2017 Minnesota Vikings season
The 2017 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 57th in the National Football League, and their fourth under head coach Mike Zimmer. With the team's home stadium, U.S. Bank Stadium, scheduled to host Super Bowl LII at the end of the season, the Vikings attempted to make history as the first team to play the Super Bowl on their home field; in recording their best regular season record since 1998, they clinched a first-round bye for the first time since 2009 and became the eighth team in the Super Bowl era to qualify for the playoffs in a season in which their stadium hosted the Super Bowl. They defeated the [2017 2017 New Orleans Saints season|New Orleans Saints season|New Orleans Saints] in the divisional round 29–24 on a walk-off play referred to as the "Minneapolis Miracle", but lost 38–7 to the eventual Super Bowl champion [2017 2017 Philadelphia Eagles season|Philadelphia Eagles season|Philadelphia Eagles] in the NFC Championship Game, preventing them from becoming the first team in NFL history to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium.
This was the first season since 2006 without star running back Adrian Peterson on the roster, as the team declined his contract option in February.
Roster changes
2017 draft
| Pro Bowler |
Draft trades
| Name | Position | College |
| Wes Lunt | QB | Illinois |
| Terrell Newby | RB | Nebraska |
| R. J. Shelton | WR | Michigan State |
| Josiah Price | TE | Michigan State |
| Aviante Collins | OT | TCU |
| Nick Fett | OT | Iowa State |
| Freddie Tagaloa | OT | Arizona |
| Tashawn Bower | DE | LSU |
| Caleb Kidder | DE | Montana |
| Sam McCaskill | DE | Boise State |
| Dylan Bradley | DT | Southern Miss |
| Eric Wilson | LB | [2016 2016 Cincinnati Bearcats football team|Cincinnati Bearcats football team|Cincinnati] |
| Shaan Washington | LB | Texas A&M |
| Horace Richardson | CB | SMU |
| Tommy Armstrong Jr. | S | Nebraska |
Transactions
| Date | Player name | Position | Contract terms |
| January 2, 2017 | Moritz Böhringer | WR | |
| January 2, 2017 | Kyle Carter | TE | |
| January 2, 2017 | Cayleb Jones | WR | |
| January 2, 2017 | Marquis Lucas | OT | |
| January 2, 2017 | Tre Roberson | CB | |
| January 2, 2017 | Bishop Sankey | RB | |
| January 2, 2017 | Sterling Bailey | DT | |
| January 2, 2017 | Austin Shepherd | OT | |
| January 2, 2017 | Cedric Thompson | S | |
| March 8, 2017 | Jeremiah Sirles | OT | 1 year / $690,000 |
| March 15, 2017 | Terence Newman | CB | 1 year / $3.25 million |
| March 15, 2017 | Adam Thielen | WR | 3 years / $17 million |
| March 24, 2017 | Brian Robison | DE | 2 years / $7.5 million |
| Date | Player name | Position | Note | New team |
| February 10, 2017 | Brandon Fusco | G | Released | San Francisco 49ers |
| February 10, 2017 | Mike Harris | G | Released | |
| March 6, 2017 | Chad Greenway | OLB | Retired | |
| March 9, 2017 | Rhett Ellison | TE | UFA | [2017 2017 New York Giants season|New York Giants season|New York Giants] |
| March 9, 2017 | Matt Kalil | OT | UFA | [2017 2016 Carolina Panthers season|Carolina Panthers season|Carolina Panthers] |
| March 9, 2017 | Jeff Locke | P | UFA | Indianapolis Colts |
| March 10, 2017 | Charles Johnson | WR | UFA | Carolina Panthers |
| March 10, 2017 | Captain Munnerlyn | CB | UFA | Carolina Panthers |
| March 11, 2017 | Audie Cole | LB | UFA | Jacksonville Jaguars |
| March 13, 2017 | Cordarrelle Patterson | WR/KR | UFA | Oakland Raiders |
| March 14, 2017 | Andre Smith | OT | UFA | Cincinnati Bengals |
| March 24, 2017 | Scott Crichton | DT | Released | |
| May 4, 2017 | Marquis Lucas | OT | Waived | |
| May 4, 2017 | Sterling Bailey | DE | Waived | |
| May 4, 2017 | Cedric Thompson | S | Waived | |
| May 16, 2017 | B. J. Dubose | DT | Waived | |
| May 17, 2017 | Toby Johnson | DT | Waived | |
| May 27, 2017 | Matt Asiata | RB | UFA | [2017 2016 Detroit Lions season|Detroit Lions season|Detroit Lions] |
| May 31, 2017 | Mitch Mathews | WR | Waived |
| Date | Player name | Position | Previous team | Contract terms |
| January 3, 2017 | Reid Fragel | OT | Kansas City Chiefs | |
| January 3, 2017 | Marshall Koehn | K | Miami Dolphins | |
| January 3, 2017 | Taylor Symmank | P | ||
| March 9, 2017 | Riley Reiff | OT | Detroit Lions | 5 years / $58.75 million |
| March 10, 2017 | Mike Remmers | OT | Carolina Panthers | 5 years / $30 million |
| March 14, 2017 | Datone Jones | DE | [2016 2016 Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay Packers] | 1 year / $3.75 million |
| March 16, 2017 | Latavius Murray | RB | Oakland Raiders | 3 years / $15.0 million |
| March 30, 2017 | Terrell Sinkfield | CB | BC Lions | |
| March 30, 2017 | Mitch Mathews | WR | [2016 2016 Cleveland Browns season|Cleveland Browns season|Cleveland Browns] | |
| March 30, 2017 | Nick Truesdell | TE | Cleveland Gladiators | |
| March 31, 2017 | Case Keenum | QB | Los Angeles Rams | 1 year / $2.0 million |
| April 3, 2017 | Ryan Quigley | P | Arizona Cardinals | 1 year / $2.0 million |
| May 10, 2017 | Michael Floyd | WR | New England Patriots | 1 year / $1.5 million |
| May 17, 2017 | Will Sutton | DT | [2016 2016 Chicago Bears season|Chicago Bears season|Chicago Bears] |
Preseason
Schedule
The Vikings' preliminary preseason schedule was announced on April 10.| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | NFL.com recap |
| 1 | at [2017 2017 Buffalo Bills season|Buffalo Bills season|Buffalo Bills] | W 17–10 | 1–0 | New Era Field | 60,459 | ||
| 2 | at [2017 2017 Seattle Seahawks season|Seattle Seahawks season|Seattle Seahawks] | L 13–20 | 1–1 | CenturyLink Field | 68,550 | ||
| 3 | August 27 | San Francisco 49ers | W 32–31 | 2–1 | U.S. Bank Stadium | 66,551 | |
| 4 | Miami Dolphins | L 9–30 | 2–2 | U.S. Bank Stadium | 66,409 |
Regular season
Schedule
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.Game summaries
Week 8: at Cleveland Browns
'''NFL London Games'''Week 12: at Detroit Lions
'''NFL on Thanksgiving Day'''Postseason
Game summaries
NFC Championship: at (1) Philadelphia Eagles
With their win against the Saints in the NFC Divisional Round, Minnesota became the first team in the Super Bowl era to advance to the conference championship game the same year they hosted the Super Bowl. Despite going to Lincoln Financial Field as three-point favorites, primarily due to a general lack of confidence in Eagles second-string quarterback Nick Foles, the Vikings lost in a massive upset to the number 1 seeded Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 38–7. Although the Vikings took an early lead on their opening drive via a pass from Case Keenum to Kyle Rudolph, the Eagles leveled the scores on a 50-yard Patrick Robinson interception return before scoring a further 31 unanswered points over the final three-quarters. This loss extended the Vikings' NFC title drought to 41 seasons, second only to the Detroit Lions' 48.Pro Bowl
Four Vikings players were elected to the Pro Bowl when the rosters were announced on December 19, 2017, with three-time selection Everson Griffen, two-time selection Xavier Rhodes and first-timer Adam Thielen all named as starters, while Griffen's fellow third-timer Anthony Barr was named on the bench at outside linebacker behind the Cardinals' Chandler Jones and the Redskins' Ryan Kerrigan. Safety Harrison Smith was rated as the best safety in the league by Pro Football Focus over the course of the season, but was not included in the roster for the Pro Bowl, leading to some considering him to be one of the biggest snubs of the season.Smith was eventually named to the NFC's Pro Bowl roster on January 22, after New York Giants safety Landon Collins withdrew due to injury. Kyle Rudolph was also included after Jimmy Graham pulled out with an injury, while Linval Joseph took the place of the Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles' Fletcher Cox. Smith will be appearing in his third straight Pro Bowl, while Rudolph and Joseph are appearing in their second career Pro Bowls. Barr and Griffen also pulled out of the Pro Bowl due to injury, replaced by Thomas Davis and Michael Bennett respectively.