A Brief Look At Vikings/Dolphins History

Again, I managed to forget to do one of these for last week's game. Of course, I had done one for the first matchup this season between the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions, so it probably isn't that major. This week's opponent, the Miami Dolphins, is a team we don't see quite as often, so we need to take a look back at what these two teams have done against each other.

The Dolphins handed the Vikings the second of their four Super Bowl losses back in January of 1974, beating the Vikings by a score of 24-7. It was Miami's second straight Super Bowl win, with the previous one coming via the undefeated team of 1972.

As usual, the numbers that this post is built around come from the good folks at Pro Football Reference.

Total Games Between the Vikings and the Dolphins: 11 (10 regular season, 1 post-season)

All-Time Series: Dolphins 7-4 (Dolphins 6-4 in the regular season, 1-0 in the post-season)

Total Vikings Points Scored, Head-to-Head: 184 (16.7 points/game)

Total Dolphins Points Scored, Head-to-Head: 217 (19.7 points/game)

Longest Vikings Winning Streak vs Dolphins: 3 (25 September 1994 - 21 December 2002)

Longest Dolphins Winning Streak vs Vikings: 3 (16 December 1979 - 2 October 1988)

Most Recent Vikings Victory in Miami: 11 December 1976 (Final score 29-7)

Most Recent Dolphins Victory in Miami: 19 November 2006 (Final score 24-20)

Biggest Vikings Victory in Miami: 22 points, 11 December 1976 (Final score 29-7)

Biggest Dolphins Victory in Miami: 17 points, 2 October 1988 (Final score 24-7)

That game referenced above from 11 December 1976 represents the only time that the Minnesota Vikings have won in Miami. They are 1-3 there all-time, while posting a 3-3 record against them in Minnesota and an 0-1 mark against the Dolphins on neutral fields.

As you can see from the point totals, there haven't been a lot of high-scoring games in this series. In fact, in the 11 times they've faced each other, the Vikings and Dolphins have only put up 30 or more points against each other once. . .and they both did it in the same game, a 38-35 Minnesota victory at the Metrodome in September of 1994.

Also, outside of the 1976 contest, the Vikings have never beaten the Dolphins by double-digit points. In their three-game winning streak over the Dolphins. . .all three of which happened at the Metrodome. . .they beat the Dolphins by 3, 6, and 3 points. Their last win over the Dolphins came in December of 2002, where Gary Anderson's 53-yard field goal. . .which was preceded by Cris Carter running up and down the Miami sideline declaring that Anderson couldn't kick it that far. . .gave the Vikings a 20-17 victory.

The last time these two teams faced off in Miami in November of 2006, the Vikings led 13-10 early in the fourth quarter, but the Dolphins got two defensive touchdowns in the last quarter of play to win it. Chester Taylor scored a meaningless touchdown with one second left to narrow the gap to 24-20 in favor of the Dolphins.

And that's a look back at the history between the Minnesota Vikings and the Miami Dolphins. Hopefully, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater can lead the Vikings into his home town and let them do something that they haven't done since yours truly was just shy of three months old. . .beat the Dolphins in Miami.