1998 Minnesota Vikings season

In 1998 the Minnesota Vikings became only the 3rd team in NFL history to win 15 games during the regular season. That year, the Vikings high powered offense scored 556 points and broke the record for most points scored in the regular season.

Reasons for success

Several factors contributed to their success that year.

Head Coach Dennis Green developed a high-powered West-Coast style offense and had been building the offense thru free agency and the draft for almost 8 years
Offensive Coordinator Brian Billick was considered to be the mastermind behind the offense. One of the innovative techniques Billick used to develop such an effective offense was the use of a computer to generate play calling schemes and game plans. Billick was promptly hired to be the Baltimore Ravens Head Coach after the 1998 season and he won the Super Bowl as the Ravens Head Coach just two years later.
Randy Moss was drafted in 1998 and while most Wide Receivers usually take a year or two to develop Moss made an impact right away. He scored 2 TDs in week one against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and posted 95 yards on 4 catches. He went set the single season record for most TD receptions by a rookie with 17.
The 6'4 197 lb. Moss teamed up with 6'3" 217 lb. Jake Reed and 6'3 215 lb. Cris Carter to make a very dangerous trio of big Wide Receivers
Kicker Gary Anderson was perfect during the regular season hitting 35 of 35 field goals, he also set a record for most points scored in a season, no touchdowns. He scored 164 points.
Randall Cunningham made an impressive comeback after being out of the league in 1996. He joined the Vikings in 1997 and played 6 games that year. In 1998, starting QB Brad Johnson was hurt early in the year (week 4?) and Cunningham took over. He threw for 3704 yards and 34 TDs.
The Vikings Defense led by DT John Randle and LB Ed McDaniel had a good year. They only allowed 296 points during the regular season
Injury prone Running Back Robert Smith was healthy most of the year and played in 14 games. He had 1187 rushing yards and scored 8 TDs (6 rushing and 2 receiving).
The Vikings offensive line featured 3 Pro Bowlers that year: Jeff Christy, Todd Steussie, and Randall McDaniel.

Game-by-game results

+--------+-------------------------------+----------+---------+
| Week | Opponent | Result | Score |
+--------+-------------------------------+----------+---------+
| 1 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W | 31- 7 |
| 2 | at St. Louis Rams | W | 38-31 |
| 3 | Detroit Lions | W | 29- 6 |
| 4 | at Chicago Bears | W | 31-28 |
| 5 | at Green Bay Packers | W | 37-24 |
| 6 | |
| 7 | Washington Redskins | W | 41- 7 |
| 8 | at Detroit Lions | W | 34-13 |
| 9 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L | 24-27 |
| 10 | New Orleans Saints | W | 31-24 |
| 11 | Cincinnati Bengals | W | 24- 3 |
| 12 | Green Bay Packers | W | 28-14 |
| 13 | at Dallas Cowboys | W | 46-36 |
| 14 | Chicago Bears | W | 48-22 |
| 15 | at Baltimore Ravens | W | 38-28 |
| 16 | Jacksonville Jaguars | W | 50-10 |
| 17 | at Tennessee Oilers | W | 26-16 |
+--------+-------------------------------+----------+---------+

Roster

Quarterbacks
7 Randall Cunningham
14 Brad Johnson
11 Jay Fiedler

Running Backs
26 Robert Smith

Numeric Roster

Name Position

1 Gary Anderson K 7 Randall Cunningham QB 8 Todd Bourman QB 11 Jay Fiedler QB 14 Brad Johnson QB 17 Mitch Berger P 18 Tony Bland WR 22 David Palmer RB 24 Robert Griffith S 26 Robert Smith RB 27 Corey Fuller CB 29 Charles Evens FB 30 Antonio Banks S 31 Duane Butler S 33 Harold Morrow FB 34 Ramos McDonald CB 37 Jimmy Hitchcock CB 38 Antony Bass CB 42 Orlando Thomas S 43 Greg Briggs LB 44 Leroy Hoard RB 53 Kivuusama Mays LB 55 Bobby Houston LB 56 Pete Bercich LB 57 Dwayne Rudd LB 58 Ed McDaniel LB 59 Dixon Edwards LB 61 Everett Lindsey G/C 62 Jeff Christy C 64 Randall McDaniel G 68 Mike Morris C 71 David Dixon G 72 Jason Fisk DT 73 Todd Steussie T 75 Matt Birk OT 76 Chris Liwienski T 77 Korey Stringer T 80 Cris Carter WR 81 Chris Walsh WR 82 Andrew Glover TE 83 Robert Tate WR 84 Randy Moss WR 85 Greg DeLong TE 86 Jake Reed WR 87 Hunter Goodwin TE 89 Matthew Hatchette WR 90 Derrick Alexander DE 92 Duane Clemons DE 93 John Randle DT 94 Tony Williams DT 96 Jerry Ball DT 98 Ben Williams DE 99 Stalin Colinet DE

Trivia

1998 Viking Pro Bowlers: Cris Carter WR, Jeff Christy C, Randall Cunningham QB, Ed McDaniel LB, Randall McDaniel G, Randy Moss WR, John Randle DT, Robert Smith RB, Todd Steussie T, and Gary Anderson K.
The Vikings had 10 players in the Pro Bowl that year and because the Vikings lost in the NFC Championship game their entire Coaching staff was in Hawaii to coach the NFC in the Pro Bowl.
With the score 27-20 in the NFC Championship game vs. the Falcons Gary Anderson could have locked up the game by kicking a field goal in the final minutes and making the score 30-20. However, Anderson missed his only Field Goal of the season. Then the Falcons drove and scored a TD to make it 27-27 and the game went into overtime. The Falcons won in overtime 30-27.

References

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/min1998.htm http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/1998/playoffs/news/1999/01/17/falcons_first/index.html