30 greatest NFL rivalries of all-time

27. Chicago Bears – Minnesota Vikings

The division rivalry between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears dates back to the Vikings’ first game as a franchise, when they upset Chicago 37-13 to start the 1961 NFL season.

Since then, the rivalry has been back-and-forth. Each team has had its share of long streaks of dominance in the series, and thrilling showdowns have become commonplace in recent years.

Minnesota leads the series 55-51-2 overall, but the Bears have been the hot team as of late. Chicago has won eight of the past 11 meetings. While there have been a few blowouts during this stretch, the majority of the games have came down to the wire. Seven of these meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less, including the last five contests between the two teams.

There have been a handful of memorable moments along the way as well.

During Mike Ditka’s final season as the Bears head coach in 1992, Chicago had a major mental lapse against Minnesota that foreshadowed a difficult year to come. In this game, the Bears surrendered a 20-0 fourth quarter lead, losing in the final moments and putting an end to what had been a promising start to the season.

Another significant moment came in 2010, when Bear defensive end Corey Wootton sacked Brett Favre on what would turn out to be the final play of Favre’s prolific NFL career.

The division rivals have met in the postseason just once, with the Bears winning a 1995 NFC Wild Card Game by a landslide score of 35-18.

Next: 26. New York Jets - New York Giants