Minnesota Vikings - NFL Season Information, Trivia and History

2011-12 NFL Season

After firing Head Coach Brad Childress twelve games into last season, Asst. coach Leslie Frazier was appointed the interim Head Coach. In the beginning of 2011, the Vikings agreed to terms and signed Frazier as the teams new Head Coach.

Frazier must now deal with all the bad choices and trades made prior to his assumption. (Who remembers the 3rd and 7th round picks for Randy Moss??). With that said, the team did have a full 10 draft picks this year although four of them were in the 6th round. It was no surprise that the team used their 1st round (12th overall selection) on Florida State QB Christian Ponder. Ponder has already called his teammates to Bradenton to practice the new playbook which he received a day after being drafted. Thus far the veteran receivers (Bernard Berrian, Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe) have yet to take him up on his offer. Only WR Greg Camarillo has been working with him.

Other draft picks included Norte Dame TE Kyle Rudolph, DE Christian Ballard, CB Brandon Burton, CB Brandon Burton, T DeMarcus Love, S Mistral Raymond, C Brandon Fusco, LB Ross Homan, DE D’Aundre Reed and WR Stephen Burton.

Outlook: With Brett Favre looking like he will stay retired, it is time for new blood in Minnesota and the team is hoping Ponder is the man to lead them there. With an assortment of receivers and an upgraded running game, the Vikings should be competing for a shot at the NFC North crown.

Minnesota Archives

The Minnesota Vikings have seen a great number of players come through their franchise. Many of them have been enshrined in Canton in the Hall of Fame but none of them have been quite as amazing as quarterback Fran Tarkenton and defensive lineman Alan Page. Tarkenton was one of the National Football League’s most prolific passers of all-time. When Tarkenton retired after the 1978 season he held the records for career passes attempted, career passes completed, career yards gained, career touchdowns thrown, and career rushing yards by a quarterback. He also led the Vikings to Super Bowls VIII, IX, and XI. Page also enjoyed a great deal of success while with the Vikings and was also part of the Super Bowl teams that played in Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX, and XI. Page was a two time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He also was the first Viking to ever be named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1971 and the most amazing part of it was that he did it from the defensive tackle position. He also led the Vikings to their sole NFL championship in 1969. Last season the Vikings didn’t fare all too well. The team started out the season scorching and racked up a 6-0 record. After that the team only managed a 3-7 record and missed the playoffs by allowing a touchdown on the last play of the last game of their season. It was a heartbreaking game for the team and the fans to say the least.

The Vikings have needed to upgrade their defense for years now and this year the team seemed to make some significant improvements to it. Their big free agent signing came when cornerback Antoine Winfield formerly with the Buffalo Bills. Many scouts thought that Winfield was the best cornerback on the market behind now Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey. They also picked up former Houston Texan defensive tackle Steve Martin to help add some depth to the defensive line corps.

The draft is where the Vikings made the most drastic improvements to their defense. With the #20 pick they grabbed USC defensive end Kenechi Udeze. Udeze was thought to be a steal with the #20 pick since most draft experts expected him to go in the top 15 picks. With their two 2nd round picks the Vikings picked up two more defensive players. They picked Auburn middle linebacker Dontarrious Thomas and Ohio State defensive end Darrion Scott. With these big pick-ups the Viking defense shouldn’t collapse like they did last year after their six game winning streak.

Minnesota is known for their explosive offense. With players like quarterback Daunte Culpepper and wide receiver Randy Moss they isn’t any reason they shouldn’t be explosive. Since his first season as a regular starter in 2000 Culpepper has averaged 3470 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 480 rushing yards, and 6 rushing touchdowns per season. As impressive as Culpepper’s numbers may be Moss’ number are awe inspiring. Moss has averaged 87 catches, 1375 yards and almost 13 touchdowns since breaking into the NFL in ‘98 and all but a few think he is the best wide receiver in the NFL. The Vikings ranked number one in total offense in the NFL boasting the 3rd best passing and 4th best rushing offense in the NFL.

The defense really let the offense down at times last year. After the first six games of the season the Vikings had the number one ranked defense in the NFL and when the season was all said and done they finished with the 24th ranked defense in the NFL. The Vikings are banking on the new acquisitions plugging up the holes in the holey defense they displayed in 2003.