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

Longships were sea vessels made and used by the Vikings from the Nordic countries for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age although scientific analysis of the oak timber shows at least one well known ship was built in Dublin, Ireland.

By, age was taking its toll on the Vikings, but they still made the playoffs with an 8 – 7 – 1 record.

Nonetheless, the Vikings made the playoffs for the fifth straight year.

The Vikings clinched the NFC North championship for the first time after defeating the New York Giants 20 – 19 in Week 17, when kicker Ryan Longwell made the game-winning field goal.

During home games at the Metrodome, the Vikings Gjallarhorn is loudly played and sounds often after the team has made a big play, gets a first down, or scores a touchdown.

Unlike other raiders the Vikings made a lasting impact on the face of Europe.

In 1987, they finished 12-3 ( their first-ever winning season ) and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, but lost to the Minnesota Vikings 44-10.

Moving in the wake of German merchants who were now following the old trading routes of the Vikings, a monk named Meinhard landed at the mouth of the Daugava river in present-day Latvia in 1180 and was made bishop in 1186.

Vikings then made the islands the headquarters of pirate expeditions carried out against Norway and the coasts of mainland Scotland.

Stram also concluded that the Vikings ' aggressiveness on defense also made them susceptible to trap plays ; Mike Garrett's rushing touchdown would come on a trap play.

But the Vikings made key defensive plays.

Referring to the Vikings ' three interceptions, three fumbles, and six penalties, Vikings safety Karl Kassulke said, " We made more mental mistakes in one game than we did in one season.

Then, Jones and Johnson made a move midway through the 1989 season that shocked many in the league: they traded their only Pro Bowl player, running back Herschel Walker, to the Minnesota Vikings for five veteran players and eight draft choices.

Recent evidence suggests that the Vikings also made use of an optical compass as a navigation aid, using the light-splitting and polarization-filtering properties of Iceland spar to find the location of the sun when it was not directly visible.

To the contrary, according to the sources, the Vikings rather made camp on headlands and islands, which were more easily defendable from land-based armies.

The Vikings established their parliament on the Tinganes peninsula in 850 CE, thus Tórshavn was made capital of Faroe Islands and has remained so ever since.

Contrary to the assertions made in the Cogadh Gaedhil re Gallaibh, this was not an attempt by the Vikings to reconquer Ireland.

The " Gridbirds " made only three playoff appearances during that stretch, losing at the Minnesota Vikings in 1974, Los Angeles Rams in 1975 and Green Bay Packers in 1982.

The Vikings have made several state tournaments and have played in State Championship games.

Longships were naval vessels made and used by the Vikings from Scandinavia and Iceland for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age.

English payment, of 10, 000 Roman pounds ( 3, 300 kg ) of silver, was first made in 991 following the Viking victory at the Battle of Maldon in Essex, when King Aethelred " The Unready " was advised by Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury and the aldermen of the south-western provinces to buy off the Vikings rather than continue the armed struggle.

The treaty between the Franks and the Vikings did not last more than a year: in 863 Salomon made peace and the Vikings, deprived of an enemy, ravaged Neustria.

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.

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.

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 ).

However, the Vikings lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs, 17 – 14, on a controversial touchdown pass from the Cowboys ' quarterback Roger Staubach to wide receiver Drew Pearson that became known as the Hail Mary.

Following the strike-shortened 1987 season, the 8 – 7 Vikings, who had finished 8 – 4 in regular games but 0 – 3 using strike-replacement players, pulled two upsets in the playoffs by beating the two teams with the best regular season records.

In the playoffs, the Vikings rolled past the Arizona Cardinals 41 – 21, and came into the Metrodome heavily favored for their NFC title showdown with the Atlanta Falcons, who had gone 14 – 2 in the regular season.

Tice was named the permanent coach after the season, but he would not lead the Vikings back to the playoffs until 2004.

During the 2003 season, the Vikings came close to getting into the playoffs.

However, the Arizona Cardinals completed a game winning touchdown on 4th and 28 with 0: 00 left knocking the Vikings out of the playoffs.

The Vikings became the second team in football history to miss the playoffs after getting off to a 6 – 0 start.

Despite a strong push in the middle of the 2007 season, winning five straight games, the Vikings lost their final two games to finish the season at 8 – 8, missing the playoffs.

In his first year, he took the team to the 2001 playoffs but lost to the Minnesota Vikings a week after beating the St. Louis Rams for the team's first ever playoff win.

They posted an 11-3 record during the 1971 regular season before defeating the Minnesota Vikings and the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs.

The Vikings ' other loss was in week 12 to the Cincinnati Bengals, whom the Dolphins defeated in the AFC divisional playoffs.

The Vikings earned their second appearance in the Super Bowl after defeating the wild card Washington Redskins, 27-20, and the NFC Eastern Champion Dallas Cowboys 27-10, in the playoffs.

The Vikings were led by quarterback Fran Tarkenton and the Purple People Eaters defense ; they advanced to their second consecutive Super Bowl and third overall after finishing the regular season with a 10-4 record and defeating the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs.

The Vikings went on to dominate the Washington Redskins, 35 – 20, and defeat the Los Angeles Rams, 24 – 13, in the playoffs.

The Cowboys earned their second trip to the Super Bowl in three years by defeating the Chicago Bears, 37-7, and the Minnesota Vikings, 23-6, in the playoffs.

The Eagles advanced through the playoffs, defeating the Minnesota Vikings, 31-16, and the Dallas Cowboys, 20 – 7.

On January 15, 1983, during the second round of the playoffs against the Minnesota Vikings, John Riggins rushed for a Redskins playoff record 185 yards, leading Washington to a 21 – 7 win and a place in the NFC Championship Game against Dallas, whom they beat 31 to 17.