Vikings drought by the numbers

I spent a bunch of time the other day thinking about this, so maybe I should get it in blog form.

So the first NFL season I followed was 1987. 

At that time there were 28 franchises. 16 had never won a super bowl. Keep in mind that at that point only 20 super bowls had been played. And at that point the Vikings were just 10 years removed from their last appearance. 

So of those 16 ringless franchises as of 1987, 8 of them have won at least one since: Denver, the original Browns after moving to Baltimore, the Rams, New England (it was a better world), Tampa Bay, Seattle, New Orleans, and Philadelphia.

Of those other 8 who did not have a ring then and still do not, you have Detroit, Atlanta, the Cardinals, Buffalo, Cincinnati, the Chargers, the Titans(then the Oilers), and of course the Vikings.

But, of those 8, only 2 have not even PLAYED in a super bowl in the 33 years I have followed the NFL. And we are one of them.

I have no greater point. It's just absurd how we haven't even PLAYED in a super bowl in so long. 

The only other teams besides the Vikings and Lions who existed in 1987 and have not played in a super bowl in this time span are the Dolphins and Jets. The Chiefs were on that list too until now. And you also have the new teams since then, among whom only Carolina has played in a super bowl, and none of whom have won it. And Miami has played in a super bowl more recently than we have. And Seattle and Tampa were expansion teams the year of the Vikings last super bowl appearance. 

And of course we have been close a lot. 6 straight NFC title game losses, 5 in my fandom.

Either 49ers fans or Chiefs fans will be crushed about losing a super bowl in about 6 hours.

I would love a chance to be crushed like that. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Message Board Classics: 2004 NFL Season

Preseason kickoff post (and other posts): Oh yes, it IS that time again. Training camps are open. The first preseason games are less than a week away. Players are already being idiots. It's the best time of the sports year. It is not yet the time for predictions, but I'll hit on some of the big recent stories. Ricky Williams retires. Well, we know now he did so cuz he was gonna be suspended for using marijuana. He's a little shit as far as I'm concerned. You do not abandon your team when he did. He had every right to retire, but do it at least before the draft. He's left the Dolphins with zero chance of making the playoffs. They couldn't go get Eddie George or Antowain Smith, nor could they draft a RB. The Cowboys cut Quincy Carter. I spent all offseason pleading with Dallas to go get a QB like Warner or Collins or Garcia. Instead they fail to upgrade, and now take a step back. Vinny is 80 years old and has little if anything left. My prediction is that Drew Hen...
Read more

Awful NFL season ends with awful Super Bowl

BUCCANEERS 31 CHIEFS 9 The 2020 NFL season is over. Thank god! A season that was almost across the board unenjoyable, and felt empty and largely felt manipulated, ended with the worst outcome imaginable. With a result that not only continues this 20 year nightmare but that will frankly hurt the NFL for years to come. I was not looking forward to this game. I knew this was going to happen. Maybe not in blowout fashion but I knew the NFL was going to see to it that Tom Brady got his 7th title. The house wins. The game was never fun. Right from the start the Chiefs seemed sleepy, like they weren't really in it. This team plays with swagger, but in this game they had none. Patrick Mahomes was under enormous pressure from the start. The Chiefs grabbed the 1st lead at 3-0 but then from basically the end of the 1st quarter until halftime it was a nightmare. The Chiefs offense remained lifeless. The Chiefs defense did manage a goal line stand that at the moment seemed like it could be a tu...
Read more