Watching Vikings games for more years than I care to admit (not because I'm ashamed but because it makes me feel old) puts me in a position to say this:
That 22-16 loss Sunday was one of the five most "Vikings-esque" regular-season losses in at least the past 20 years. To truly qualify, a loss has to have at least one spectacular fall (preferably more). It needs to have at least one element that is completely ridiculous. And it has to make you question why you just spent three hours of your time watching.
In chronological order, here are those games:
The Ed McCaffrey game
The year was 1996. A promising Vikings season that started out 5-1 had sputtered to 6-5 heading into a home game against John Elway and the Broncos. Minnesota led 17-14 deep into the fourth quarter. The Broncos got the ball back for one more drive and marched down the field (with the help of a fourth-down conversion) to set up third-and-goal from the Vikings 5.
Elway threw over the middle into all sorts of traffic. Harlon Barnett tipped the ball straight up. He and Vikings teammate Orlando Thomas both converged on it, and either could have intercepted it to seal the game … but instead they collided and the ball deflected to the Broncos' McCaffrey, who caught it and slithered into the end zone for a game-winning TD.
The Vikings did rebound to make the playoffs, but they were waxed by Dallas in the first round.
The Michael Vick game
This one didn't hurt so much in terms of what it meant to the season, since the Vikings were 3-8 going into their game against the Falcons late in the 2002 season.
But still: The Vikings had a great chance to score the go-ahead TD late in regulation but had to settle for the tying field goal. They won the toss in overtime but had to punt. And on the second play of Atlanta's possession, Vick scrambled 46 yards — making two defenders crash into each other in the process — for the game-ending touchdown.
