The 2017 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 expansi ...

' 57th 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 ...

, and their fourth under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Mike Zimmer Michael Zimmer (born June 5, 1956) is an American football coach for the Colorado Buffaloes. Prior to this, Zimmer was with Jackson State, both college programs being led by Deion Sanders. He previously also served as the head coach of the Minn ...

. With the team's home stadium, U.S. Bank Stadium, scheduled to host

Super Bowl LII Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conferen ...

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 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, 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 The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the Divisional Round 29–24 on a walk-off play referred to as the "

Minneapolis Miracle The Minneapolis Miracle (also known as the Minnesota Miracle) was the National Football Conference (NFC) divisional playoff game played between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on ...

", but lost 38–7 to the eventual Super Bowl champion

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

in the NFC Championship Game. This was the first season since 2006 without star running back

Adrian Peterson Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the ...

on the roster, as the team declined his contract option in February.

Roster changes

Draft

Draft trades

Transactions

: Denotes this is a reserve/future contract.

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Schedule

The Vikings' preliminary preseason schedule was announced on April 10.

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

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

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 Nicholas Edward Foles (born January 20, 1989) is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona and was selected in the third round of the 2012 NFL D ...

, 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 Everson Griffen (born December 22, 1987) is an American football defensive end who is a free agent. A graduate of Agua Fria High School, Griffen attended and played college football at USC. He was selected by the Vikings in the fourth round o ...

, two-time selection

Xavier Rhodes Xavier Rhodes (born June 19, 1990) is an American football cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round (25th o ...

and first-timer

Adam Thielen Adam John Thielen (born August 22, 1990) is an American football wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota State and signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free age ...

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 Patrick Ryan Kerrigan (born August 16, 1988) is an American football coach and former outside linebacker and defensive end who is the assistant defensive line coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played c ...

. Safety Harrison Smith was rated as the best safety in the league by

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

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 Landon Alexander Collins (born January 10, 1994) is an American football safety and linebacker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he was a part of the team that won the 201 ...

withdrew due to injury.

Kyle Rudolph Kyle Daniel Rudolph (born November 9, 1989) is an American football tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame, and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the second ...

was also included after

Jimmy Graham Jimmy Graham (born November 24, 1986) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played only one year of college football at University of Miami after playing four years of basketball. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in ...

pulled out with an injury, while

Linval Joseph Linval Clement Joseph (born October 10, 1988) is an American football defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at East Carolina. He was drafted by the New York Giants in th ...

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

Source: Minnesota Vikings' official website

League rankings

Source: NFL.com

References

External links

* {{2017 NFL season by team

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

NFC North championship seasons