Which Minnesota Vikings offenses were statistically the best in team history?
The “Purple People Eaters” were a dreaded group of men in the late 1960s and 1970s for the Minnesota Vikings. Because of their decade of domination, it’s easy to call the Vikings a defense-first franchise. To an extent, this is true.
But Minnesota has more prevalently been near the top of the NFL in offense than they have in defense. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true.
In 59 total seasons, the Vikings have finished in the top 10 of points-scored 27 times. That’s 46 percent of all seasons.
Conversely, Minnesota has had a top 10 points-allowed defense in 26 seasons or 44 percent. So, in many respects, the Vikings are equally an offensive franchise as they are a defensive organization. We recently covered the most dominant defenses in franchise history if you’re interested in checking that out.
It is true, though, that as of late Minnesota has been a defense-first group. The Vikings front office hired defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer away from the Cincinnati Bengals in 2014 as the team’s new head coach. Zimmer is emphatically a defensively-oriented man.
Minnesota has finished in the top 11 of points allowed in every year Zimmer has been the coach. On the offensive side, the Vikings have finished in the top 10 only twice, the 2017 and 2019 seasons. In fact, last season was the team’s best offensive output to date under Zimmer.
Minnesota’s 2019 campaign was not quite that proficient to make this list of rankings. But had the list been extended, the 2019 offense would rank near the 17th slot.
Across several eras, coaches, quarterbacks, and skill position players, what are the top-five Vikings offenses in franchise history?