The Minnesota Vikings are an American football team playing in the National Football League (NFL). The Vikings compete in the NFL as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The team was established in 1959, when three Minneapolis businessmen – Bill Boyer, H. P. Skoglund and Max Winter – were awarded a franchise in the new American Football League (AFL). In January 1960, the ownership group forfeited its AFL membership and, along with Bernie Ridder and Ole Haugsrud, was awarded the NFL's 14th franchise, with play to begin in 1961.

Since the franchise's inception, the Vikings have completed 64 seasons of play in the NFL. The team won one NFL Championship in 1969, and was the last team crowned NFL champions before the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The franchise has been conference champions three times since the merger, but has never won the Super Bowl. The Vikings have been divisional champions 21 times, most among current members of their division. Minnesota has played 1039 regular and postseason games and has appeared in the postseason 32 times.

The team's worst season was 1962, when they won two games, lost eleven, and tied one (a 0.154 winning percentage). Their worst seasons since the NFL changed to a 16-game schedule were in 1984 and 2011, when they could only manage a 3–13 record. The best regular-season record was achieved in 1998, when the Vikings went 15–1, but kicker Gary Anderson, who had gone 35-for-35 in field goal attempts during the regular season, missed a 38-yard attempt with less than three minutes remaining in the NFC Championship Game. With an overtime loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the Vikings became the first 15–1 team in NFL history to not reach the Super Bowl.

Key BBABert Bell AwardCOYNFL Coach of the Year AwardCPYNFL Comeback Player of the Year AwardDPYNFL Defensive Player of the Year AwardGHGeorge Halas TrophyMOYWalter Payton Man of the Year AwardMVPNFL Most Valuable Player AwardOPYNFL Offensive Player of the Year AwardOROYNFL Rookie of the Year AwardPBMVPPro Bowl Most Valuable Player AwardROYUPI NFL-NFC Rookie of the YearUPINFCUPI NFC Player of the Year

Seasons

NFL champions(1920–1969)†Super Bowl champions(1966–present)‡Conference champions(1967–present)°Division champions(1967–present)*Wild card berth(1970–present)§

+ Franchise records according to Pro-Football Reference.comSeasonTeamLeagueConferenceDivisionRegular seasonPostseason resultsAwardsHead coachFinish1961NFLWestern7th3110Norm Van Brocklin1962NFLWestern6th21111963NFLWesternT-4th581Paul Flatley (ROY)1964NFLWesternT-2nd851Fran Tarkenton (PBMVP)1965NFLWestern5th7701966NFLWesternT-6th4911967NFLWesternCentral4th383Bud Grant1968NFLWesternCentral*1st*860Lost Conference Playoffs (at Colts) 14–241969NFL†Western°Central*1st*1220Won Conference Playoffs (Rams) 23–20Won NFL Championship (Browns) 27–7†Lost Super Bowl IV (vs. Chiefs) 7–23Bud Grant (COY)1970NFLNFCCentral*1st*1220Lost Divisional Playoffs (49ers) 14–171971NFLNFCCentral*1st*1130Lost Divisional Playoffs (Cowboys) 12–20Carl Eller (GH)Alan Page (MVP, DPY, UPINFC)2009 ESPN Sports Almanac, p. 278.1972NFLNFCCentral3rd7701973NFLNFC°Central*1st*1220Won Divisional Playoffs (Redskins) 27–20Won Conference Championship (at Cowboys) 27–10Lost Super Bowl VIII (vs. Dolphins) 7–24Chuck Foreman (OROY)Alan Page (GH)Jim Finks (EOY)1974NFLNFC°Central*1st*1040Won Divisional Playoffs (Cardinals) 30–14Won Conference Championship (Rams) 14–10Lost Super Bowl IX (vs. Steelers) 6–161975NFLNFCCentral*1st*1220Lost Divisional Playoffs (Cowboys) 14–17Fran Tarkenton (MVP, BBA, UPINFC, OPY)1976NFLNFC°Central*1st*1121Won Divisional Playoffs (Redskins) 35–20Won Conference Championship (Rams) 24–13Lost Super Bowl XI (vs. Raiders) 14–32Chuck Foreman (UPINFC)2009 ESPN Sports Almanac, pp. 278–279.Sammy White (ROY, OROY)1977NFLNFCCentral*1st*950Won Divisional Playoffs (at Rams) 14–7Lost Conference Championship (at Cowboys) 6–231978NFLNFCCentral*1st*871Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Rams) 10–34Ahmad Rashad (PBMVP)1979NFLNFCCentral3rd7901980NFLNFCCentral*1st*970Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Eagles) 16–311981NFLNFCCentral4th7901982NFLNFC4th540Won First round (Falcons) 30–24Lost Second round (at Redskins) 7–211983NFLNFCCentral4th8801984NFLNFCCentral5th3130Les Steckel1985NFLNFCCentral3rd790Bud Grant1986NFLNFCCentral2nd970Tommy Kramer (CPY)Jerry Burns1987NFLNFCCentral2nd§870Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Saints) 44–10Won Divisional Playoffs (at 49ers) 36–24Lost Conference Championship (at Redskins) 10–171988NFLNFCCentral2nd§1150Won Wild Card Playoffs (Rams) 28–17Lost Divisional Playoffs (at 49ers) 9–341989NFLNFCCentral*1st*1060Lost Divisional Playoffs (at 49ers) 13–41Keith Millard (DPY, UPINFC)1990NFLNFCCentral5th61001991NFLNFCCentral3rd8801992NFLNFCCentral*1st*1150Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Redskins) 7–24Chris Doleman (UPINFC)Dennis Green (COY)Dennis Green1993NFLNFCCentral2nd§970Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Giants) 10–171994NFLNFCCentral*1st*1060Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Bears) 18–351995NFLNFCCentral4th8801996NFLNFCCentral2nd§970Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Cowboys) 15–401997NFLNFCCentral4th§970Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Giants) 23–22Lost Divisional Playoffs (at 49ers) 22–381998NFLNFCCentral*1st*1510Won Divisional Playoffs (Cardinals) 41–21Lost Conference Championship (Falcons) 27–30 Randall Cunningham (BBA)Dennis Green (COY)Randy Moss (OROY)1999NFLNFCCentral2nd§1060Won Wild Card Playoffs (Cowboys) 27–10Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Rams) 37–49Cris Carter (MOY)Randy Moss (PBMVP)2000NFLNFCCentral*1st*1150Won Divisional Playoffs (Saints) 34–16Lost Conference Championship (at Giants) 0–412001NFLNFCCentral4th5110Dennis Green (5–10)Mike Tice (0–1)2002NFLNFCNorth2nd6100Mike Tice2003NFLNFCNorth2nd9702004NFLNFCNorth2nd§880Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Packers) 31–17Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Eagles) 14–272005NFLNFCNorth2nd9702006NFLNFCNorth3rd6100Brad Childress2007NFLNFCNorth2nd880Adrian Peterson (OROY, PBMVP)2008NFLNFCNorth*1st*1060Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Eagles) 14–26Adrian Peterson (BBA)2009NFLNFCNorth*1st*1240Won Divisional Playoffs (Cowboys) 34–3Lost Conference Championship (at Saints) 28–31 Percy Harvin (OROY)2010NFLNFCNorth4th6100Madieu Williams (MOY)Brad Childress (3–7)Leslie Frazier (3–3)2011NFLNFCNorth4th3130Leslie Frazier2012NFLNFCNorth2nd§1060Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Packers) 10–24Kyle Rudolph (PBMVP)Adrian Peterson (BBA, MVP, OPY)2013NFLNFCNorth4th51012014NFLNFCNorth3rd790Mike Zimmer2015NFLNFCNorth*1st*1150Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Seahawks) 9–102016NFLNFCNorth3rd8802017NFLNFCNorth*1st*1330Won Divisional Playoffs (Saints) 29–24Lost Conference Championship (at Eagles) 7–382018NFLNFCNorth2nd8712019NFLNFCNorth2nd§1060Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Saints) 26–20 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at 49ers) 10–272020NFLNFCNorth3rd7902021NFLNFCNorth2nd8902022NFLNFCNorth*1st*1340Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Giants) 24–31Justin Jefferson (OPY)Kevin O'Connell2023NFLNFCNorth3rd71002024NFLNFCNorth2nd§1430Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Rams) 9–27Kevin O'Connell (COY)2025NFLNFCNorth3rd980Total54644611Regular season record through 202521320Playoff record through 202556747811Regular season and playoff record through 2025

Footnotes The Vikings were defeated on a desperation touchdown pass thrown by Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach with less than a minute left in the game. Staubach coined the phrase "Hail Mary pass", referring to his toss, and the game itself became known as "The Hail Mary". The NFL expanded from a 14-game regular season schedule to 16 beginning in 1978. The 1982 NFL season was shortened from 16 regular season games to 9 due to a players' strike. For playoff seedings, division standings were ignored and the league used a 16-team tournament format for the season. The 1987 NFL season was shortened from 16 regular season games to 15 due to a players' strike. The "finish", "wins", "losses", and "ties" columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play. Regular and postseason records are combined only at the bottom of the list.

References General

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