The Loop Special Report: That 70s Showdown
The Me Decade gave us more than just Watergate, disco and The Fonz. It gave us a rivalry of Purple People Eaters, Fearsome Foursomes and some occasional mud. As the Vikings and Rams get ready for their eighth playoff matchup Monday night, we look back on the previous seven.
For two teams that haven’t faced off in the postseason since the Clinton administration, the Vikings have quite a history with the Rams of Los Angeles, then St. Louis, and now suburban Inglewood, Calif.
They were two of the NFL’s most dominant teams since the arrival of their legendary coaches: Minnesota’s Bud Grant and the Rams’ George Allen.
Their first big game came in Week 12 of the 1969 season, when the 10-1 Vikings handed Los Angeles its first loss. They had their first postseason matchup three weeks later.
The rivalry reached its peak in the middle of the 70s, as they met in the playoffs four times in a five-year span. The only time they didn’t connect? You can blame that on Roger Staubach, and Drew Pearson’s Hail Mary shove on Nate Wright.
So here’s the sometimes magnificent seven of the Vikings-Rams rivalry.
NFL divisional playoff
Vikings 23, Rams 20
December 27, 1969
The first postseason game ever at Metropolitan Stadium did not start well for the Bloomington hosts. The Rams took a 17-7 halftime lead thanks to two touchdown passes from the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, Roman Gabriel.
But Minnesota rallied after the break. Dave Osborn ran for his second touchdown of the game, then the Vikings took the lead on a 2-yard keeper by quarterback Joe Kapp.
The clincher can, fittingly, from the Vikings’ defense. Carl Eller beat the block from hall of famer Bob Brown and sacked Gabriel at the goal-line for what proved to be an insurance safety.
The Vikings went to reach their first Super Bowl, while the Rams began what proved to be a three-year hiatus from the postseason.
Vikings quarterback Joe Kapp (11) takes to the air and is hit by Rams linebacker Doug Woodlief (57) in the third quarter of their NFL playoff game on December 27, 1969, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington.. (AP Photo)
NFC championship
Vikings 14, Rams 10
December 29, 1974
Minnesota looked to defend its conference title against a team that beat them 20-17 in Week 11 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The weather was relatively hospitable for late December on the future site of the Mall of America. But you wouldn’t know that the way the two teams handled the football, combining for eight turnovers.
The Vikings didn’t get their initial first down until the second quarter, but they gradually pulled ahead in the sloppy defensive struggle thanks to a Fran Tarkenton TD pass to Jim Lash and a touchdown plunge by Osborn.
Minnesota dominated the fourth quarter thanks to a pair of crushing sacks of L.A. QB James Harris, and a run-heavy drive that chewed up the last five minutes of the game. The win sent the Vikings to their third Super Bowl loss, this one to Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain.
Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton hands off to running back Dave Osborn during Minnesota’s NFC title victory over Los Angeles on December 29, 1974 at the Met.. (AP Photo)
NFC championship
Vikings 24, Rams 13
December 26, 1976
A wind-chill of 7 degrees greeted Chuck Knox’s team that had just won the NFC West for a fourth straight season. And it looked Super Bowl-ready on its second drive, working the ball down inside the 1-yard line.
Then Knox played it too safe, opting for a field goal on fourth-and-six inches. Tom Dempsey’s kick was blocked by Wright, and Bobby Bryant scooped and scored on a 90-game changer.
Chuck Foreman’s TD run padded the Minnesota lead to 17-0 early in the third quarter, and the Rams never recovered.
Sammy Johnson’s 12-yard TD run sent the Purple to Pasadena, clinching the Vikings’ fourth Super Bowl berth in the Rose Bowl. But this one ended as badly as their previous three thanks to John Madden’s dominant Oakland Raiders.
Vikings defensive back Bobby Bryant takes a look behind him as he hotfoots it down field for a touchdown after Vikings blocked a Los Angeles Rams field-goal attempt in first quarter of the NFC championship game on December 26, 1976 in Bloomington. (AP Photo)
NFC divisional playoff
Vikings 14, Rams 7
December 26, 1977
The 9-5 rapidly aging Vikings were given little chance to pull off an upset. They had lost 35-3 to the Rams in Week 6, and they lost Tarkenton to injury, meaning Bob Lee would be quarterbacking them.
Then the rains came.
A Southern California deluge turned the Coliseum field into a quagmire, and The Mud Bowl was born. As Vin Scully said to open the CBS telecast: “We are somewhat at sea.”
And the Rams were short of a paddle, getting shut out until the game’s final minutes. But the Vikings plowed ahead in the muck, getting touchdown plunges from Foreman and Johnson to advance to the NFC title game in Dallas.
The Vikings lost that one, as well as their next five trips to the NFC championship game in 1987, 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2017.
Minnesota coach Bud Grant, left, and wide receiver Ahmad Rashad exit the scene of the mud bath after the Vikings upset the Rams on December 27, 1977, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)
NFC divisional playoff
Rams 34, Vikings 10
December 31, 1978
Nobody ever said revenge is a dish best served dry, but that was certainly the case as the Rams finally conquered their Vikings playoff hex on a sunny SoCal afternoon.
Minnesota barely finished .500 in winning a weak NFC Central Division in ‘78, but they hung with the heavily-favored Rams early. A Tarkenton TD pass to Ahmad Rashad sent the game to halftime deadlocked at 10-10.
But Pat Haden’s offense dominated in a 24-0 second half conquest, sending the Rams into the NFC championship where they tried, in vain, to beat their other tormentors: the Dallas Cowboys.
Minnesota’s Ahmad Rashad catches a touchdown pass from Fran Tarkenton in the first half of their playoff game against the Rams, who rolled past the Vikings in the second half for a 34-10 victory on New Year’s Eve 1978 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)
NFC wild-card playoff
Vikings 28, Rams 17
December 26, 1988
After a needed 10-year hiatus, this rivalry resumed in the playoff opener at the Metrodome.
Neither team was considered a strong Super Bowl candidate. But the Vikings had the best player on the field: strong safety Joey Browner.
Browner intercepted two Jim Everett passes in the first quarter, and the Wade Wilson-led offense cashed both of those in for touchdowns. Everett wound up completing only 19 passes to Rams receivers, and three to Vikings defensive backs.
Minnesota left quietly in the next round, getting blown out by a San Francisco team still stinging from the Anthony Carter-led upset in the 1987 playoffs.
The Vikings’ Keith Millard, who once bragged his arms were more powerful than police guns, shows off his guns during their wild-card victory over the Rams on December 26, 1988, at the Metrodome. (AP Photo)
NFC divisional playoff
Rams 49, Vikings 37
January 16, 2000
A quarter century ago, the last Rams-Vikings playoff matchup was a St. Louis affair, as The Greatest Show on Turf showed they were on their way to the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship.
Journeyman quarterback Kurt Warner followed up his MVP regular season with a virtuoso performance in his postseason debut. He riddled the Vikings’ defense for 391 yards passing and five touchdowns, as the Rams coasted after taking a 49-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Minnesota’s journeyman QB, Jeff George, played like an MVP in the final five minutes, throwing three of his four TD passes and finishing with a Warner-like 423 passing yards.
Vikings linebacker Ed McDaniel (58) tries in vain to chase down the Rams’ Isaac Bruce during The Greatest Show on Turf’s playoff victory on January 16, 2000, in St. Louis. (Joe Rossi / Pioneer Press)
You can hear Kevin Cusick on Wednesdays on Bob Sansevere’s “BS Show” podcast on iTunes. You can follow Kevin on Twitter — @theloopnow. He can be reached at kcusick@pioneer press.com.
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The Loop Special Report: That 70s Showdown
The Me Decade gave us more than just Watergate, disco and The Fonz. It gave us a rivalry of Purple People Eaters, Fearsome Foursomes and some occasional mud. As the Vikings and Rams get ready for their eighth playoff matchup Monday night, we look back on the previous seven.
For two teams that haven’t faced off in the postseason since the Clinton administration, the Vikings have quite a history with the Rams of Los Angeles, then St. Louis, and now suburban Inglewood, Calif.
They were two of the NFL’s most dominant teams since the arrival of their legendary coaches: Minnesota’s Bud Grant and the Rams’ George Allen.
Their first big game came in Week 12 of the 1969 season, when the 10-1 Vikings handed Los Angeles its first loss. They had their first postseason matchup three weeks later.
The rivalry reached its peak in the middle of the 70s, as they met in the playoffs four times in a five-year span. The only time they didn’t connect? You can blame that on Roger Staubach, and Drew Pearson’s Hail Mary shove on Nate Wright.
So here’s the sometimes magnificent seven of the Vikings-Rams rivalry.
NFL divisional playoff
Vikings 23, Rams 20
December 27, 1969
The first postseason game ever at Metropolitan Stadium did not start well for the Bloomington hosts. The Rams took a 17-7 halftime lead thanks to two touchdown passes from the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, Roman Gabriel.
But Minnesota rallied after the break. Dave Osborn ran for his second touchdown of the game, then the Vikings took the lead on a 2-yard keeper by quarterback Joe Kapp.
The clincher can, fittingly, from the Vikings’ defense. Carl Eller beat the block from hall of famer Bob Brown and sacked Gabriel at the goal-line for what proved to be an insurance safety.
The Vikings went to reach their first Super Bowl, while the Rams began what proved to be a three-year hiatus from the postseason.
Vikings quarterback Joe Kapp (11) takes to the air and is hit by Rams linebacker Doug Woodlief (57) in the third quarter of their NFL playoff game on December 27, 1969, at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington.. (AP Photo)
NFC championship
Vikings 14, Rams 10
December 29, 1974
Minnesota looked to defend its conference title against a team that beat them 20-17 in Week 11 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
The weather was relatively hospitable for late December on the future site of the Mall of America. But you wouldn’t know that the way the two teams handled the football, combining for eight turnovers.
The Vikings didn’t get their initial first down until the second quarter, but they gradually pulled ahead in the sloppy defensive struggle thanks to a Fran Tarkenton TD pass to Jim Lash and a touchdown plunge by Osborn.
Minnesota dominated the fourth quarter thanks to a pair of crushing sacks of L.A. QB James Harris, and a run-heavy drive that chewed up the last five minutes of the game. The win sent the Vikings to their third Super Bowl loss, this one to Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain.
Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton hands off to running back Dave Osborn during Minnesota’s NFC title victory over Los Angeles on December 29, 1974 at the Met.. (AP Photo)
NFC championship
Vikings 24, Rams 13
December 26, 1976
A wind-chill of 7 degrees greeted Chuck Knox’s team that had just won the NFC West for a fourth straight season. And it looked Super Bowl-ready on its second drive, working the ball down inside the 1-yard line.
Then Knox played it too safe, opting for a field goal on fourth-and-six inches. Tom Dempsey’s kick was blocked by Wright, and Bobby Bryant scooped and scored on a 90-game changer.
Chuck Foreman’s TD run padded the Minnesota lead to 17-0 early in the third quarter, and the Rams never recovered.
Sammy Johnson’s 12-yard TD run sent the Purple to Pasadena, clinching the Vikings’ fourth Super Bowl berth in the Rose Bowl. But this one ended as badly as their previous three thanks to John Madden’s dominant Oakland Raiders.
Vikings defensive back Bobby Bryant takes a look behind him as he hotfoots it down field for a touchdown after Vikings blocked a Los Angeles Rams field-goal attempt in first quarter of the NFC championship game on December 26, 1976 in Bloomington. (AP Photo)
NFC divisional playoff
Vikings 14, Rams 7
December 26, 1977
The 9-5 rapidly aging Vikings were given little chance to pull off an upset. They had lost 35-3 to the Rams in Week 6, and they lost Tarkenton to injury, meaning Bob Lee would be quarterbacking them.
Then the rains came.
A Southern California deluge turned the Coliseum field into a quagmire, and The Mud Bowl was born. As Vin Scully said to open the CBS telecast: “We are somewhat at sea.”
And the Rams were short of a paddle, getting shut out until the game’s final minutes. But the Vikings plowed ahead in the muck, getting touchdown plunges from Foreman and Johnson to advance to the NFC title game in Dallas.
The Vikings lost that one, as well as their next five trips to the NFC championship game in 1987, 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2017.
Minnesota coach Bud Grant, left, and wide receiver Ahmad Rashad exit the scene of the mud bath after the Vikings upset the Rams on December 27, 1977, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)
NFC divisional playoff
Rams 34, Vikings 10
December 31, 1978
Nobody ever said revenge is a dish best served dry, but that was certainly the case as the Rams finally conquered their Vikings playoff hex on a sunny SoCal afternoon.
Minnesota barely finished .500 in winning a weak NFC Central Division in ‘78, but they hung with the heavily-favored Rams early. A Tarkenton TD pass to Ahmad Rashad sent the game to halftime deadlocked at 10-10.
But Pat Haden’s offense dominated in a 24-0 second half conquest, sending the Rams into the NFC championship where they tried, in vain, to beat their other tormentors: the Dallas Cowboys.
Minnesota’s Ahmad Rashad catches a touchdown pass from Fran Tarkenton in the first half of their playoff game against the Rams, who rolled past the Vikings in the second half for a 34-10 victory on New Year’s Eve 1978 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)
NFC wild-card playoff
Vikings 28, Rams 17
December 26, 1988
After a needed 10-year hiatus, this rivalry resumed in the playoff opener at the Metrodome.
Neither team was considered a strong Super Bowl candidate. But the Vikings had the best player on the field: strong safety Joey Browner.
Browner intercepted two Jim Everett passes in the first quarter, and the Wade Wilson-led offense cashed both of those in for touchdowns. Everett wound up completing only 19 passes to Rams receivers, and three to Vikings defensive backs.
Minnesota left quietly in the next round, getting blown out by a San Francisco team still stinging from the Anthony Carter-led upset in the 1987 playoffs.
The Vikings’ Keith Millard, who once bragged his arms were more powerful than police guns, shows off his guns during their wild-card victory over the Rams on December 26, 1988, at the Metrodome. (AP Photo)
NFC divisional playoff
Rams 49, Vikings 37
January 16, 2000
A quarter century ago, the last Rams-Vikings playoff matchup was a St. Louis affair, as The Greatest Show on Turf showed they were on their way to the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship.
Journeyman quarterback Kurt Warner followed up his MVP regular season with a virtuoso performance in his postseason debut. He riddled the Vikings’ defense for 391 yards passing and five touchdowns, as the Rams coasted after taking a 49-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Minnesota’s journeyman QB, Jeff George, played like an MVP in the final five minutes, throwing three of his four TD passes and finishing with a Warner-like 423 passing yards.
Vikings linebacker Ed McDaniel (58) tries in vain to chase down the Rams’ Isaac Bruce during The Greatest Show on Turf’s playoff victory on January 16, 2000, in St. Louis. (Joe Rossi / Pioneer Press)
You can hear Kevin Cusick on Wednesdays on Bob Sansevere’s “BS Show” podcast on iTunes. You can follow Kevin on Twitter — @theloopnow. He can be reached at kcusick@pioneer press.com.
Related Articles
The Loop NFL Picks: Wild Card Weekend
The Loop Special Report: Vikings’ biggest regular-season games
The Loop NFL Picks: Week 18
The Loop Fantasy Football Report Week 17: Last-minute moves
The Loop NFL Picks: Week 17
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