6 most disappointing Minnesota Vikings seasons of all-time

6. 2016 Vikings

The avalanche of disaster began for the 2016 Vikings before the regular season even began when starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a freak knee injury during a summer practice.

Bridgewater was entering what many believed to potentially be a breakout year and in a split second, Minnesota’s 2016 season was doomed from the start.

To make up for the loss of Bridgewater, the Vikings made a desperation move and traded away a first-round draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for quarterback Sam Bradford. A former No. 1 draft pick, Bradford was expected to step right in and lead Minnesota to their second-straight playoff appearance.

After the Vikings’ first five games of 2016, the postseason is exactly where it seemed like they were heading. Minnesota ended their first five matchups with a win that year and what once appeared to possibly be a lost season looked like it might have the chance to actually be a special one.

However, the Football Gods had other plans in mind for the Vikings in 2016.

After their 5-0 start, Minnesota went on to lose eight of the final 11 games and miss the playoffs. After their bye in Week 6, everything just seemed to fall off the rails for the Vikings and they couldn’t figure out how to get back on track.

Not only did this season feature a disappointing collapse for Minnesota, but the team also experienced a number of different events that just made it very difficult to achieve any sort of success.

In addition to losing Bridgewater for the year, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson missed 13 games due to injury, offensive coordinator Norv Turner quit, head coach Mike Zimmer had to miss a matchup because he almost lost his right eye, Minnesota’s offensive line was a complete dumpster fire, and then their plane skid off the runway when they landed in Wisconsin for a Week 16 game against the Green Bay Packers.

The Vikings finishing with eight wins in 2016 despite all of these circumstances should really be considered an accomplishment.