The Vikings Super Bowl drought

[Mothman]

Discussions here on the board got me thinking about this yesterday. It's been on my mind lately anyway. I'm obviously frustrated by the state of the Vikings and by their decades-long inability to get back to the Super Bowl. Many Vikes fans have no idea what it's even like to see the team reach and play that game and none of us know what it's like to see the Vikes win one.

I offer this list of teams that have played in the Super Bowl since the 1976 Vikings reached the big game and lost as a means of providing some perspective:

Dallas
Denver
Pittsburgh
Rams
Oakland
Philadelphia
San Francisco
Cincinnati
Washington
Miami
Chicago
New England
N.Y. Giants
Buffalo
San Diego
Green Bay
Atlanta
Tennessee
Baltimore Ravens
Tampa Bay
Carolina
Seattle
Indianapolis
Arizona
New Orleans

That's 25 of 32 teams, including 3 expansion teams that joined the league in '76 or later (the Panthers were added to the league in the '90s). Since 1976, that places the Vikings in the illustrious company of the Lions, Browns, Jets, Chiefs, Jaguars and Texans. The Texans have only been around since 2002, the Jaguars since 1995.

Think about most of the teams on that second list: the Browns. The Lions. The Jets and Jaguars. What are your associations with those franchises?

Our team is not in good company here, my friends.

[CbusVikesFan]

We've pretty much seen almost every way to squander talent, wins, and teams. From multiple owners to many losses in the nfc championship game this team makes you shake your head at yourself for investing so much time and energy and emotion. But we are fans which we all know is short for fanatic. I am glad that the Vikings have been to the big game but little did I know that they wouldn't get back 40 years and counting. Yep, been to the doorstep many times and had the better teams and few times the best team in the whole league but tripping themselves in key moments. It's sad but there are teams albeit just a handful that haven't been at all in the Super bowl era. Some teams were successful eons ago so even teams like the Browns have some bragging rights over the Vikings.

[IrishViking]

Herschel Walker


/thread

[mansquatch]

We've had windows. 1987, 1998, 2000, 2009.

I've only been seriously watching since the early 90s, so for me the if there is one common theme that defines the last 25 or so years it has been an overall lack of competent and/or competitive ownership. We watched Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson give the team a bath with the deal that will not be named and really it hasn't gotten much better than maybe average until recently.

In the 90s the team was owned by a committee who deferred most of the decision making to Dennis Green. We were competitive for awhile, due mostly to his free agency acquisitions and raw ability to coach. But, eventually the bad personnel moves took their toll. (Derrick Alexander over Warren Sapp anyone?) Then came McCombs who when he couldn't win on the stadium decided to run it as a penny pinching operation. If that wasn't bad enough, McCombs also failed to really clean out the Dennis Green era management structure. Tice in many ways was a Denny contract extension. Through the course of that failed experiment they squandered the best WR to play in the NFL in a generation.

The Wilfs so far have shown themselves to be better than McCombs and seem to be on their way to becoming competitive, but we are not there yet. They did get the stadium built though. In reality the Childress era was mostly a mess, imo. Think about how bad it would have been if they hadn't lucked into taking AP as a BPA pick. They had just signed Chester Taylor and only took AP because he dropped into their lap. Our defense slowly became less of a liability, mostly due to Free Agents signed at the end of the McCombs era, but our offense was never the same. In many ways, I look at 2006-2013 as the Wilf's learning to hire in the NFL world.

We didn't really have a modern NFL power structure until 2011. Probably 10 or more years behind the curve on that one.

This is a big part of why I personally am such a Zimmer fan. He is the first coach of the Vikings I've seen where I feel like he is an asset that helps us win. It's taken a long time for the team to find him... IMO the next step the team needs to take is finding Zimmer a near equal on the offensive side of the ball. (My dream is that AZ does something stupid and fires Ariens and the he comes here to be our OC. I know it will never ever happen.)

I know I've glossed over a lot, but to me it starts at the top and the Vikings have not had a great situation at the top for awhile. The jury is still out on the Wilf's, but at least they are learning from some past mistakes.

[losperros]

We've had windows. 1987, 1998, 2000, 2009.

This is a big part of why I personally am such a Zimmer fan. He is the first coach of the Vikings I've seen where I feel like he is an asset that helps us win. It's taken a long time for the team to find him... IMO the next step the team needs to take is finding Zimmer a near equal on the offensive side of the ball. (My dream is that AZ does something stupid and fires Ariens and the he comes here to be our OC. I know it will never ever happen.)

I know I've glossed over a lot, but to me it starts at the top and the Vikings have not had a great situation at the top for awhile. The jury is still out on the Wilf's, but at least they are learning from some past mistakes.

Maybe it's because the 1998 team is the first one I really followed closely, but when the window shut on that one it knocked the wind out of me. To this day I'm still smarting over that one.

If as a head coach Zimmer leads the way in modernizing the offense and building up the OL, then I'd agree he is an asset. Don't get me wrong. I think he's done wonders with the defense.

I actually feel Denny Green was one of the more innovative offensive head coaches the Vikings had, or at least he was before his ego exploded out of control. I'm sure Brian Billick had something to do with the offensive might as well.

[PurpleMustReign]

I still have nightmares about the 1998 season.

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[CbusVikesFan]

I still have nightmares about the 1998 season.

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Me too but that offense was something to marvel at. It was a great season ending in the same old story. I enjoyed watching them every week. It would be nice to be that dangerous again.

[S197]

We've had windows. 1987, 1998, 2000, 2009.

I've only been seriously watching since the early 90s, so for me the if there is one common theme that defines the last 25 or so years it has been an overall lack of competent and/or competitive ownership. We watched Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson give the team a bath with the deal that will not be named and really it hasn't gotten much better than maybe average until recently.

In the 90s the team was owned by a committee who deferred most of the decision making to Dennis Green. We were competitive for awhile, due mostly to his free agency acquisitions and raw ability to coach. But, eventually the bad personnel moves took their toll. (Derrick Alexander over Warren Sapp anyone?) Then came McCombs who when he couldn't win on the stadium decided to run it as a penny pinching operation. If that wasn't bad enough, McCombs also failed to really clean out the Dennis Green era management structure. Tice in many ways was a Denny contract extension. Through the course of that failed experiment they squandered the best WR to play in the NFL in a generation.

The Wilfs so far have shown themselves to be better than McCombs and seem to be on their way to becoming competitive, but we are not there yet. They did get the stadium built though. In reality the Childress era was mostly a mess, imo. Think about how bad it would have been if they hadn't lucked into taking AP as a BPA pick. They had just signed Chester Taylor and only took AP because he dropped into their lap. Our defense slowly became less of a liability, mostly due to Free Agents signed at the end of the McCombs era, but our offense was never the same. In many ways, I look at 2006-2013 as the Wilf's learning to hire in the NFL world.

We didn't really have a modern NFL power structure until 2011. Probably 10 or more years behind the curve on that one.

This is a big part of why I personally am such a Zimmer fan. He is the first coach of the Vikings I've seen where I feel like he is an asset that helps us win. It's taken a long time for the team to find him... IMO the next step the team needs to take is finding Zimmer a near equal on the offensive side of the ball. (My dream is that AZ does something stupid and fires Ariens and the he comes here to be our OC. I know it will never ever happen.)

I know I've glossed over a lot, but to me it starts at the top and the Vikings have not had a great situation at the top for awhile. The jury is still out on the Wilf's, but at least they are learning from some past mistakes.

Well said. I'll just add that performance isn't linear in the NFL. Sometimes you get these huge exponential explosions. The Seahawks were terrible for years. So were the Patriots. And Arizona.

The Vikings time will come. Hopefully soon.

[Raptorman]

November 6, 1966. Vikings @ Packers. Vikings win. 20-17 Next day at school I start teasing some Packer fans. This is great I think, finally something I can fight back with. (I was teased because I stuttered) Nov. 6, 1966. The day I became a Vikings fan living in Appleton, WI. 29.5 miles from Lambeau field. So for the last 50 years, one month and 10 days my team has been in a drought of not winning a Super Bowl. I have watched them play in one 4 times. Each time, beat by a team they should have easily beaten. Well maybe not the Steelers. The last time I watched them in the Super Bowl, I was a senior in high school. I have nieces and nephews that now have children in middle school.

I'm tired of waiting.

But I'll wait.

Because I'm a Vikings fan.

We don't give up the long boat.

[Mothman]

We've had windows. 1987, 1998, 2000, 2009.

I've only been seriously watching since the early 90s, so for me the if there is one common theme that defines the last 25 or so years it has been an overall lack of competent and/or competitive ownership. We watched Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson give the team a bath with the deal that will not be named and really it hasn't gotten much better than maybe average until recently.

In the 90s the team was owned by a committee who deferred most of the decision making to Dennis Green. We were competitive for awhile, due mostly to his free agency acquisitions and raw ability to coach. But, eventually the bad personnel moves took their toll. (Derrick Alexander over Warren Sapp anyone?) Then came McCombs who when he couldn't win on the stadium decided to run it as a penny pinching operation. If that wasn't bad enough, McCombs also failed to really clean out the Dennis Green era management structure. Tice in many ways was a Denny contract extension. Through the course of that failed experiment they squandered the best WR to play in the NFL in a generation.

The Wilfs so far have shown themselves to be better than McCombs and seem to be on their way to becoming competitive, but we are not there yet. They did get the stadium built though. In reality the Childress era was mostly a mess, imo. Think about how bad it would have been if they hadn't lucked into taking AP as a BPA pick. They had just signed Chester Taylor and only took AP because he dropped into their lap. Our defense slowly became less of a liability, mostly due to Free Agents signed at the end of the McCombs era, but our offense was never the same. In many ways, I look at 2006-2013 as the Wilf's learning to hire in the NFL world.

We didn't really have a modern NFL power structure until 2011. Probably 10 or more years behind the curve on that one.

This is a big part of why I personally am such a Zimmer fan. He is the first coach of the Vikings I've seen where I feel like he is an asset that helps us win. It's taken a long time for the team to find him... IMO the next step the team needs to take is finding Zimmer a near equal on the offensive side of the ball. (My dream is that AZ does something stupid and fires Ariens and the he comes here to be our OC. I know it will never ever happen.)

I know I've glossed over a lot, but to me it starts at the top and the Vikings have not had a great situation at the top for awhile. The jury is still out on the Wilf's, but at least they are learning from some past mistakes.

Good post. This is definitely a problem that starts at the top of the organization.

[Jordysghost]

The Vikings windows for SB wins seem to burn brightly but swiftly.

[Mothman]

The Vikings windows for SB wins seem to burn brightly but swiftly.

It certainly has since the '70s.

[PurpleMustReign]

Every 11 years since 1976.

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[indianation65]

Just like Bum Phillips talked about during the Dan Pastorini/Earl Campbell years for the Houston Oilers, they were close.

The Vikings have "pounded" on the door to the Super Bowl, but like the Oilers, they could not kick it in after '76.

Don't remind me of '09 and especially '98...taking a knee killed me!

...wisdom

[HardcoreVikesFan]

I am still young, there is still hope to see the team win one before I pass from this world.

I am more concerned for my father. He is 62. He's been a fan since he was a little kid (about 1964). I cannot imagine how he, or the other older gentlemen and ladies who have been fans for over 40 years, can continue to watch this team fail year in and year out. I just want us to experience a Super Bowl win as father and son.

I know it is just sports at the end of the day. I don't have palpable/meaningful connection to the Vikings like I did to the Hawks. Still, it is so fascinating to me how I am (all of us actually) are so invested in this team. A team in which we have zero impact on outside of tuning in (in person or on TV) each week.