1969 Minnesota Vikings season
The 1969 season was the Minnesota Vikings' ninth season in the National Football League (NFL) and their third under head coach Bud Grant. With a 12–2 record, the best in the league, the Vikings won the NFL Central division title, to qualify for the playoffs for the second year in a row. This was the first of three consecutive seasons as the best team in the NFL for the Vikings. They beat the Los Angeles Rams in the Western Conference Championship Game, and the Cleveland Browns in the final NFL Championship Game before the merger with the American Football League. With these wins, the Vikings became the last team to possess the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy, introduced 35 years earlier in 1934.
| 1969 Minnesota Vikings season | |
|---|---|
| General manager | Jim Finks |
| Head coach | Bud Grant |
| Home field | Metropolitan Stadium Memorial Stadium (October 5) |
| Results | |
| Record | 12–2 |
| Division place | 1st NFL Central |
| Playoff finish | Won Western Conference Championship Game (vs. Rams) 23–20 Won NFL Championship (vs. Browns) 27–7 Lost Super Bowl IV (vs. Chiefs) 7–23 |
| Uniform | |
However, Minnesota lost Super Bowl IV in New Orleans to the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs in the final professional football game between the two leagues. It was the second consecutive Super Bowl win for the younger league.
The season was chronicled for America's Game: The Missing Rings, as one of the five greatest NFL teams to never win the Super Bowl.