Worst loss in Viking History

[Reignman]

Hard to argue with any of the selections made so far. I wasn't a fan until '84 so I missed all the Fran Chokenton Super Bowl misery, so I have to say '98 was the worst loss I've experienced. The expectations didn't help. From a neutral POV, the NFL was robbed of an epic Super Bowl match-up that year because Robert Griffith couldn't catch a friggin football. Dropped 2 potential INT's on the Dirty Birds final game tying drive.

'03 vs Arizona was pretty painful too, and because of the way we lost. Definitely the most painful regular season loss of all time for me. By today's rules (no more BS push out rule) we would have won that game lol. But it was also painful because it gave the Packers the division. They still had to beat Denver later that day, but it was a foregone conclusion with Denver playing their scrubs with their playoff seed already locked in.

In '09 I never expected us to beat the New Orleans Katrina Victims, err I mean Saints, but it still ended up being painful because we outplayed them, but we shot ourselves in the foot with every opportunity, and got jobbed by the officials. I doubt we would have beaten the Colts in the bowl without Favre, but it would have been nice to find out.

Most Embarrassing Loss
NFC Championship - Jan 14, 2001
Minnesota Vikings 0
New York Giants 41

And how! Man I get sick every time I think about the lopsided statistics of that game. I was nearly convinced we threw it on purpose because of how awful we played.

[PurpleKoolaid]

!998
But Favre's 2009 was very close. I just knew there was going to be a late game INT. It would have been night it the Refs had done their jobs.

[oldskoolvikingfan]

2009 loss to saints in nfc championship game. I thought for sure we were going to win the game and we didn't. I haven't rewatched the game since and i dont ever plan on watching it again.

[Lash Man]

Mine was the SB 11 beat down by the Raiders that season I just thought the Vikings couldn't lose and the way they completely dominated us I was in shock after that game . The 98 loss was a bigger upset and the Saints 09 was stolen from us but none compares to the SB11 game for me .

[indianation65]

The Super Bowl losses, of course, but the Falcons and Saints losses were worse for me. When you clearly have the best team in the league, and still a loss occurs, they crush. As a kid I hurt, but got on my bike and road the next day to happiness. As a grownup, the losses lingered, and still do! Wahi'

Addendum: Any Super Bowl loss should be the most devastating. To get to the big game, and decades later still have nothing to lean on, it hurts. "Wait'll next year" still blows in the big scheme!

...wisdom

[Hunter Morrow]

41-0

My teacher had just got a MONSTER of a television. 70, 80 incher, easily. This was almost fifteen years ago, it was unheard of. It was probably the biggest t.v. In the city. Great surround sound, amazing chairs, everybody brought over great food. I was a middle schooler and really excited and thought an upset was going to happen.

The game was a debacle from first play to last whistle, obviously. Lawrence Taylor was on screen all the time and it was upsetting my dad who had a drug problem. So after complaining about LT, his friend snapped on him and said ALRIGHT we get it! and it just killed the room. Squashed it like a bug. The place was silent as a crypt for like, three minutes after that. That is the only game that made me want to quit on the franchise.

[3Deep]

2009 vs Saints stung the worst for me. I don't think I got over that loss for a good two weeks. Was legitimately bummed out for days and didn't want to do a thing. Yeah, 12 men in the huddle and the INT were horrible, but I think the fumbles are what really haunt me still. I'll never forgive the Saints and hate that team more than any other team, which is saying a lot since I despise the Packers and the Cutler lead Bears.

1998 vs Falcons ... I was a lot younger during this game but I still have this Polaroid picture my mom took of me and my buddy huddled around the TV looking so excited because we believed we were going to the SB. Then Anderson choked.

This one is random but for some reason just pissed me off so much... 2012 at home vs Tampa Bay. I can't remember why I was so pissed off about this loss, but I was. I hated seeing Freeman destroy our defense.

[Grashopa]

the worst losses in my 25 year fandom have been 1998 and 2009 (obviously). I remember the loss to the cardinals, that was annoying, but we probably wouldve gotten spanked in the first round of the playoffs anyways. And I was in the navy for the loss to the giants, so i missed that one (i actually missed a lot of games while i was in the navy).

Worst loss 1998: we were the best team in the league, we were supposed to handily beat the falcons at home, they were merely a stepping stone on the way to our first super bowl victory, they were out of place and didnt belong in a championship game, the score shoudlve never been that close in the first place.

2009 sucked, but i was impressed that we nearly beat the eventual superbowl champs, even with favre on fire i never expected us to make it to the championship game and nearly to the super bowl, so despite the loss, it was an exciting season and and exciting playoff run.

[mansquatch]

1998 and 2009.

2009 was one of the best Viking's seasons for me. My first child had just been born that February and the Vikes put on a great show for the entire regular season. My wife, son and I enjoyed every game on sundays. The game against the Saints was just a kick in the sack after such a great ride.

The Greg Louis catch against the 49ers to win it at the last second remains the most magnificent football play I've ever had the pleasure to watch. I cannot hate Favre after giving me that year and that play. Awesome.

[Mothman]

The worst loss for me was the loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl IV. Like the '98 Vikes, the '69 team looked like the best in the league. Unlike the '98 Vikes, they actually got to the Super Bowl and then lost. I was just a little kid at the time but that one still hurts.

The next 3 Super Bowl losses were the next 3 most painful for me (especially the loss to the Steelers, a game I thought the Vikes were going to pull out), followed by the '98 championship game and the '87 championship game.

The regular season loss to the 49ers in October of '88, when Steve Young made his infamous run through the entire Vikes defense to win the game, is a painful memory too. I don't think I've ever been more frustrated when watching a football game than I was at that moment!

[mosscarter]

how can you say you weren't surprised by the 09 game? we came out of the gate and dominated the entire first half (of which i was even a bit shocked). in fact, we outplayed them in every facet of the game and to lose it the way we did? i was beyond surprised. as soon as we signed favre that offseason i told my girlfriend we can win it all because all of the pieces are properly in place. and that 09 defense was WAY better than the 98 team. then, move ahead two years and our defense had much of the same roster and was even worse, so how could you possibly be shocked that we lost 41-0? we had serwanga and tate playing a ton in that secondary.