What happened the last time the Vikings started with a 3-1 record?

After their win on Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings are now sitting with a 3-1 record this season for the first time since the 2012 campaign.

By defeating the New Orleans Saints in London, England on Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings currently have a 3-1 record after their first four games for the first time since the 2012 season.

That 2012 campaign was the fourth time since 1990 that the Vikings began a season with a 3-1 record. In each of these four instances, Minnesota went on to earn a spot in the playoffs.

Is a postseason berth in the future for the current Vikings? If it is, let’s hope they can at least get further in the playoffs than the last time the franchise started their season with a 3-1 record.

How well did the last Minnesota Vikings team to start a season 3-1 perform?

As it was mentioned previously, the 2012 campaign was the last time Minnesota began a season with a 3-1 record before the current team.

After winning three of their first four games in 2012, the Vikings ended up going 7-5 in their final 12 matchups of the season to finish with an overall record of 10-6. Minnesota won enough games in 2012 to qualify for the playoffs, but they didn’t win the NFC North.

Instead, the Green Bay Packers wound up capturing the NFC North title in 2012, and they were also the team that knocked the Vikings out of the 2012 playoffs in the opening round.

But the 2012 season was really only memorable for one reason that was the incredible performance put on by running back Adrian Peterson each week.

Coming off a torn ACL in 2011, Peterson went on to rush for a franchise record, 2,097 yards in addition to scoring 12 touchdowns on the ground.

The Minnesota running back was ultimately rewarded for his performance in 2012 when he was named that season’s NFL MVP. To this day, Peterson is still the last running back to be named the league MVP.

If there is any other reason to remember the Vikings’ season in 2012 it would be for the performance of kicker Blair Walsh in his rookie campaign. Walsh made 35 of his 38 field-goal attempts in 2012, including all 10 of his attempts from at least 50 yards away.

The Vikings kicker went on to earn a trip to the Pro Bowl and a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2012. Unforunately for Walsh, the rest of his career in Minnesota didn’t go as well as it did when he was a rookie.