Which team defenses were statistically the best in Minnesota Vikings franchise history?
This will require some disclaimers. This analysis is based predominantly on the ranking of the Minnesota Vikings among other NFL teams in a given season.
For instance, defenses of the 1970s allowed substantially fewer points than defenses of the 2010s. A so-called average team defense in 1975 allowed about 20 points per game. Today, that 20 points per matchup total would put a team at about 10th in NFL. Scoring has increased throughput the decades, verifiably.
Ranking the top five Vikings defenses of all-time is about perspective and a comparison to other teams in a given year. This is essentially a disclaimer to the reader who feels that every Purple People Eater team is markedly better than every Minnesota defense since. If that’s the sentiment, this examination will disappoint, to a degree.
The Vikings have historically been a defense-first franchise, notwithstanding some cloddish stretches. Therefore, selecting just five team defenses from a 59-year pool was not elementary.
As determined by ranking and team success in the corresponding season, these are top five defenses in Minnesota’s franchise history, ordered from great to greatest.