Thread: 98 Vikings - Third Best Team ever?

OK, so when talking about the 1998 Minnesota Vikings, many people, myself included, praise the offense and slam the defense.
Is this really justified?
I always knew that the 98 Vikings still hold the record for points scored in a single season.
But where did they rank defensively that year?
I looked it, and we were sixth in total points allowed.

So I started thinking, "Number one offense and number six defense?
That is a pretty damn good team.
Probably one of the best in the modern era."
I figured I had nothing better to do in the offseason, so I did a little research.

I took the points scored and points allowed for every team in the past 20 years.
I calculated the points differential (scored - allowed) and ranked them.
As it turns out, the 98 Vikings came in third overall!
Here are the top ten.

Team	Points Scored	Points Allowed	Differential
1999 St. Louis Rams	526	242	284
1991 Washington Redskins	485	224	261
1998 Minnesota Vikings	556	296	260
1996 Green Bay Packers	456	210	246
2001 St. Louis Rams	503	273	230
1994 San Francisco 49ers	505	296	209
1987 San Francisco 49ers	459	253	206
1995 San Francisco 49ers	457	258	199
1992 San Francisco 49ers	431	236	195
2005 Indianapolis Colts	439	247	192

I was also able to identify some real stinkers in the past 20 years.
I give you the bottom ten:

Team	Points Scored	Points Allowed	Differential
2004 San Francisco 49ers	259	452	-193
1999 Cleveland Browns	217	437	-220
2003 Arizona Cardinals	225	452	-227
1987 Atlanta Falcons	205	436	-231
2000 Arizona Cardinals	210	443	-233
1990 Cleveland Browns	228	462	-234
1986 Tampa Bay Buccaneers	239	473	-234
1991 Indianapolis Colts	143	381	-238
2000 Cleveland Browns	161	419	-258
1990 New England Patriots	181	446	-265

And I know everyone is curious as to where the 2006 Minnesota Vikings fell.
Unfortunately we were in the bottom third of the past 20 years.
With a differential of -45, we ranked 416 out of 626 teams.
I expect the 2007 Vikings to be much higher!

That just pisses me off even more that we didnt win the Super Bowl.

That just pisses me off even more that we didnt win the Super Bowl.

FYI: The (statistically) worst team to ever win the superbowl: The 2006 Indianapolis Colts.

Rank	Year	Team	Points Scored	Points Allowed	Difference
164	2006	Indianapolis Colts	427	360	67

For anyone who wants to look at the data I put together, it is attached.
Maybe later this week I will get a wild hair and finish up with the data from 1967-1985.


[file name=team rankings.txt size=24625]http://www.purplepride.org/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/team rankings.txt[/file]

"Mr" wrote:

That just pisses me off even more that we didnt win the Super Bowl.

Thanks Paul for the data.
I have to agree with Mr. Anderson.
9 years has not healed the wounds from losing to the Falcons in the NFC Championship game.
If only we would have just run the clock out before halftime.
Oh well, maybe this year.
I wonder where the 75 Vikes ranked.
Another gut wrenching loss, although we got
hosed on that pass interference call in 75.

Good stuff Nodak.
I remember a lot of blow out games that year.


I also remember a lot of intereceptions by the Viking D that year.
Teams would panic once they got behind and I think that helped the D a bit.

Nice work Paul interesting reading, I don't think you can judge teams on stats alone but I do think they were the best team never to win the SB.

Good Stuff NP

Stupid Fat Denny, why did you run out the last 30 seconds of regualtion?

My fists still hurt from pounding on the floor after that loss.

1998 Minnesota Vikings > 1996 Green Bay Packers.

"singersp" wrote:

1998 Minnesota Vikings > 1996 Green Bay Packers.

Hell yeah.

But what about. Vikings 2007-2012, the beginning of a dynasty