Are the Minnesota Vikings cursed?

[swill43507]

They have had some great teams and great players during their history, but never championships. I mean at least the Bills won a championship back in AFL days. So do u thing the Vikings are cursed?

[z Revis]

lol.. no

[Scottdau]

Says you revis. Yes they are cursed! At least that is what I think and it helps me sleep at night too.

[dickey1331]

They won the 1969 NFL Championship so I guess you can count that even though they lost Super Bowl IV. It still counts them as winning the Championship since it was before the merger.

[SPTO]

Quote: Originally Posted by dickey1331

They won the 1969 NFL Championship so I guess you can count that even though they lost Super Bowl IV. It still counts them as winning the Championship since it was before the merger.

Correct,

As for them being cursed? I don't really see it. The problem with the Vikes during Bud Grant's tenure is that they had a very good and more often then not awesome defense but they never really had the full package on offense. Fran Tarkenton was a great QB but more often then not the WRs were just "good" and while Chuck Foreman had great years he was never a truly DOMINANT RB. After Tarkenton there was Tommy Kramer who had good skill but had the unfortunate habit of throwing a bad INT at the worst possible time. That being said he was an middle tier QB who had some amazing stretches.

The other problem was that Bud Grant, for all his greatness as a disciplinarian and defensive coach was conservative often to a fault. He played everything by the book and rarely took "unnecessary" chances.

It was this style of football that became the hallmark of the Vikings for ages. It extended for the most part right through the entire Jerry Burns era though Burns opened up the playbook quite a bit but they were still slightly conservative compared to other teams who were going bombs away throughout the '80s. It was until Denny Green became coach in '93 that the Vikings' image and style of play really changed.

The Vikes have always fielded competitive teams and that's perhaps explains part of the reason they've never really broken through. Since 1980 they've only had one truly atrocious season (3-13 in '83) during Les Steckel's aborted run as coach. So they've never had to truly build through the draft. Remember Moss was a late 1st rounder and Culpepper was an 11th overall pick which meant they were bad the previous season but not so bad that they'd get a true "blue chip" pick.

In closing, if the Vikes are to break the glass ceiling they need a 2-4 year run of 4 or 5 win seasons.

[mvb34]

Quote: Originally Posted by SPTO

Correct, As for them being cursed? I don't really see it. The problem with the Vikes during Bud Grant's tenure is that they had a very good and more often then not awesome defense but they never really had the full package on offense. Fran Tarkenton was a great QB but more often then not the WRs were just "good" and while Chuck Foreman had great years he was never a truly DOMINANT RB. After Tarkenton there was Tommy Kramer who had good skill but had the unfortunate habit of throwing a bad INT at the worst possible time. That being said he was an middle tier QB who had some amazing stretches. The other problem was that Bud Grant, for all his greatness as a disciplinarian and defensive coach was conservative often to a fault. He played everything by the book and rarely took "unnecessary" chances. It was this style of football that became the hallmark of the Vikings for ages. It extended for the most part right through the entire Jerry Burns era though Burns opened up the playbook quite a bit but they were still slightly conservative compared to other teams who were going bombs away throughout the '80s. It was until Denny Green became coach in '93 that the Vikings' image and style of play really changed. The Vikes have always fielded competitive teams and that's perhaps explains part of the reason they've never really broken through. Since 1980 they've only had one truly atrocious season (3-13 in '83) during Les Steckel's aborted run as coach. So they've never had to truly build through the draft. Remember Moss was a late 1st rounder and Culpepper was an 11th overall pick which meant they were bad the previous season but not so bad that they'd get a true "blue chip" pick. In closing, if the Vikes are to break the glass ceiling they need a 2-4 year run of 4 or 5 win seasons.

The 2001 & 2002 season were bad.

[SPTO]

Those were bad years but I said "truly atrocious seasons". 5 and 6 win seasons are pretty bad but not pathetically so.

[z Revis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scottdau

Says you revis. Yes they are cursed! At least that is what I think and it helps me sleep at night too.

I guess whatever helps you sleep at night. I don't really believe in curses or anything of that nature anyways soo...