A Brief Look At Giants/Vikings History

We're back to looking at the history between the Minnesota Vikings and their opponents for a given week. This week, on Sunday night, the Vikings will face the New York Giants in the last (scheduled) home game at TCF Bank Stadium. For a stretch, it seemed like the Vikings and the Giants played each other pretty much every year, but I was surprised to find out that they haven't matched up as many times as I may have thought.

Let's take a look back at some of the regular season history between these two teams. As always, the numbers that make up this post come to us from the good folks at Pro Football Reference.

Total Games Between the Giants and the Vikings: 26 (23 regular season, 3 post-season)

All-Time Record: Vikings, 13-10 (Giants 2-1 in post-season play)

Total Vikings' Points Scored, Head-to-Head, Regular Season: 529 (23 points/game)

Total Giants' Points Scored, Head-to-Head, Regular Season: 432 (18.8 points/game)

Longest Vikings' Winning Streak vs Giants, Regular Season: 4 (13 November 2005 - 3 January 2010)

Longest Giants' Winning Streak vs Vikings, Regular Season: 3 (twice, most recently from 10 November 2002 - 31 October 2004)

Most Recent Vikings' Victory at Minnesota: 3 January 2010 (Final score 44-7)

Most Recent Giants' Victory at Minnesota*: 13 December 2010 (Final score 21-3)

Biggest Vikings' Victory in Minnesota: 37 points, 3 January 2010 (Final score 44-7)

Biggest Giants' Victory in Minnesota: 21 points, 31 October 2004 (Final score 34-13)

Current Streak: Giants, 2 victories

And a brief look back at the history between these teams:

-You'll note the * that was placed after the Giants' last victory in Minnesota above. That's because that game, while technically a Vikings' home game, was not played in Minnesota. That was the game that wound up being played at Ford Field in Detroit the day after the roof of the Metrodome collapsed. The last Giants' victory in a game that was actually played in Minnesota is the 2004 game listed above, where the Giants scored the first 34 points of the contest (thanks to two rushing touchdowns each for Tiki Barber and something named Mike Cloud) before the Vikings got a couple of garbage time scores.

-Minnesota's last victory over the Giants at home was in the 2009 season finale. The Vikings got four touchdown passes from Brett Favre as they scored 44 points in the first three quarters, with the Giants getting a fourth quarter touchdown run from Danny Ware to avoid the shutout.

-Most fans have forgotten. . .or tried to forget. . .the last time these two teams got together. It was a game that we simply remember as "The Josh Freeman Experience," as Leslie Frazier and Bill Musgrave inexplicably allowed a quarterback they had acquired about a week before to throw 53 passes (only 20 of which found Vikings receivers). Had it not been for a Marcus Sherels punt return for a touchdown, the Vikings would have gotten shut out at MetLife Stadium that Monday night, losing 23-7.

(Like you didn't know that was coming.)

-It didn't happen in Minnesota, but one of the stranger games in Vikings' history occurred against the Giants on 13 November 2005, as the Vikings managed to pull out a victory despite not scoring an offensive touchdown. They were the first team to get an interception return for a touchdown (Darren Sharper, 92 yards), a kickoff return for a touchdown (Koren Robinson, 86 yards), and a punt return for a touchdown (Mewelde Moore, 71 yards) in the same game. Brad Johnson managed to generate just enough offense to get the Vikings in position for a 48-yard field goal by Paul Edinger with ten seconds left, and the Vikings walked away with a 24-21 victory.

-Running back Adrian Peterson has, historically, not played well against the Giants in his career. He has faced the Giants four times, and the Vikings are 2-2 in those games. However, he has carried 57 times for 211 yards against them, an average of just 3.7 yards/carry, and has found the end zone twice. In his last two games against the Giants, he has carried the ball 27 times for just 54 yards and no scores.

-Giants' quarterback Eli Manning has had some pretty impressive hot and cold streaks in his career, but there are few teams that he's been colder against than the Vikings as far as the stats are concerned. Manning has faced the Vikings six times, and has a record of 2-4. However, he has a touchdown-to-interception ration of 4:11, and has had two different games against the Vikings where he has thrown four interceptions. He has completed just over 54% of his passes against the Vikings in his career.

And that's a brief look back at the history between the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Football Giants over the years. Hopefully the Vikings can get back into the groove against the Giants and close out TCF Bank Stadium. . .at least, for regular season play. . .with a victory.