Minnesota Vikings · Franchise era 4 of 7

Carter, Moss and the 1998 heartbreak: the Minnesota Vikings story

Franchise era

1992—2000

Carter, Moss and the 1998 heartbreak

Minnesota Vikings

The story in one sentence

Moss transformed the league as a rookie and the 15–1 Vikings set a scoring record before falling in overtime one game short of the Super Bowl.

01

The league's most explosive offense

02

Cris Carter, Randy Moss and John Randle gave the era its recognizable core.

03

Its ending created the conditions for the peterson years.

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Before 1992

    What came before

    Minnesota remained dangerous, including a surprise 1987 NFC title-game run, while assembling the stars of its next offense.

  2. After 2000

    What came next

    Peterson returned from major knee surgery to rush for 2,097 yards, while Brett Favre's 2009 season produced another painful NFC title-game finish.

The core

Faces of the chapter

← Previous eraBetween Tarkenton and the Dome1980—1991Next era →The Peterson years2001—2013