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The 1978 Minnesota Vikings season was the team's 18th in the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a record of eight wins, seven losses, and one tie, and finished in first place in the NFC Central division.
In 2004, Football Outsiders named the 1978 Vikings as one of the "worst playoff teams ever":[1]
A 10-10 tie against the Packers on Thanksgiving weekend helped the Vikings clinch the division. The Vikings won the first meeting between the two teams, but the Packers would eventually have a better division record (the Vikings had lost to the 5-11 Buccaneers early in the year). A win might have given the Packers the division. Green Bay led 10-3 with under two minutes to play, but Fran Tarkenton led a 57-yard drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass to Ahmad Rashad to force overtime. Both teams missed field goals in overtime, and the Vikings emerged with a better head-to-head record. The Vikings were 7-5-1 after that game and looked like a legitimate playoff team, but after a tight win against the Eagles, the team lost their final two games, including a 45-14 blowout at the hands of the Rams. The weak finish foreshadowed a quick exit from the postseason. The Rams beat the Vikings in the opening round of the playoffs 34-10, outgaining Bud Grant's team 409-244. Were those Vikings an up-and-coming team? Just the opposite: they were a perennial Super Bowl contender on their way down. They had talent, but players like Tarkenton (38 years old), Carl Eller (36), Jim Marshall (40), Mick Tingelhoff (38) and Paul Krausse (36) were on their last legs. The Vikings had spent the early part of the 1970s beating up on the NFC Central. [...] [I]n 1975, the Vikings went 12-2, and no division opponents was above .500. In 1977 and 1978, they started falling back to earth.
The Vikings were 7-5-1 after that game and looked like a legitimate playoff team, but after a tight win against the Eagles, the team lost their final two games, including a 45-14 blowout at the hands of the Rams. The weak finish foreshadowed a quick exit from the postseason. The Rams beat the Vikings in the opening round of the playoffs 34-10, outgaining Bud Grant's team 409-244.
Were those Vikings an up-and-coming team? Just the opposite: they were a perennial Super Bowl contender on their way down. They had talent, but players like Tarkenton (38 years old), Carl Eller (36), Jim Marshall (40), Mick Tingelhoff (38) and Paul Krausse (36) were on their last legs. The Vikings had spent the early part of the 1970s beating up on the NFC Central. [...] [I]n 1975, the Vikings went 12-2, and no division opponents was above .500. In 1977 and 1978, they started falling back to earth.
The Vikings won the division despite being outscored by twelve points in the regular season.
Template:1978 NFC Central standings
Template:Navbox season by team
New York Jets, National Football League, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Super Bowl XLII
Joe Montana, St. Louis Rams, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Chicago Bears
Colorado, World War I, Colorado School of Mines, Mountain West Conference, Colorado State University–Pueblo
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Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Cowboys
1979 NFL draft, Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1978 Houston Oilers season, National Football League draft
Adrian Peterson, 1998 Minnesota Vikings season, Daunte Culpepper, Randy Moss, Cris Carter, 2007 Minnesota Vikings season