1971 Minnesota Vikings ranked among the best defenses of all time

When talking about the NFL’s best defensive units of all time, the conversation has to include the Minnesota Vikings during the Purple People Eaters era.

The current version of the Minnesota Vikings is known for their stout defense under Mike Zimmer which includes a number of great playmakers and a number of great accomplishments under the stingy head coach.

However, this isn’t the first time the Vikings defense has been a dominating unit. In fact, the mere mention of the Purple People Eaters brings to mind a dominating defensive line that brought fear into the hearts of opposing teams.

Recently, Gary Davenport at Bleacher Report assembled a list of the ten best defenses to ever play in the NFL and the 1971 Minnesota Vikings were included on the list and were placed in the fourth position.

Here is what Davenport had to say about the team:

"“(Alan) Page was hardly the only good player on a defense whose motto was “meet at the quarterback.” Carl Eller, like Page, is in Canton. Fellow linemen Jim Marshall and Gary Larsen earned a combined four Pro Bowl nods from 1968 to 1971.”"

The author showed a lot of love to the stout defensive line and noted the extremely low points allowed per game (9.9) and yards allowed per game (243.3) but failed to mention Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Paul Krause as part of a secondary which grabbed 24 total interceptions that season.

Of course, it’s even arguable that 1971 was the best year for the Purple People Eaters defense at all considering the franchise had a season in 1969 where only 9.5 points were allowed per game and the team won the NFL Championship. Still, it’s nice to see Minnesota get recognized among the best defenses ever to play the game.

The three defensive units ranked higher than the ’71 Vikings were the 2000 Baltimore Ravens in third, 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers in second, and the 1985 Chicago Bears in first.

Fans of the Minnesota Vikings will undoubtedly argue a lot about which season of the Purple People Eaters era was their best and where they belong on this list. However, it’s hard to beat a unit with three Hall of Fame players and others who arguably should have a place among the NFL’s elite. At least fans of the purple and gold know just how special this franchise is on the defensive side of the ball.