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Everyone knows that Vikings fans hate the Packers. They don’t care for the Bears or the Lions, either. But what may surprise you is that Minnesota fans carry the same level of loathing for the New Orleans Saints as they do for teams in their own division.
The Saints obviously relished knocking an NFC South rival, the Panthers, out of the playoffs in the Wild Card Round this year. And their fans despise the Falcons and the Buccaneers. But the Vikings bring up a whole lot of painful memories for Saints diehards.
It reached a fever pitch the last time these teams met in the postseason: the NFC Championship Game following the 2009 season. Only three current players — Drew Brees and punter Thomas Morstead for the Saints, and defensive end Brian Robison for the Vikings — even played in that game. But as the two teams get ready to face off in Minnesota in the Divisional Round this weekend, it’s all very fresh in both fan bases’ minds.
Here’s a brief history of the animosity between these two teams.
The Vikings have owned the Saints consistently
John Hendrix of Canal Street Chronicles detailed to SB Nation why Saints fans have their own reasons to dislike the Vikings:
New Orleans has not performed well in Minnesota, going 3-13 all-time on the road in their series history. There’s particular salt from the Saints fan base for a few reasons. For starters, the 1987 season was something special for New Orleans, finishing 12-3 and hosting the then 8-7 Vikings at the Superdome. They fell flat on their faces in the team’s first-ever postseason appearance, as Minnesota pummeled them.
Once they finally notched their first franchise playoff victory in the 2000 season by upsetting the Rams, a date awaited them in Minnesota in which they got crushed by Randy Moss and Cris Carter. Many fans are also still upset over the 2008 Monday Night Football game, which had a little bit of everything in it.
Minnesota has a 21-11 all-time series lead over the Saints. The Vikings have outscored the Saints 663-312, which adds up to a lot of humiliating losses for New Orleans. And that’s carried over into the playoffs.
It took the Saints 20 years in the NFL to even post a single winning season. They finished 12-3 in 1987, and the Vikings — who barely finished above .500 — marched into New Orleans and handed the Saints a 44-10 beatdown.
The Saints made the postseason for the fifth time in team history after the 2000 season. They got their first-ever playoff win over the Rams in the Wild Card Round, only to find themselves up against the Vikings again in divisional play. Minnesota delivered another early exit from the playoffs with a 34-16 win over the Saints.
And that Monday Night Football loss during the 2008 season that Hendrix mentioned? That was a 30-27 punch to the gut that came on a Ryan Longwell field goal with just 16 seconds left in the game.
But the game that really fanned the flames of animosity between these two teams was the NFC Championship after the 2009 season.
The Saints stole that one from the Vikings ... or did they?
Vikings fans see the Saints as the team that cheated them out of a Super Bowl XLIV appearance. Eric Thompson from Daily Norseman, SB Nation’s Vikings site, breaks it down in very simple terms:
(Sean) Payton is finishing his 11th season at the helm of the Saints. It would be his 12th, but, you know ... HE WAS SUSPENDED FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR BASED ON THE BOUNTYGATE SCANDAL HE LET HAPPEN RIGHT UNDER HIS NOSE DURING THE 2009 SEASON. A season that ended in very infamous fashion for the Vikings and a Super Bowl title for the Saints. Am I still bitter about it eight years later? Of course I am!
The Saints were 13-3 and the top seed in the NFC in 2009. The Vikings, with former Packers quarterback Brett Favre under center, went 12-4 and locked up the second seed. Both made it through the Divisional Round to face off in the conference championship.
The Vikings fumbled six times, losing three, against an aggressive Saints defense. Favre threw two picks, including a heartbreaker with just 19 seconds left in regulation when the Vikings had a 28-21 lead. Tracy Porter ran it back for a touchdown to send the game to overtime. The Saints pulled out the win in overtime with a field goal.
Favre was pretty beat up by the time that he threw that pick-six. Defensive end Bobby McCray wasn’t flagged when he hit Favre low in the third quarter, but the NFL’s head of officiating at the time, Mike Pereira, said that he should have been.
“It’s the type of hit that we don’t want,” Pereira said via ESPN, “ … because clearly we’re trying to protect the knees and we need to focus on this to make sure we don’t miss [them].”
Favre’s agent, Bus Cook, later shared photos of his client’s ankle and hamstring, which were visibly and badly bruised. When the Bountygate news broke, Favre said that it did feel like he took some cheap shots, but he wasn’t upset about it.
“I’m not pissed,” Favre said, via Pro Football Talk. “It’s football. I don’t think anything less of those guys. I would have loved to play with Vilma. Hell of a player. I’ve got a lot of respect for Gregg Williams. He’s a great coach. I’m not going to make a big deal about it. In all honesty, there’s a bounty of some kind on you on every play.”
Favre may be okay with it. But as the next chapter of this rivalry looms, Vikings fans haven’t forgotten.
It was a charmed season for New Orleans. The Saints went on to beat the Colts in the Super Bowl. The Vikings haven’t won a playoff game since that postseason, and they’re still looking for their team’s first ring.
The Vikings have a chance to get that Lombardi Trophy this season. They’ll have to get past the Saints on Sunday to do it, and that would make it even sweeter.