The 1996 season was the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

' 36th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Under head coach

Dennis Green Dennis Earl Green (February 17, 1949 – July 21, 2016) was an American football coach. During his National Football League (NFL) career, Green coached the Minnesota Vikings for 10 seasons. He coached the Vikings to eight playoff appearances in ...

, they finished with a 9–7 record and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, starting a run of five consecutive playoff appearances. They started the season with five wins in their first six games, before losing their next four. Starting quarterback

Warren Moon Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonto ...

suffered a broken collarbone during the season and missed the final six games, allowing fifth-year backup Brad Johnson to take his place. With Johnson under center, the Vikings won four of their remaining five games, including divisional victories on the road against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

and at home to the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. Those wins proved pivotal in the Vikings qualification for the playoffs, as their superior intra-conference record (8–4) over the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

rendered Minnesota's week 17 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

irrelevant, despite the Redskins defeating the defending Super Bowl champion

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. The Vikings entered the playoffs as the number 6 seed in the NFC, pitting them against the Cowboys in the wildcard round. The Cowboys put up 30 unanswered points in the first half and ultimately won the game 40–15, making it the fourth time in five seasons that the Vikings' season ended in the wildcard round. For the season, the Vikings sported new uniforms, adding the team's logo to both sleeves of the jersey as well as adding yellow number and yellow name outlines. These uniforms would remain in use with the Minnesota Vikings until

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Offseason

1996 Draft

: The Vikings traded their fourth-round selection and the fifth-round selection they received from the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

(112th and 137th overall) to the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

in exchange for Arizona's fourth-round selection (97th overall). : The Vikings traded their sixth-round selection and safety

Vencie Glenn Vencie Leonard Glenn (born October 26, 1964) is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 1986 NFL Draft. He starred in college football at Indiana Stat ...

to the

in exchange for the Giants' fifth-round selection (137th overall) and 1995 sixth-round selection (189th overall).

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Postseason

Statistics

Team leaders

League rankings

Staff

Roster

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996 Minnesota Vikings Season Minnesota Vikings seasons

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...