The Packers-Vikings rivalry has been one of the league's best despite the recent one-sided nature of it. The Packers 10-1-1 record against the Vikings since 2010 is really the difference in the all-time series record. 59-49-2 in Green Bay's favor. It's been a closely contested rivalry since the Vikings joined the NFL in 1961 with each team having stretches of dominance.
1964 was one of only two seasons between 1961 and 1967 in which the Green Bay Packers didn't win the NFL title. They weren't bad in 1964. They just weren't up to their usual greatness during that run of championships. They finished tied for second in the Western Conference. They were tied for second with the Minnesota Vikings. 1964 was the Vikings first winning season. The two rivals fittingly split their two games that year. Each winning in their opponents stadium. The Vikings won a 24-23 thriller in the first game. This was also the Vikings first win ever over the Packers. That's big. The second game was more like the first six in the rivalry. The Packers cruised to a 42-13 win.
Here's an article from the October 6, 1964 edition of the Milwaukee Sentinel bemoaning that first Packers-Vikings game. The one that got away.
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Packer-Vikings Tilt Was Last Word In Customer Football
Lloyd Larson
"Everybody in the joint knows he's going to pass, so how could he get away with it?" one of thousands of dejected Packer fans was heard muttering as he elbowed his way out of the Green Bay stadium Sunday after the hard to take 24-23 loss to the Vikings.
That's right. Everybody in the joint, including the Packers, knew it had to be a pass. With less than a minute to play, fourth down and 22 to go from his own 36, Fran Tarkenton had to go for it in a big way. The only big way was through the air.
The other part of the muttering brings to mind the time a leading pro golfer was asked a similar how come question after taking 13 assorted swipes at the ball on one hole. "It was simple," concluded the star suddenly turned duffer after giving a blow-by-blow account of his nightmarish experience that knocked him out of the running for top money.
In the case of the Packers, the explanation is equally simple-just as simple as the memory of it is painful. He, meaning Tarkenton, took the snap from center and kept on running around behind the line until he found a teammate open. Said teammate, Gordon Smith, fielded the long pitch cleanly for the big gainer, an absolute must, and the Packers had their heads in a noose from which there was no escape.
Everybody Had To Improvise
They talk of customer golf. Well, Sunday's thriller was the ultimate in customer football, that is for those who were able to look at the game objectively. It may not have been the greatest game ever played in total. But for excitement and nail-biting suspense, it must rank with the best.
Every time the Vikings had the ball, especially when Tarkenton chose to pass instead of handing off to Bill Brown or Tom Michel, it reminded me a little of a kids' pickup game. Organized confusion set in the moment the elusive quarterback went into his scampering act and eligible receivers fanned out in all directions.
Defenders and receivers had to follow suit as Tarkenton improvised. Secondary assignments and pass patterns went down the drain. That was a sight to behold.
Now and then, it even looked like Tarkenton was training for the Olympics. He was sprinter. hurdler, and steeplechaser rolled into one. But he refused to stay on course. And that presented the Packers with a problem they could not solve.
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Nobody writes game accounts like that anymore.
I've always gotten a kick out of others trying to describe the unique manner in which Fran Tarkenton played quarterback. It was a real treat to watch. Opposing defenses didn't think it was much of a treat. More often than not neither did his own coach, Norm Van Brocklin. Although Van Brocklin was pretty happy about it on this particular 1964 day. He got his first win over Vince Lombardi.
The Vikings got their first win over the Packers in 1964. It would be really great if their 50th win over the Packers comes this Sunday.
Skol Vikings!
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