Professional football in the
Minneapolis–Saint Paul area (the "Twin Cities") began with the
Minneapolis Marines/Red Jackets, an NFL team that played intermittently in the 1920s and 1930s. A new professional team in the area did not surface again until August 1959, when Minnesota businessmen
Bill Boyer,
H. P. Skoglund, and
Max Winter were awarded a franchise in the new
American Football League (AFL). Five months later, in January 1960, after significant pressure from the NFL, the ownership group, along with
Bernard H. Ridder, reneged on its agreement with the AFL and then was awarded the National Football League's 14th franchise, with play to begin in 1961.
Ole Haugsrud was added to the NFL team ownership because, in the 1920s, when he sold his
Duluth Eskimos team back to the league, the agreement allowed him 10 percent of any future Minnesota team. The teams from Ole Haugsrud's high school, Central High School in
Superior, Wisconsin, were also called the Vikings and had a similar purple-and-yellow color scheme. From the team's first season in
1961 to
1981, the team called
Metropolitan Stadium in suburban
Bloomington home. The Vikings conducted summer training camp at
Bemidji State University from 1961 to 1965. In 1966, the team moved their training camp to
Minnesota State University in
Mankato. The training camp at Minnesota State was one of the longest continuously running training camp events in the NFL and is remembered as part of the golden era history of the team. The Vikings played their home games at the
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis from 1982 to 2013. The Vikings played their last game at the Metrodome on December 29, 2013, defeating the
Detroit Lions 14–13 to end the season. Since the team's first season in 1961, the Vikings have had one of the highest winning percentages in the NFL. As of 2022, they have won at least three games in every season except in
1962, and are one of only seven NFL teams to win at least 15 games in a regular season. The Vikings have won one
NFL Championship, in
1969, before the league's
merger with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970. Since the merger, the team has qualified for the playoffs 28 times, third-most in the league (trailing only the
Dallas Cowboys and
Pittsburgh Steelers). The team played in Super Bowls
IV,
VIII,
IX and
XI, but failed to win any of them. In addition, they have lost in their last six
NFC Championship Game appearances, stretching back to 1978. The Vikings have 15 members in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame.
1960s 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. From the start, the Vikings embraced an energetic marketing program that produced first-year season ticket sales of nearly 26,000 and an average home attendance of 34,586, about 85 percent of
Metropolitan Stadium's capacity of 40,800. Eventually, the capacity of Met Stadium was increased to 47,900.
Bert Rose, former public relations director for the
Los Angeles Rams, was appointed the team's first general manager. The search for the first head coach saw the team court then-
Northwestern University head coach
Ara Parseghian, who, according to
Minneapolis Star writer
Jim Klobuchar—the Vikings' first beat reporter for that newspaper—visited team management in the
Twin Cities under the condition that his visit was to be kept secret from his current employer. His cover was blown by local columnist
Sid Hartman, who reported the visit and forced Parseghian to issue denials.
Philadelphia Eagles assistant Nick Skorich and a man with Minnesota ties who was working in the
CFL,
Bud Grant, were also candidates until a different Eagle, quarterback
Norm Van Brocklin, was hired on January 18, 1961. Van Brocklin had just finished his career as a player on a high note, having defeated the
Green Bay Packers in the
1960 NFL Championship Game. On March 7, 1967, quarterback Fran Tarkenton was traded to the
New York Giants for a first-round and second-round draft choice in 1967, a first-round choice in 1968 and a second-round choice in 1969. With the picks, Minnesota selected
Clinton Jones and
Bob Grim in 1967,
Ron Yary in 1968 and
Ed White in 1969. In
1968, that stingy defense earned the Vikings their first Central Division title and their first playoff berth. The Vikings defeated the
Cleveland Browns 27–7 in the last pre-merger
NFL Championship Game on January 4, 1970, at Metropolitan Stadium. The Vikings became the first modern NFL expansion team to win an
NFL Championship Game, The team MVP that season was Joe Kapp, who threw for seven touchdowns against the Baltimore Colts – still an all-time NFL record; however, Kapp refused to accept the award, stating, "There is not one most valuable Viking... there are 40 most valuable Vikings!"
1970s The team continued to dominate in
1970 (moving into the newly formed NFC Central) and
1971, reaching the playoffs behind the stubborn "Purple People Eaters" defensive line. In 1971, Alan Page won the
NFL Most Valuable Player Award given by the
Associated Press. He was the first defensive player to win the award. defensive line stopping a Rams rush in the
1977 NFC Divisional Playoff game. On January 27, 1972, the Vikings traded
Norm Snead, Bob Grim,
Vince Clements and first-round draft picks in 1972 and 1973 to the New York Giants to reacquire the popular Fran Tarkenton. The touchdown was controversial because many felt that Pearson pushed off on Vikings
defensive back Nate Wright, committing
pass interference. As the Metropolitan Stadium crowd was stunned to learn that no penalty was called, debris was thrown on the field for several minutes. A Corby's Whiskey bottle struck game official
Armen Terzian, rendering him unconscious. The Vikings played in
Super Bowl XI, their third Super Bowl (fourth overall) in four years, against the
Oakland Raiders at the
Rose Bowl in
Pasadena, California, on January 9, 1977. The Vikings, however, lost 32–14. In
1977, the Vikings again won the Central Division with a 9–5 record and advanced to their 4th NFC Championship Game in 5 years, In December 1979, ground was broken for construction of the
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. Longtime Vikings assistant coach
Jerry Burns was named the fourth head coach in team history on January 7, 1986. pulled two upsets in the playoffs. They defeated the 12–3
New Orleans Saints 44–10 at the
Louisiana Superdome in the Wild Card game. The following week, in the Divisional Playoff game, they beat the 13–2
San Francisco 49ers 36–24 at
Candlestick Park. During that game,
Anthony Carter set the all-time record for most receiving yards in a playoff game with 227 yards. The Vikings played the
Washington Redskins in the
NFC Championship Game on January 17, 1988, at
RFK Stadium. Trailing 17–10, the Vikings drove to the Redskins' 6-yard line with a little over a minute left in the game, but failed to get the ball into the end zone. The Vikings' hopes of a Super Bowl ended when
Darrin Nelson dropped a pass from
Wade Wilson on fourth down at the goal line. On October 12, 1989, the Vikings
acquired Herschel Walker from Dallas. The final result of the trade gave the Vikings Walker, third-round choice Mike Jones, fifth-round choice Reggie Thornton and 10th-round choice Pat Newman in 1990 and a third-round choice
Jake Reed in 1991. Dallas received Issiac Holt, David Howard, Darrin Nelson, Jesse Solomon, Alex Stewart, a first-, second- and a sixth-round choice in 1990, first- and second-round choices in 1991 and a first-, second- and third-round choice in 1992. Two of those selections turned into
Emmitt Smith and
Darren Woodson. Walker's performance fell short of expectations in his three seasons with the Vikings, while the Cowboys rode their draft picks to three Super Bowl victories in the early-to-mid-1990s.
1990s 's Hall of Fame display. Carter was a Viking from 1990 to 2001. On December 3, 1991, Jerry Burns announced his retirement effective at the end of the 1991 season. In six seasons as head coach of the Vikings, Burns compiled a career record of 52–43 (.547). He also led Minnesota to three playoff appearances, including a division title and an NFC Championship Game.
Dennis Green was later named the fifth head coach in team history, after turning around a struggling
Stanford University football program as head coach from 1989 to 1991. In his 10 seasons as the coach of the Vikings, Green won four NFC Central division titles, had eight playoff appearances, two NFC Championship Game appearances and an all-time record of 97–62. The Vikings therefore had the fifth highest winning percentage among all NFL teams during the regular season in the 1990s.
1998 1998 was a year to remember for the franchise. With a spectacular offense led by quarterback
Randall Cunningham (who replaced an injured
Brad Johnson), running back
Robert Smith, veteran wide receiver
Cris Carter, and explosive rookie
Randy Moss, the Vikings set a then-NFL record by scoring a total of 556 points, never scoring fewer than 24 in a game. The Vikings finished the season 15–1, their only loss was to the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27–24 in Week 9. 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. After kicker
Gary Anderson, who had just completed the first perfect regular season in NFL history (not missing a single extra point or field goal attempt the entire year),
missed a 38-yard field goal attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining, the Falcons' ensuing drive tied the game. This led to a controversial decision by head coach Dennis Green to run out the clock and let the game go to overtime. Though the Vikings won the coin toss, Atlanta went on to win it 30–27 in overtime on
Morten Andersen's 38-yard field goal. The Vikings became the first 15–1 team to fail to reach the Super Bowl.
1999 (1998–2004 and 2010) Cunningham resumed duties again in 1999, but after a lukewarm 2–4 start,
Jeff George replaced him as starting quarterback. He finished the season with an 8–2 record, and led the Vikings into the postseason once again, with an overall team record of 10–6. Minnesota beat
Dallas in the Wild Card game 27–10, and faced playoff newcomer
Kurt Warner and the
St. Louis Rams in the Divisional matchup. The game was a shootout that Minnesota led 17–14 at halftime, but the Rams outscored Minnesota 35–20 in the second half to win 49–37.
2000s The Vikings entered the decade by winning the divisional championship and an appearance in the 2000 NFC Championship game, where they were defeated 41–0 by the New York Giants. The following season, they struggled to a 5–11 record. The team made the playoffs again in 2004, but did not win a divisional title again until 2008. Since the merger, the 2000s became the decade with the fewest playoff berths for the franchise. The Vikings were 11–2 after 14 weeks, but slumped briefly, losing their last three to the
Rams,
Packers and
Colts while starting
quarterback Daunte Culpepper was hampered by injury. Nonetheless, the Vikings made the playoffs for the fifth straight year. After easily beating the
Saints in the Divisional game 34–16, they traveled to New York City to face the
Giants in the NFC Championship Game. Though they were the road team, the Vikings were favored to win the game (since most considered their 11–2 record with Culpepper more indicative than their 0–3 record when he was out); instead, the Vikings were defeated 41–0, their worst defeat in playoff history. Robert Smith, who ran for 1,521 yards that season, retired at the end of the year after only playing eight NFL seasons.
2001–2005 In
2001, after a disappointing 5–11 season, the Vikings bought out the contract of
Dennis Green, despite his successful coaching tenure with the team.
Mike Tice coached the final game of 2001, losing to the
Ravens 19–3. Tice was named the permanent coach after the season, but he would not lead the Vikings back to the playoffs until 2004. In 2002, as part of the league's realignment with the addition of the
Houston Texans, the Vikings and their other traditional NFC Central rivals became part of the newly formed
NFC North. 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 moment of Arizona's touchdown was actually the first moment the entire season in which the Vikings hadn't led their division. The Vikings became the second team in football history to miss the playoffs after getting off to a 6–0 start, after the
1978 Washington Redskins. In
2004,
Daunte Culpepper amassed MVP-like statistics, throwing for 4,717 passing yards (leading the NFL), 39 passing touchdowns (a Viking record), and 5,123 total yards (an NFL record). In the wild card game, the Vikings
defeated the rival
Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in their first-ever playoff meeting, 31–17. In doing so, the Vikings became the second team in NFL history to have a .500 record (8–8) in the regular season and win a playoff game (The
St. Louis Rams did the same thing only a day earlier). In the divisional round, the Vikings
were defeated by the eventual NFC champion
Philadelphia Eagles. On March 2, 2005, Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker
Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first-round draft pick. After struggling to a disappointing 2–5 start to the
2005 season, Vikings lost quarterback Daunte Culpepper to a season-ending knee injury. This injury was a very significant part to this Minnesota Vikings team due to the fact they also lost Moss. The dynamic duo from years earlier was now gone and a new leader would eventually emerge. The Vikings finished the 2005 season with a 9–7 record. In October, 17 team members were part of a party of about 90 that went out on a pleasure cruise on local
Lake Minnetonka. The incident
erupted into scandal when media reported that a number of the players had performed sex acts and that
prostitutes had been flown in. Four players were ultimately charged with misdemeanors related to the party. Mike Tice was fired by owner
Zygi Wilf after the 2005 season and was replaced by
Brad Childress.
2006–2008 running back
Adrian Peterson was selected 7th overall by the Vikings in the
2007 NFL draft, and played for the Vikings from 2007 to 2016. Minnesota began the
2006 season 4–2 (with Childress becoming the first Vikings coach to start his career 2–0), but finished 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. Peterson's first career touchdown was a 60-yard screen pass against the
Atlanta Falcons in his first career game. When the Vikings played the
Chicago Bears in Week 6, Peterson broke the record for single-game All-Purpose (rushing, receiving, kick returning) yards (361 total yards, 224 rushing). In Week 9, Peterson broke the NFL single-game rushing record set by
Jamal Lewis in 2003 by rushing for 296 yards against the
San Diego Chargers. Despite a strong push in the middle of the season, winning five straight games, the Vikings lost their final two games to finish the season at 8–8 and missed the playoffs. In Week 13 of the
2008 season against the
Bears,
Gus Frerotte hooked up with
Bernard Berrian and set the record for longest play in franchise history with a 99-yard touchdown pass. In the 2009 season, Adrian Peterson led the NFL with 1760 rushing yards, breaking the franchise record. 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. Peterson had 19 carries for 109 yards and added a touchdown during the game. On January 4, 2009, the Vikings hosted the
Philadelphia Eagles for the wild-card round, their first home playoff game in eight years. The Eagles led the Viking 16–14 at halftime and, coming off a 44–6 victory over the
Dallas Cowboys, went on to defeat the Vikings 26–14. Since 2006, the Vikings have been known especially for their strong run defense (#1 in the NFL in 2006, 2007, and 2008; they are the first NFL team to accomplish this since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970), anchored by the Williams Wall consisting of defensive tackle
Kevin Williams and nose tackle
Pat Williams (no relation). With the addition of sack-leader
Jared Allen in 2008, the dominant front four began being called by several nicknames, including "Thunder and Plunder" and "Shock and AWE" (an acronym of their surname initials).
2009 played for the Vikings in 2009 and 2010. On August 18, 2009, after months of speculation and negotiations, twice-retired veteran
quarterback Brett Favre, who until 2007 had played 16 years for division archrival
Green Bay Packers, signed a two-year, $25 million deal with the Vikings. On October 5, 2009, the Vikings hosted the Green Bay Packers as Favre played his former team for the first time. With a 30–23 victory on
Monday Night Football, the Vikings moved to a 4–0 record. Favre became the first quarterback in NFL history to defeat all 32 current teams as a starter. Over 21.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the game, beating the previous record for a
cable television program set by a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the
Dallas Cowboys in 2008 (18.6 million viewers). The Vikings beat the New York Giants, 44–7, in Week 17 to help the team clinch the second seed in the conference and a first-round-bye with an Eagles loss later that same day. This would also be the first NFC Championship game for the team since the 2000 season. Minnesota would travel to New Orleans the following week to face the top-seeded Saints in the first conference championship game held at the
Superdome. Despite out-gaining the Saints on offense by nearly a twofold margin, the Vikings were severely hindered by five turnovers, including a Favre interception in the final minute of the fourth quarter in Saints territory. They were ousted in overtime, 31–28, as the Saints won the coin toss and kicked a 40-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime.
2010s The Vikings performed similarly in the 2010s, only making the playoffs four times and going 2–4 in those games. Additionally, there was inconsistency at the quarterback position, with thirteen
quarterbacks starting at least one game for the team during this decade. Despite their performance, the team performed better in the regular season overall after the
2013 season, including an NFC Championship appearance in
2017.
2010–2013 In the first week of the 2010 NFL regular season, the Vikings played the defending Super Bowl champions, the New Orleans Saints. The Vikings lost 14–9. In Week 2, the Vikings played the
Miami Dolphins and lost 14–10. The Vikings defeated the Detroit Lions 24–10 in the third week of the season. After a week four bye-week, the Vikings received star wide receiver Randy Moss in a trade with the
New England Patriots. Even with the addition of Moss, the Vikings lost to the
New York Jets 29–20 in Week 5. The Vikings won a crucial victory against another struggling team in the form of the Dallas Cowboys 24–21, but in Week 7 the Vikings lost to the arch-rival Green Bay Packers 28–24. In Week 9, the Vikings played the Arizona Cardinals at home and won 27–24 in overtime, coming back from a 24–10 deficit in the final four minutes of regulation. Favre threw for a career-high 446 passing yards. The Vikings then went on to face the
Chicago Bears, but were defeated, and then went on to be blown out 31–3 at home by the Packers the following game. Head coach Brad Childress was fired the next Monday. With Leslie Frazier filling in for the fired Childress, the Vikings won two games in a row. One against the
Washington Redskins on the road, and a blowout win over the
Buffalo Bills at home. played for the Vikings from 2008 to 2013. After a winter storm dropped nearly of snow in the Minneapolis/St Paul area the Saturday before the Vikings December 12 home game versus the
New York Giants and gusts drove snow removers off the dome's roof overnight, several panels were damaged as the weight of the snow caused the roof to collapse. After viewing the damage, Vikings management and the NFL decided to move the game to Monday and play it at
Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. Because of ongoing repairs to the roof of the Metrodome, the Vikings played their December 20 game versus the Chicago Bears at
TCF Bank Stadium. Favre threw the final touchdown pass of his career (to
Percy Harvin) in this game. On December 26, the NFL announced that the game versus the
Philadelphia Eagles was being postponed to Tuesday, December 28, 2010, because of
blizzard conditions. This marks the third consecutive venue or date change for a Vikings game and was the first NFL game played on a Tuesday since 1964. The Vikings proceeded to upset the dynamic Eagles offense, led by a resurgent
Michael Vick, 24–14 with rookie
Joe Webb at the helm. The Vikings finished the season 6–10 with a 20–13 loss against the Detroit Lions. During the season, the Vikings had many distractions, including trading for
Randy Moss and then waiving him only a month later,
Brett Favre's NFL investigation for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to Jets' employee
Jenn Sterger while he was with the team in 2008, the Metrodome's collapse and resulting venue changes, and finally head coach
Brad Childress' firing on November 22 after a 31–3 loss at the hands of the rival
Green Bay Packers. 's single-season record. During the
2012 NFL draft, the team selected
USC lineman
Matt Kalil with the 4th overall pick after a trade with the
Cleveland Browns, and
Notre Dame safety
Harrison Smith in the first round. Both players were instrumental in helping the Vikings reach the playoffs for the 27th time in franchise history, as was fellow draftee, sixth-round
kicker Blair Walsh. After beating the Packers in the final game of 2012 to reach the playoffs as the NFC's sixth seed, the Vikings lost 24–10 to the Packers in the rematch at
Lambeau Field in the wild-card round. The team was forced to play backup Joe Webb during the game after Ponder was sidelined due to an arm injury sustained from the previous week. Peterson was later named the league's
MVP, after rushing for 2,097 yards, the second most rushing yards in a season in NFL history. In the 2013 season, the Vikings finished with five wins, ten losses, and one tie, with no road wins. Notable moments include acquired free agent Matt Cassel outplaying Christian Ponder at the quarterback position and the defense allowing a league-worst 480 points, coming within four points of matching the franchise's worst set in 1984. This was also the last season played at the Metrodome as a new stadium deal was reached. Leslie Frazier was fired after the regular season ended.
2014–2019 in 2016 The team hired former
Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator
Mike Zimmer to replace Leslie Frazier as head coach on January 16, 2014. Former
Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator
Norv Turner replaced Bill Musgrave, and
George Edwards replaced Alan Williams as defensive coordinator. In the
2014 NFL draft, the Vikings selected
Anthony Barr, a linebacker out of
UCLA, and
Teddy Bridgewater, a quarterback out of the
University of Louisville. Bridgewater would later lose the starting job to Matt Cassel only to become the starter for the Vikings when Cassel was lost to a season-ending foot injury in week 3. Star running back
Adrian Peterson only played in one regular-season game due to his ongoing child abuse trial, with NFL commissioner
Roger Goodell placing Peterson on the Commissioner's Exempt List indefinitely. On April 16, 2015, the league released a statement issuing Peterson's reinstatement to occur on April 17, 2015. The Vikings concluded their season with seven wins and nine losses, winning only one game against a divisional opponent, although Bridgewater set a franchise record for wins by a rookie starting quarterback. On January 3, 2016, the Vikings beat divisional rival Green Bay 20–13 to win the NFC North for the first time since 2009. The Vikings, led by their top 5 defense, ended the 2015 season with an 11–5 record, and a #3 seed in the playoffs. However, they lost to the
Seattle Seahawks 10–9 after
Blair Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal in the third coldest game in NFL playoff history. The Vikings were responsible for a historic milestone in the late rounds of the
2016 NFL draft. Their sixth-round selection, German wide receiver
Moritz Böhringer, was the first European player ever to be drafted by an NFL team without having previously played at any level in North America. After Teddy Bridgewater went down with a knee injury in the preseason of 2016, the Vikings traded their 2017 first round pick and a conditional fourth round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for quarterback
Sam Bradford, who threw for 20 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 3,877 yards, and while starting the season a league best 5–0, completed the season 3–8 for a season total of 8–8. After the knee injury, the Vikings declined to pick up the fifth-year option on Bridgewater. Running back Adrian Peterson went down to injury in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers with a torn meniscus and was placed on the Injured Reserve until Week 15. On February 28, 2017, the Vikings announced they would not exercise Peterson's 2017 contract option which made him a free agent. Had they exercised the option, Peterson would be owed $18 million for the 2017 season. On April 25, 2017, the New Orleans Saints signed Peterson to a two-year, $7 million contract, ending his tenure with the Vikings since his debut in 2007 as a rookie. He holds several Vikings records including most career rushing touchdowns, career rushing yards, and most rushing yards in a season. In the summer of 2017, the Vikings ownership announced they would end the 52-year annual tradition of summer training camp in
Mankato at
Minnesota State University, Mankato as they built a large new headquarters building, training facility and area property development in
Eagan on the site of the former
Northwest Airlines offices completed in the spring of 2018 in time for the 2018 summer training camp that July. The Vikings won the NFC North for the second time in three years in 2017, finishing with a 13–3 record that saw them go into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the NFC. In the divisional round, they came up against the New Orleans Saints. With less than 10 seconds remaining in the game and trailing by a single point, the Vikings lined up on 3rd-and-10 on their own 39-yard line. Quarterback
Case Keenum threw the ball to wide receiver Stefon Diggs inside field goal range near the right sideline, giving the receiver a chance to get out of bounds with just enough time for a game-winning field goal attempt; however, safety
Marcus Williams missed his attempted tackle, allowing Diggs to run down the sideline unopposed for the first walk-off game-winning touchdown in NFL playoff history. On KFAN 100.3, radio announcer Paul Allen called the play the '
Minneapolis Miracle'. The Vikings went on to the
NFC Championship for the opportunity to play in
Super Bowl LII in their own stadium, only to lose 38–7 to the eventual Super Bowl champion
Philadelphia Eagles. On March 15, 2018, quarterback
Kirk Cousins signed a three-year fully guaranteed $84 million contract with the Vikings. The signing made Cousins the highest paid football player at the time. The Vikings finished with an 8–7–1 record and missed the playoffs in the 2018 season. On September 22, 2019, the Vikings defeated the Oakland Raiders for their 500th win as a franchise, with an overall record of 500–427–11 at that point. The team finished the 2019 season at 10–6, clinching a wild card spot. The Vikings went on to pull an upset victory in the wild card round against the New Orleans Saints 26–20 in overtime. The victory advanced the team to the divisional round, where they lost to the eventual NFC champions
San Francisco 49ers 10–27.
2020s 2020 The Vikings used the 22nd overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft on All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson. After falling to the
New Orleans Saints on
Christmas Day, the Minnesota Vikings were eliminated from the 2020 playoffs. The Vikings finished 7–9 in 2020, the first losing season since 2014 and only the second under Zimmer.
2021 In 2021, the Vikings missed the playoffs for the second straight season after a 37–10 loss to the
Green Bay Packers in Week 17. After a 31–17 win over the
Chicago Bears in Week 18 to finish the season 8–9, the team fired head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman on January 10, 2022.
2022 On January 26, 2022, the Vikings hired
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, former vice president of football operations at the Cleveland Browns and Director of R&D at the San Francisco 49ers, to be the team's new general manager. After the
Los Angeles Rams won
Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022, the Vikings subsequently named then-Rams
offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell as their franchise's 10th head coach on February 16. The Vikings finished the regular season as NFC North champions with a 13–4 record. They also set an NFL record by winning 11 one-score games, the most in any NFL season. The Vikings entered the playoffs as the number three seed in the NFC but lost in the wild-card round to the
New York Giants 31–24.
2023 In Week 8, the Vikings lost Kirk Cousins for the season to an Achilles injury. The Vikings closed out the year with Jaren Hall, Joshua Dobbs, and Nick Mullens seeing time at quarterback. The team finished the 2023 season with a 7–10 record. In the offseason, Cousins departed for the Atlanta Falcons. The Vikings had the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft and used it on Michigan quarterback
J. J. McCarthy.
2024 While first-round draft pick JJ McCarthy was originally speculated to have the opportunity to be a starter, battling for the QB1 positions with journeyman backup
Sam Darnold, who had been signed in the offseason. However, after encountering knee swelling the day after his NFL debut in a pre-season game, McCarthy underwent knee surgery for his
meniscus, ending his season. Darnold became the starter, but there was not much excitement around him. Initial predictions for the Vikings record were shaky, with estimations such as 9–8 and 7–10. Darnold, however, had a breakout season, leading the Vikings to a 14–3 record, becoming the first quarterback in the NFL to win 14 games in their first season with a team. ==Logo and uniforms==