Minnesota Vikings: nfl FUTURES & BETTING ODDS

The Minnesota Vikings were born into the NFL in 1961 and became the 14th NFL franchise (of the modern era). Gifted the first pick in the 1961 NFL draft, the Vikings selected RB Tommy Mason, who would go on to have a nice career. But the QB they picked in the 3rd round – Georgia’s Fran Tarkenton – was the player that would go on to have the biggest impact for the club.

Except, not right away. A bet on the Minnesota Vikings to achieve immediate success would not have been wise. Tarkenton played six seasons as Vikings QB, registering a single winning season among them. Then, in 1967, the Vikings traded Tarkenton to the New York Giants. Tarkenton would return to the team via trade in 1972, and by then, the seeds of an NFC powerhouse had already been planted.

Bud Grant was hired to coach the team in 1967, and he put together a fearsome defensive unit that would later be called the Purple People Eaters. DTs Alan Page and Gary Larsen, along with DEs Carl Eller and Jim Marshall, formed a devastating defensive line that pulverized opposing quarterbacks. Of the four, Eller and Page are in the Hall of Fame. Incredibly, the Purple People Eater defense ranked in the top-3 of the NFL in seven out of eight seasons, from ’69-’76. 

Predictably, the Minnesota Vikings odds to win a Super Bowl championship during this time period were high, and a futures bet on the Minnesota Vikings seemed like a great idea. But the Vikings, despite making the playoffs in twelve out of the seventeen years that Grant would be coach, never could quite get over the hump.

Their first appearance in an NFL championship game would be in 1969. The Minnesota Vikings odds to claim their first title were high – the team was a 12-point favorite. However, the Kansas City Chiefs upset the Vikings, 23-7, to win the fourth-ever Super Bowl. Grant would take the team back to the big game in 1973, a year after the franchise reacquired Tarkenton. This time, the Minnesota Vikings odds were not as good – they were 6.5-point underdogs to defending champion Miami. Don Shula and co. would defeat the Vikings, 24-7, to cover the spread and claim back-to-back titles.

The following year, Grant again led the Vikings to the Super Bowl. This time, the Minnesota Vikings odds were slightly better – they were 3-point underdogs to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But Tarkenton struggled yet again, throwing three interceptions, and the Steel Curtain outslugged the Purple People Eaters 16-6. Two years later, in 1976, the Vikings met the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI, their third Super Bowl appearance in four years. A bet on the Minnesota Vikings would not pay, however, as they were blown out, 32-14, making the Vikings the first team to lose four Super Bowls.

Tarkenton would retire in 1978 as the NFL recordholder in completions, yards, and touchdowns. Grant would step away for good in 1985, with the 6th-most wins amongst head coaches at the time. 

The 1990s brought promise in the form of former Stanford head coach Dennis Green. Green led an impressive run, making the playoffs in eight out of nine seasons at the helm, winning four division titles. A bet on the Minnesota Vikings seemed like an easy ticket. However, it could be argued that Green’s teams underwhelmed in big spots. The team was brimming with talent. HOF receivers Cris Carter and Randy Moss, big-armed QBs like Warren Moon, Jeff George, Randle Cunningham, and Daunte Culpepper, and tremendous defensive players like DE John Randle and DB Joey Browner. But for the first five years of Green’s career, the Vikings could not get out of the wildcard round. In 1998, the Minnesota Vikings odds of winning the Super Bowl were high, but the team lost a 30-27 stunner to the Atlanta Falcons in overtime, when K Gary Anderson – who hadn’t missed a FG all year – missed a 45-yarder towards the end of the 4th quarter. In 2000, Green again led a dominant offensive squad to the NFC Championship game. A bet on the Minnesota Vikings seemed like a good idea, as the team was a 1-point favorite on the road. However, the Vikings were only able to amass 114 total yards and were blindsided by the New York Giants, 41-0. 

Green was bought out the following year, and the team was hot and cold for different stretches of the 2000s. Head coach Brad Childress made the unlikely pairing of Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson work to perfection in 2008, and again reached the NFC championship game. A bet on the Minnesota Vikings in that game would’ve paid… if you’d have taken the spread. The New Orleans Saints were 3.5-point favorites, and won the game, 31-28 in overtime. 

Head coach Mike Zimmer would again take the Vikings to the NFC title game in 2017, and the Minnesota Vikings odds of advancing were high – the Vikings were 3-point favorites. But they ran into a buzzsaw in the Philadelphia Eagles, and got blown out, 38-7. In 2019, the team would make the playoffs for the eighth time in the new millennium, only to lose a divisional round game to the San Francisco 49ers. 

A poor defense sunk the team in 2020 despite having a strong offense again. Zimmer addressed those concerns in the offseason and hope it's enough to return to the playoffs in 2021.