THAT ’70s SHOWDOWN - Pioneer Press

THE LOOP SPECIAL REPORT >> THE VIKINGS-RAMS RIVALRY

THAT ’70s SHOWDOWN

The Me Decade gave us more than just Watergate, disco and The Fonz. It gave us a rivalry of Purple People Eaters, Fearsome Foursomes and some occasional mud. As the Vikings and Rams get ready for their eighth playoff matchup Monday night, we look back on the previous seven.

By Kevin Cusick

kcusick@pioneerpress.com

For two teams that haven’t faced off in the postseason since the Clinton administration, the Vikings have quite a history with the Rams of Los Angeles, then St. Louis, and now suburban Inglewood, Calif.

They were two of the NFL’s most dominant teams since the arrival of their legendary coaches: Minnesota’s Bud Grant and the Rams’ George Allen.

Their first big game came in Week 12 of the 1969 season, when the 10-1 Vikings handed Los Angeles its first loss. They had their first postseason matchup three weeks later.

The rivalry reached its peak in the middle of the ’70s, as they met in the playoffs four times in a five-year span. The only time they didn’t connect? You can blame that on Roger Staubach, and Drew Pearson’s Hail Mary shove on Nate Wright.

So here’s the sometimes magnificent seven of the Vikings-Rams rivalry.

NFL divisional playoff

Vikings 23, Rams 20

December 27, 1969:

The first postseason game ever at Metropolitan Stadium did not start well for the Bloomington hosts. The Rams took a 17-7 halftime lead thanks to two touchdown passes from the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, Roman Gabriel.

But Minnesota rallied after the break. Dave Osborn ran for his second touchdown of the game, then the Vikings took the lead on a 2-yard keeper by quarterback Joe Kapp.

The clincher can, fittingly, from the Vikings’ defense. Carl Eller beat the block from hall of famer Bob Brown and sacked Gabriel at the goal-line for what proved to be an insurance safety.

The Vikings went on to reach their first Super Bowl, while the Rams began what proved to be a three-year hiatus from the postseason.

NFC championship

Vikings 14, Rams 10

December 29, 1974:

Minnesota looked to defend its conference title against a team that beat them 20-17 in Week 11 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

The weather was relatively hospitable for late December on the future site of the Mall of America. But you wouldn’t know that the way the two teams handled the football, combining for eight turnovers.

The Vikings didn’t get their initial first down until the second quarter, but they gradually pulled ahead in the sloppy defensive struggle thanks to a Fran Tarkenton TD pass to Jim Lash and a touchdown plunge by Osborn.

Minnesota dominated the fourth quarter thanks to a pair of crushing sacks of L.A. QB James Harris, and a run-heavy drive that chewed up the last five minutes of the game. The win sent the Vikings to their third Super Bowl loss, this one to Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain.

NFC championship

Vikings 24, Rams 13

December 26, 1976:

A wind-chill of 7 degrees greeted Chuck Knox’s team that had just won the NFC West for a fourth straight season. And it looked Super Bowl-ready on its second drive, working the ball down inside the 1-yard line.

Then Knox played it too safe, opting for a field goal on fourth-and-6 inches. Tom Dempsey’s kick was blocked by Wright, and Bobby Bryant scooped and scored on a 90-yard game changer.

Chuck Foreman’s TD run padded the Minnesota lead to 17-0 early in the third quarter, and the Rams never recovered.

Sammy Johnson’s 12-yard TD run sent the Purple to Pasadena, clinching the Vikings’ fourth Super Bowl berth in the Rose Bowl. But this one ended as badly as their previous three thanks to John Madden’s dominant Oakland Raiders.

NFC divisional playoff

Vikings 14, Rams 7

December 26, 1977:

The 9-5 rapidly aging Vikings were given little chance to pull off an upset. They had lost 35-3 to the Rams in Week 6, and they lost Tarkenton to injury, meaning Bob Lee would be quarterbacking them.

Then the rains came.

A Southern California deluge turned the Coliseum field into a quagmire, and The Mud Bowl was born. As Vin Scully said to open the CBS telecast: “We are somewhat at sea.”

And the Rams were short of a paddle, getting shut out until the game’s final minutes. But the Vikings plowed ahead in the muck, getting touchdown plunges from Foreman and Johnson to advance to the NFC title game in Dallas.

The Vikings lost that one, as well as their next five trips to the NFC championship game in 1987, 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2017.

NFC divisional playoff

Rams 34, Vikings 10

December 31, 1978:

Nobody ever said revenge is a dish best served dry, but that was certainly the case as the Rams finally conquered their Vikings playoff hex on a sunny SoCal afternoon.

Minnesota barely finished .500 in winning a weak NFC Central Division in ’78, but they hung with the heavily-favored Rams early. A Tarkenton TD pass to Ahmad Rashad sent the game to halftime deadlocked at 10-10.

But Pat Haden’s offense dominated in a 24-0 second-half conquest, sending the Rams into the NFC championship where they tried, in vain, to beat their other tormentors: the Dallas Cowboys.

NFC wild-card playoff

Vikings 28, Rams 17

December 26, 1988:

After a needed 10-year hiatus, this rivalry resumed in the playoff opener at the Metrodome.

Neither team was considered a strong Super Bowl candidate. But the Vikings had the best player on the field: strong safety Joey Browner.

Browner intercepted two Jim Everett passes in the first quarter, and the Wade Wilson-led offense cashed both of those in for touchdowns. Everett wound up completing only 19 passes to Rams receivers, and three to Vikings defensive backs.

Minnesota left quietly in the next round, getting blown out by a San Francisco team still stinging from the Anthony Carter-led upset in the 1987 playoffs.

NFC divisional playoff

Rams 49, Vikings 37

January 16, 2000:

A quarter century ago, the last Rams-Vikings playoff matchup was a St. Louis affair, as The Greatest Show on Turf showed they were on their way to the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship.

Journeyman quarterback Kurt Warner followed up his MVP regular season with a virtuoso performance in his postseason debut. He riddled the Vikings’ defense for 391 yards passing and five touchdowns, as the Rams coasted after taking a 49-17 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Minnesota’s journeyman QB, Jeff George, played like an MVP in the final five minutes, throwing three of his four TD passes and finishing with a Warner-like 423 passing yards.

You can hear Kevin Cusick on Wednesdays on Bob Sansevere’s “BS Show” podcast on iTunes. You can follow Kevin on Twitter — @theloopnow. He can be reached at kcusick@pioneerpress.com.