Throwback Ten: Week 6

Each week throughout the 2015 NFL Season, ProFootballHOF.com will preserve some history by taking a look back at a matchup from the weekend’s schedule.

 

The Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings meet this weekend in a cross-conference battle for just the 12th time. The Pro Football Hall of Fame will be back in Minnesota for the second time this season. Following Mick Tingelhoff’s Ring of Excellence ceremony during Week 3, the Hall is hosting its Honor the Heroes Tour on Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 17-18) at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Check out more information here>>>

To help put this Sunday’s matchup in perspective, here are ten quick historical notes about the Chiefs-Vikings series.

 

1.

The Chiefs lead the all-time series against the Vikings 7 - 4. The two teams have also faced each other 16 times in the preseason and the Vikings lead that series 9-7.

 

 

2.

The pro football saga in the Twin Cities began in August 1959, when five Minnesota businessmen were awarded a franchise in the new American Football League being formed by Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt. Five months later in January 1960, the same ownership group made up of Bill Boyer, Ole Haugsrud, Bernie Ridder, H. P. Skoglund and Max Winter forfeited its AFL membership in order to become the National Football League's 14th franchise and begin play in 1961.

 

 

3.

The first game ever played between these two franchises was Super Bowl IV. The game took place at Tulane Stadium on Jan. 11, 1970 and pitted the AFL Champion Chiefs and NFL Champion Vikings for the World Championship. The Chiefs won the game 23-7 and secured the AFL’s reputation.

 

 

 

 

4.

The Chiefs have won the last two matchups by a combined 8 points, both of which were played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

 

5.

The Vikings struck a deal with Kansas City to trade 2007 NFL sack leader DE Jared Allen in exchange for the Vikings 1st round (#17) pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, a pair of 3rd round picks in 2008 and a swap of 6th round choices. Allen went on to lead the Vikings in sacks for six consecutive seasons (2008-2013).

 

 

 

 

6.

Jamaal Charles, who is Kansas City’s all-time leading rusher, was one of the two 2008 3rd-round choices (73rd overall) that came from Minnesota in exchange for Jared Allen.

 

7.

The Chiefs eked out a 31-28 victory at home on Dec. 12, 1999. Minnesota’s special teams kept them in the game with a Robert Tate 76-yard kickoff return touchdown in the second quarter and then a Randy Moss punt return touchdown of 64 yards to tie the game at 28 with less than two minutes to play. This was the first time in Vikings history a punt and kickoff were both returned for TDs in the same game. Unfortunately, the Chiefs’ Pete Stoyanovich kicked a 38-yard field goal with just three seconds remaining in the game to spoil the Vikings comeback.

 

 

8.

As a rookie, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson rushed the ball 25 times for 102 yards and scored his first rushing touchdown against Kansas City on Sept. 23, 2007. Peterson also added 3 catches for 48 yards in the 13-10 loss. Peterson will be looking for his 90th career rushing touchdown on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

9.

The Vikings and Chiefs were summer camp adversaries for years when Kansas City held their annual training camp at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for nearly two decades (1991-2009). The teams routinely held joint practices in Mankato, Minn. (the site of Vikings training camp) until the Chiefs moved camp back home for camp.

 

10.

Kansas City and Minnesota have also played in some unique places. Besides playing in Arrowhead Stadium, Metropolitan Stadium, the Metrodome and this Sunday’s game at TCF Bank Stadium, this series has also been played at three neutral sites. The first neutral site game was Super Bowl IV which was played at Tulane Stadium. The two teams have also played two preseason neutral site games. The first was played in 1989 in Memphis’s Liberty Bowl, and then five years later the squads made the trip to the Tokyo Dome to play in the American Bowl.