The Minnesota Vikings host the New York Giants tonight at their spectacular new US Bank Stadium.
Here are some numbers and stuff from this series.
The Vikings lead the all-time series against the Giants 15-12.
The Vikings won the first game between the two teams 30-21 on 12/6/64 in Yankee Stadium.
The Vikings won the first three games in the series and six of the first seven.
The first win in the series for the Giants came when Vikings Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton played for them. That loss was one of only two regular season losses for the Super Bowl-bound Vikings in 1969. The best quarterback in Vikings franchise history had a five-year "walk-about" with the Giants in the middle of his career. Tarkenton was traded to New York in 1967 for a bushel of picks. One of which was used to select eventual Hall of Fame defensive tackle Alan Page. The Vikings brought Tarkenton back home in 1972 when they needed a jolt to the offense.
The schedule-makers found no reason for the Vikings and Giants to play each other from 1977-85.
When the series started again the Giants made the most of it. Winning four in a row in the years from 1986-93. That last win came in the Wild Card playoff game on 1/9/94.
Playoffs!
The Giants and Vikings have faced each other in the playoffs on three occasions.
1993 Wild Card: 17-10 Giants
1996 Wild Card: 23-22 Vikings
2000 NFC Championship: 41-0 Giants
Nothing more needs to be said about that last game. It was a very bad day. Very bad. So bad.
Just to change the subject.
Giants Eli Manning hasn't had many happy days against the Vikings.
7 starts against the Vikings. 2-5 in those games.
He's completed a mediocre 54.1% of his passes.
206.4 yds/game
5 TDs
14 interceptions
5 of those interceptions were returned for Vikings touchdowns.
Manning has thrown as many touchdowns to Vikings defenders as he's thrown to Giants receivers.
Scores in those five losses:
12/27/15: 49-17
01/03/10: 44-7
12/28/08: 20-19
11/25/07: 41-17
11/13/05: 24-21
Both of Manning's wins against the Vikings were of the unusual variety.
The game played on 12/13/10 was originally scheduled to be played at the Metrodome in Minneapolis on 12/12/10. An excessive accumulation of snow split the roof of the Metrodome wide open in the early morning hours of the 12th. The game had to be moved to the neutral site of Ford Field in Detroit. The collapsed roof was a sad end to a disastrous 2010 Vikings season. The Giants defeated the listless Vikings in Detroit 21-3. The Lions fans that attended the impromptu game for free had a blast.
The Vikings-Giants Monday Night game on 10/21/13 was simply a poor excuse for NFL football. That game may have set the league back decades. The Giants didn't play well but the Vikings were worse. So much worse. The Vikings only score came on an 86-yard Marcus Sherels punt return. The offense never threatened to score. They had signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman about a week prior to the game. For some reason Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier decided to give Freeman the start after a few day's worth of work in a new offensive system. Freeman might have played the worst game ever by an NFL quarterback. 20 completions in 53 attempts actually looks pretty when you consider how far off he was on those 33 incompletions. The fans in the stands were in better position to make the catches. It was so sad. The Giants won 23-7.
Manning's two wins against the Vikings came on Monday Night. Hopefully that's the only thing that this game has in common with those games. There's no way that this Vikings team plays as poorly as those Vikings teams. Ever.
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