Super Bowl power rankings: Who’s the best loser?
By John Buhler
35. 1976 Minnesota Vikings, Super Bowl XI
The 1976 Minnesota Vikings would go 11-2-1, win the NFC Central, and play in its fourth Super Bowl. While the Vikings would defeat the Washington Redskins in the NFC Divisional round and the Los Angeles Rams in the 1976 NFC Championship, their fourth trip to the Super Bowl would end the same way as the others did; with a Vikings’ loss.
The 1976 Vikings had won their third NFC Championship in four years and were desperate to win a Super Bowl with Bud Grant as its head coach and Fran Tarkenton as its quarterback. The Vikings met the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl, hoping to change their Super Bowl luck.
Minnesota was a four-point underdog to the Raiders and ended up losing to Oakland by 18 points, 32-14 in Super Bowl XI. It seemed that playing very well in the NFC and an unprecedented fourth trip to the Super Bowl would possibly get the Vikings over the top.
However, the Vikings’ tortured history remained intact as they couldn’t defeat the Raiders in Super Bowl XI. This was the last time that the Vikings played in a Super Bowl. Brutal losses in the 1998 NFC Championship to the Atlanta Falcons and in the 2009 NFC Championship to the New Orleans Saints compound on this Super Bowl XI loss to make the Vikings one of the NFL’s most championship starved organizations. Only the Buffalo Bills have been to four Super Bowls and lost them all like the Vikings have.
Next: 34. 1977 Denver Broncos