What Would Have Happened Had the Vikings Won the 2009 NFC Championship Game?
Cole Smith
|
It’s been 12 years since the Minnesota Vikings defeated the New Orleans Saints to advance to Super Bowl XLIV. We celebrate the anniversary today by looking back through the years and seeing how the victory influenced the NFL landscape and fractured an entire franchise.
January 24, 2010: The Vikings, marred by big hits and fumbles in the Superdome, take over at their own 21-yard line with 2:37 left in the NFC Championship. Brett Favre leads a masterful drive before running back Chester Taylor picked up 14 yards to set the Vikings up at the Saints’ 33-yard line.
After two runs go nowhere, head coach Brad Childress calls a timeout to set up one final play from scrimmage. Noticing that there were two different personnel packages called, fullback Naufahu Tahi stays on the sideline. He explains to Childress that he saved the Vikings from a costly 12 men in the huddle penalty. “This team was littered with superstars all year,” Childress said after the game. “So it’s funny that [Tahi] may have made the biggest play of the game just by knowing the situation.”
The Vikings again get stuffed on third down, and despite getting iced on the first field goal attempt, Ryan Longwell hits a 51-yarder to send the Vikings to the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years.
February 7, 2010: Even though Favre left the NFC Championship Game bruised and battered, the Vikings lean on Adrian Peterson in the Super Bowl. The Colts, who own the 24th ranked rushing defense in football, can’t stop Peterson. He runs for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Indianapolis rallies late to cut the lead to 21-14. But on 3rd-and-1 at the Colts’ 40-yard line, Favre fakes a handoff to Peterson. He fires a deep shot to Bernard Berrian, who is ten yards behind the Colts’ defense. Peterson wins MVP, and during the trophy ceremony, Favre announces his retirement. “This was a magical season and you can’t write a better ending to my story.” The Vikings immediately retire Favre’s jersey.
March 25, 2010: The Vikings trade for Donovan McNabb, the longtime QB under Childress in Philadelphia. McNabb isn’t what he once was, but the Vikings know that they can squeeze one more year out of him before he ultimately drops off.
May 9, 2010: Fan enthusiasm is through the roof, and funding for the new Vikings stadium is approved. The stadium is set to be ready for the 2014 season.
January 2, 2011: Minnesota ends the season 10-6, clinching the NFC’s last playoff spot. Green Bay misses the playoffs due to tiebreakers and fan support is wavering. Favre winning a Super Bowl in Minnesota is making Packer fans turn on Mike McCarthy. Aaron Rodgers has yet to win a playoff game in three years and is viewed as QB with great stats that can’t actually elevate his team.
January 1, 2012: Mike McCarthy is fired from Green Bay after a 6-10 finish.
April 27, 2012: The Vikings, coming off of their second straight Divisional Round loss to the Falcons, draft Russell Wilson with the final pick in the second round.
November 26, 2015: After Brett Favre’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction, Green Bay tries to mend the broken relationship with their longtime quarterback. The game is nationally televised on Thanksgiving, and Favre is drowned with boos during the halftime ceremony. Rodgers has yet to win a playoff game in Green Bay. The Packers finish the year 5-11 despite Rodgers eclipsing 4,000 yards passing for the eighth straight season.
January 10, 2016: Minnesota hosts their first playoff game at U.S. Bank Stadium. The two-time defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, led by Colin Kaepernick, take the Vikings down to the wire, leading 24-23. Blair Walsh, the Vikings’ Pro Bowl kicker, faces a 27-yard field goal. As he has done all year, Walsh splits the uprights. He embraces his kicking coach, Ryan Longwell, who joined the Vikings’ coaching staff after retiring after the 2011 season. The win kickstarts a Super Bowl run.
Purple PTSD: Week 3 NFL Picks: The Vikings Bounce Back
February 7, 2016: The Vikings face the Broncos on the six-year anniversary of their first Super Bowl win. This is expected to be the final game of Tom Brady’s career. Brad Childress is determined to show that he can win a Super Bowl without Favre. Minnesota trails 17-13 with three minutes left before Russell Wilson leads the Vikings down the field. With 17 seconds left on third down on the Broncos’ 1-yard line, Wilson fires a slant to Percy Harvin to win the Super Bowl. Childress retires three weeks later and longtime assistant Kevin Stefanski takes over as head coach.
March 15, 2018: The Packers sign Kirk Cousins to a three-year, $115 million contract.
March 16, 2018: Green Bay trades Rodgers to the Broncos for two second-round picks.
September 8, 2019: Brad Childress is inducted into the Vikings’ Ring of Honor.
January 3, 2021: Blair Walsh hits a 58-yard field goal to clinch home-field advantage in the playoffs.
February 7, 2021: Minnesota once again returns to the Super Bowl on the seventh day of February. They handily defeat the Bills, sacking Patrick Mahomes a Super Bowl-record 11 times. Walsh hits all five of his field goal attempts. Justin Tucker, who was perfect on the season, misses two field goals, continuing a trend of kickers unraveling against the Vikings. Minnesota wins 23-5. Harvin retires following the game. Walsh wins MVP, cementing himself as the best kicker in the NFL.
January 22, 2022: The Vikings host the Lions in the Divisional Round. Led by Josh Allen, the Lions are knocking on the door of the NFC’s best. Minnesota loses 24-23 when Allen finds three-time All-Pro Laquon Treadwell for a 21-yard game-winning touchdown. Kellen Moore, Detroit’s first-year head coach, is praised for his clock management late in the game. Detroit travels to Chicago next week to face Joe Burrow and the Bears in the NFC Championship Game.
Editor’s Note: Cole takes readers on an imaginative timeline of what could have happened had the Vikings defeated the Saints 12 years ago. Obviously, the events described here are fictional.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”944592″ player=”26281″ title=”ADClip%20Zimmer%20Spielman” duration=”276″ description=”undefined” uploaddate=”2022-01-22″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/thumb/944592_t_1642869724.png” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/sd/944592.mp4″]