to study wolves in their natural habitat.

Purple People Eaters ( sometimes Purple Gang ) is a term for the defensive line of the Minnesota Vikings from the late 1960s to the late 1970s.

He was part of the " Fearsome Foursome ", along with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, and Lamar Lundy, often considered one of the best defensive lines in football history, along with the Purple People Eaters of the Minnesota Vikings, the Steel Curtain of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Dallas Cowboys ' Doomsday Defense.

In Super Bowl IV, Tyrer and Budde opened holes for Chiefs running backs against the Minnesota Vikings ' opposing defensive linemen Jim Marshall and Alan Page, respectively, gaining 151 yards on 42 carries ( 3. 6 yards per attempt ) and 122 net passing yards in the team's upset 23-7 victory.

At the heart of the Chiefs ’ offensive line with Jim Tyrer at left offensive tackle, his overpowering presence helped the Chiefs win two American Football League Championships ( 1966 and 1969 ) and a world championship in Super Bowl IV after defeating the NFL's Minnesota Vikings 23-7, with Budde able to handle the opposing right defensive tackle, Hall-of-Famer, Alan Page.

John Anthony Randle ( born December 12, 1967 in Mumford, Texas ) played defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL.

The men of the 1st Minnesota are most remembered for their actions on the late afternoon of 2 July 1863, during the second day's fighting at Gettysburg, resulting in the prevention of a serious breach in the Union defensive line on Cemetery Ridge.

James " Jim " Lawrence Marshall ( born December 30, 1937, Danville, Kentucky ) is a retired American football player who played defensive end for the Cleveland Browns ( 1960 ) and the Minnesota Vikings ( 1961 – 1979 ).

Marshall played the 1960 season with the Browns before being traded along with five other players ( including fellow defensive lineman Paul Dickson ) to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for two draft picks in the 1961 NFL Draft.

After playing quarterback in college for the University of Minnesota, Dungy went undrafted in 1976 and was signed as a free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League as a defensive back.