The 2017 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 57th in the National Football League (NFL), and their fourth under head coach Mike Zimmer. With the team's home stadium, U.S. Bank Stadium, scheduled to host Super Bowl LII at the end of the season, the Vikings attempted to make history as the first team to play the Super Bowl on their home field; in recording their best regular season record since 1998, they clinched a first-round bye for the first time since 2009 and became the eighth team in the Super Bowl era to qualify for the playoffs in a season in which their stadium hosted the Super Bowl. They defeated the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round 29–24 on a walk-off play referred to as the "Minneapolis Miracle", but lost 38–7 to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, preventing them from becoming the first team in NFL history to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium.
This was the first season since 2006 without star running back Adrian Peterson on the roster, as the team declined his contract option in February.
Roster changes 2017 draft
Pro Bowler
+ 2017 Minnesota Vikings draft selections Round Selection Player name Position College Notes 1 14 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles 2 41 Dalvin Cook RB Florida State From Bengals 48 Traded to the Cincinnati Bengals 3 70 Pat Elflein C Ohio State From Jets 79 Traded to the New York Jets 86 Traded to the Kansas City Chiefs From Dolphins 104 Traded to the San Francisco 49ers From Chiefs 4 109 Jaleel Johnson DT Iowa From 49ers 120 Ben Gedeon LB Michigan 128 Traded to the Cincinnati Bengals From Dolphins 132 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles From Chiefs 139 Traded to the Kansas City Chiefs From Browns via Eagles 5 160 Traded to the New York Jets 170 Rodney Adams WR South Florida From Chiefs 180 Danny Isidora G Miami (FL) From Chiefs 6 199 Traded to the Washington Redskins 201 Bucky Hodges TE Virginia Tech From Redskins 7 219 Stacy Coley WR Miami (FL) From Browns via 49ers 220 Ifeadi Odenigbo DE Northwestern From 49ers via Redskins 230 Traded to the Washington Redskins From Eagles 232 Elijah Lee LB Kansas State 245 Jack Tocho CB NC State From Chiefs
+ 2017 Minnesota Vikings undrafted free agents Name Position College Wes Lunt QB Illinois Terrell Newby RB Nebraska R. J. Shelton WR Michigan State Josiah Price TE Michigan State Aviante Collins OT TCU Nick Fett OT Iowa State Freddie Tagaloa OT Arizona Tashawn Bower DE LSU Caleb Kidder DE Montana Sam McCaskill DE Boise State Dylan Bradley DT Southern Miss Eric Wilson LB Cincinnati Shaan Washington LB Texas A&M Horace Richardson CB SMU Tommy Armstrong Jr. S Nebraska
Draft trades
Transactions
+ Re-signings Date Player name Position Contract terms January 2, 2017 Moritz Böhringer WR Kyle Carter TE Cayleb Jones WR Marquis Lucas OT Tre Roberson CB Bishop Sankey RB Sterling Bailey DT Austin Shepherd OT Cedric Thompson S March 8, 2017 Jeremiah Sirles OT 1 year / $690,000 March 15, 2017 Terence Newman CB 1 year / $3.25 million Adam Thielen WR 3 years / $17 million March 24, 2017 Brian Robison DE 2 years / $7.5 million
+ Departures Date Player name Position Note New team February 10, 2017 Brandon Fusco G Released San Francisco 49ers Mike Harris G March 6, 2017 Chad Greenway OLB Retired March 9, 2017 Rhett Ellison TE UFA New York Giants Matt Kalil OT Carolina Panthers Jeff Locke P Indianapolis Colts March 10, 2017 Charles Johnson WR Carolina Panthers Captain Munnerlyn CB Carolina Panthers March 11, 2017 Audie Cole LB Jacksonville Jaguars March 13, 2017 Cordarrelle Patterson WR/KR Oakland Raiders March 14, 2017 Andre Smith OT Cincinnati Bengals March 24, 2017 Scott Crichton DT Released May 4, 2017 Marquis Lucas OT Waived Sterling Bailey DE Cedric Thompson S May 16, 2017 B. J. Dubose DT Waived May 17, 2017 Toby Johnson DT Waived May 27, 2017 Matt Asiata RB UFA Detroit Lions May 31, 2017 Mitch Mathews WR Waived
+ Additions Date Player name Position Previous team Contract terms January 3, 2017 Reid Fragel OT Kansas City Chiefs Marshall Koehn K Miami Dolphins Taylor Symmank P March 9, 2017 Riley Reiff OT Detroit Lions 5 years / $58.75 million March 10, 2017 Mike Remmers OT Carolina Panthers 5 years / $30 million March 14, 2017 Datone Jones DE Green Bay Packers 1 year / $3.75 million March 16, 2017 Latavius Murray RB Oakland Raiders 3 years / $15.0 million March 30, 2017 Terrell Sinkfield CB BC Lions (CFL) Mitch Mathews WR Cleveland Browns Nick Truesdell TE Cleveland Gladiators (AFL) March 31, 2017 Case Keenum QB Los Angeles Rams 1 year / $2.0 million April 3, 2017 Ryan Quigley P Arizona Cardinals 1 year / $2.0 million May 10, 2017 Michael Floyd WR New England Patriots 1 year / $1.5 million May 17, 2017 Will Sutton DT Chicago Bears Denotes this is a reserve/future contract.
Staff
Roster
Preseason
Schedule The Vikings' preliminary preseason schedule was announced on April 10. Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance NFL.comrecap 1 at Buffalo Bills W 17–10 1–0 New Era Field 60,459 Recap 2 at Seattle Seahawks L 13–20 1–1 CenturyLink Field 68,550 Recap 3 August 27 San Francisco 49ers W 32–31 2–1 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,551 Recap 4 Miami Dolphins L 9–30 2–2 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,409 Recap
Game summaries
Week 1: at Buffalo Bills
Week 2: at Seattle Seahawks
Week 3: vs. San Francisco 49ers
Week 4: vs. Miami Dolphins
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance NFL.comrecap 1 New Orleans Saints W 29–19 1–0 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,606 Recap 2 September 17 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 9–26 1–1 Heinz Field 65,971 Recap 3 September 24 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 34–17 2–1 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,390 Recap 4 October 1 Detroit Lions L 7–14 2–2 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,730 Recap 5 at Chicago Bears W 20–17 3–2 Soldier Field 61,834 Recap 6 October 15 Green Bay Packers W 23–10 4–2 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,848 Recap 7 October 22 Baltimore Ravens W 24–16 5–2 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,751 Recap 8 October 29 at Cleveland Browns W 33–16 6–2 Twickenham Stadium 74,237 Recap 9 Bye 10 November 12 at Washington Redskins W 38–30 7–2 FedExField 74,476 Recap 11 November 19 Los Angeles Rams W 24–7 8–2 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,809 Recap 12 November 23 at Detroit Lions W 30–23 9–2 Ford Field 66,613 Recap 13 December 3 at Atlanta Falcons W 14–9 10–2 Mercedes-Benz Stadium 71,185 Recap 14 December 10 at Carolina Panthers L 24–31 10–3 Bank of America Stadium 73,728 Recap 15 December 17 Cincinnati Bengals W 34–7 11–3 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,833 Recap 16 at Green Bay Packers W 16–0 12–3 Lambeau Field 78,092 Recap 17 December 31 Chicago Bears W 23–10 13–3 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,802 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. New Orleans Saints
Week 2: at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 3: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 4: vs. Detroit Lions
Week 5: at Chicago Bears
Week 6: vs. Green Bay Packers
Week 7: vs. Baltimore Ravens
Week 8: at Cleveland Browns NFL London Games
Week 10: at Washington Redskins
Week 11: vs. Los Angeles Rams
Week 12: at Detroit Lions NFL on Thanksgiving Day
Week 13: at Atlanta Falcons
Week 14: at Carolina Panthers
Week 15: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Week 16: at Green Bay Packers
Week 17: vs. Chicago Bears
Standings Division
Conference
Postseason
Schedule Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue NFL.comrecap Wild Card Bye Divisional January 14 New Orleans Saints (4) W 29–24 1–0 U.S. Bank Stadium Recap NFC Championship January 21 at Philadelphia Eagles (1) L 7–38 1–1 Lincoln Financial Field Recap
Game summaries
NFC Divisional Playoffs: vs. (4) New Orleans Saints
NFC Championship: at (1) Philadelphia Eagles
With their win against the Saints in the NFC Divisional Round, Minnesota became the first team in the Super Bowl era to advance to the conference championship game the same year they hosted the Super Bowl. Despite going to Lincoln Financial Field as three-point favorites, primarily due to a general lack of confidence in Eagles second-string quarterback Nick Foles, the Vikings lost in a massive upset to the number 1 seeded Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 38–7. Although the Vikings took an early lead on their opening drive via a pass from Case Keenum to Kyle Rudolph, the Eagles leveled the scores on a 50-yard Patrick Robinson interception return before scoring a further 31 unanswered points over the final three-quarters. This loss extended the Vikings' NFC title drought to 41 seasons, second only to the Detroit Lions' 48.
Pro Bowl Four Vikings players were elected to the Pro Bowl when the rosters were announced on December 19, 2017, with three-time selection Everson Griffen, two-time selection Xavier Rhodes and first-timer Adam Thielen all named as starters, while Griffen's fellow third-timer Anthony Barr was named on the bench at outside linebacker behind the Cardinals' Chandler Jones and the Redskins' Ryan Kerrigan. Safety Harrison Smith was rated as the best safety in the league by Pro Football Focus over the course of the season, but was not included in the roster for the Pro Bowl, leading to some considering him to be one of the biggest snubs of the season.
Smith was eventually named to the NFC's Pro Bowl roster on January 22, after New York Giants safety Landon Collins withdrew due to injury. Kyle Rudolph was also included after Jimmy Graham pulled out with an injury, while Linval Joseph took the place of the Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles' Fletcher Cox. Smith will be appearing in his third straight Pro Bowl, while Rudolph and Joseph are appearing in their second career Pro Bowls. Barr and Griffen also pulled out of the Pro Bowl due to injury, replaced by Thomas Davis and Michael Bennett respectively.
Statistics
Team leaders Category Player(s) Total Passing yards Case Keenum 3,547 Passing touchdowns Case Keenum 22 Rushing yards Latavius Murray 842 Rushing touchdowns Latavius Murray 8 Receptions Adam Thielen 91 Receiving yards Adam Thielen 1,276 Receiving touchdowns Stefon DiggsKyle Rudolph 8 Points Kai Forbath 130 Kickoff return yards Jerick McKinnon 312 Punt return yards Marcus Sherels 372 Tackles Eric Kendricks 113 Sacks Everson Griffen 13.0 Interceptions Harrison Smith 5 Forced fumbles Everson Griffen 3 Source: Minnesota Vikings' official website
League rankings Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank Passing offense 3,753 234.6 11th Rushing offense 1,957 122.3 7th Total offense 5,710 356.9 11th Passing defense 3,078 192.4 2nd Rushing defense 1,337 83.6 2nd Total defense 4,415 275.9 1st Source: NFL.com
References
External links