The 1997 season was the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

' 37th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) and their sixth under head coach

Dennis Green Dennis Earl Green (February 17, 1949 – July 21, 2016) was an American football coach. During his National Football League (NFL) career, Green coached the Minnesota Vikings for 10 seasons. He coached the Vikings to eight playoff appearances in ...

. The team finished with a 9–7 record and qualified for a wild card berth in the playoffs. In the wild card round against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

, the Vikings came back from a 22–13 deficit with 90 seconds to play to win 23–22, their first playoff victory since 1988. In the divisional round, the Vikings were defeated 38–22 by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. Vikings defensive tackle

John Randle John Anthony Randle (born December 12, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was a six-time first-tea ...

led the league in sacks with 15.5. Wide receiver

Cris Carter Graduel Christopher Darin Carter (born November 25, 1965) is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles (1987–1989), the Minnesota Vikings (1990–2001) and the Mi ...

's 13 touchdown receptions also were most in the league. Before the season, the Vikings acquired

Randall Cunningham Randall Wade Cunningham Sr. (born March 27, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and is also known for ...

after a year out of the game, a move that reunited Cunningham with his former

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

teammate Cris Carter.

Offseason

1997 Draft

Undrafted free agents

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Postseason

Statistics

Team leaders

League rankings

Staff

Roster

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1997 Minnesota Vikings Season Minnesota Vikings seasons

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...