1969 Vikings

[lastcat3]

Just watched the Missing Rings episode of them and got me thinking in how good were they. Bud Grant flat out says in the episode that their passing game wasn't very good and that was a big reason they struggled in the Super Bowl was because they fell behind and didn't have the offense to make up ground.


I havn't looked at Joe Kapp's stats but you can tell by the way they describe him that he wasn't a guy that would impress you with his stats.


So were the '69 Vikings one of the more flawed Super Bowl teams there has been? From the little I have seen of them they seemed like a team that needed to get off to a lead so they could rely on their defense to take over the game. And if that didn't happen they were in trouble.

[BD Sullivan]

In many ways the 69 Vikes are similar to the 85 Bears in that both had incredible defenses with a charismatic quarterback who wasn't all that great. The Vikings two regular season losses were an opening week in the final minute to the Giants and and "who cares" loss to the Falcons in the finale, compared to the Dolphins loss for the Bears. Then again, Dave Osborn was no Walter Payton...

FWIW, both of the Super Bowls were played in New Orleans, though with obviously different outcomes.

[SixtiesFan]

Just watched the Missing Rings episode of them and got me thinking in how good were they. Bud Grant flat out says in the episode that their passing game wasn't very good and that was a big reason they struggled in the Super Bowl was because they fell behind and didn't have the offense to make up ground.


I havn't looked at Joe Kapp's stats but you can tell by the way they describe him that he wasn't a guy that would impress you with his stats.


So were the '69 Vikings one of the more flawed Super Bowl teams there has been? From the little I have seen of them they seemed like a team that needed to get off to a lead so they could rely on their defense to take over the game. And if that didn't happen they were in trouble.

For the 1969 season, Joe Kapp had 1726 yards passing with 19 TD passes, 449 yards and seven of the TDs came in one game, a 52-14 rout of the Colts in Week 2. Without this one big game, Joe Kapp had mediocre passing stats (especially for the QB of a playoff team) during the 1969 season.

Kapp did have some big plays in the playoff wins over the Rams and Browns. And he got a lot of publicity with his "40 for 60" shtick refusing the team MVP award.

[BD Sullivan]

Kapp did have some big plays in the playoff wins over the Rams and Browns. And he got a lot of publicity with his "40 for 60" shtick refusing the team MVP award.

All the breaks went his way in the title game against the Browns: he scored the first touchdown himself on a broken play and the second score came when a Browns defender slipped on the icy field at the Met giving Gene Washington an easy score. Then, during a second half run, he recklessly tried to leap over Jim Houston of the Browns. Instead of being seriously injured on the frozen field, his knee smashed into Houston's face and knocked him out.

[nicefellow31]

Just watched the Missing Rings episode of them and got me thinking in how good were they. Bud Grant flat out says in the episode that their passing game wasn't very good and that was a big reason they struggled in the Super Bowl was because they fell behind and didn't have the offense to make up ground.


I havn't looked at Joe Kapp's stats but you can tell by the way they describe him that he wasn't a guy that would impress you with his stats.


So were the '69 Vikings one of the more flawed Super Bowl teams there has been? From the little I have seen of them they seemed like a team that needed to get off to a lead so they could rely on their defense to take over the game. And if that didn't happen they were in trouble.

For the 1969 season, Joe Kapp had 1726 yards passing with 19 TD passes, 449 yards and seven of the TDs came in one game, a 52-14 rout of the Colts in Week 2. Without this one big game, Joe Kapp had mediocre passing stats (especially for the QB of a playoff team) during the 1969 season.

Kapp did have some big plays in the playoff wins over the Rams and Browns. And he got a lot of publicity with his "40 for 60" shtick refusing the team MVP award.

I grew up reading and hearing about that. When I read this book last year, https://www.amazon.com/Last-Kings-Old-N ... 1500813567 I was surprised to read about him getting benched a few times during games.

[Jay Z]

Kapp played well in the playoffs. 1969 was the only season with even decent regular season stats.

A similar quarterback of the time was Pete Liske. A Canadian vet with a poor arm, but a rep as a leader. Liske played for weak teams.

Kapp's "cash-in" mentality in 1970 makes sense if he felt that he'd overachieved on what he could do in 1969, and would be unable to build on or even sustain that level of performance.

[JohnH19]

As I’ve said many times, Kapp was the missing ingredient in 1970 and 71. The Vikings would have won one or both of SBs 5 and 6 with Joe at the helm. He was a flat out winner everywhere he played. Check out his CFL passing stats. He could throw the ball.

Regarding Pete Liske; I don’t put much stock in QB win-loss records but Liske was 13-14-1 with Denver and Philadelphia from 1969-72. Pretty damn impressive, all things considered.

[RRMarshall]

I can't agree on Kapp being the missing ingredient The Vikes had him in SB IV and his weaknesses were thoroughly exposed. He would have faced a similar defense with the Colts in SB V, and once Staubach became the starter for the Cowboys in 1971 they blew doors on everyone they faced. Funny thing about ol' Injun' Joe that people don't remember is that his agent convinced him he could be the 'Curt Flood' of football by playing out his option and suing the NFL. He essentially forfeited the rest of his playing career and never got a dime in court. No denying the great season he had in 1969 however. I wish that 1969 playoff game against the Rams and Roman Gabriel had been kept by CBS as I would love to watch it again. He led a great comeback down 17-7 against a very good Rams defense.

Interesting characteristic about Liske if you ever see old film of him but when he would leave the pocket and throw on the run he would point downfield to where he was going to throw. As Lee Roy Jordan of the Cowboys said,:"That was damn considerate!"

[JuggernautJ]

Interesting characteristic about Liske if you ever see old film of him but when he would leave the pocket and throw on the run he would point downfield to where he was going to throw. As Lee Roy Jordan of the Cowboys said,:"That was damn considerate!"

That's hilarious... and sounds like something that would happen on the sandlot...

[JohnH19]

I can't agree on Kapp being the missing ingredient The Vikes had him in SB IV and his weaknesses were thoroughly exposed. He would have faced a similar defense with the Colts in SB V, and once Staubach became the starter for the Cowboys in 1971 they blew doors on everyone they faced. Funny thing about ol' Injun' Joe that people don't remember is that his agent convinced him he could be the 'Curt Flood' of football by playing out his option and suing the NFL. He essentially forfeited the rest of his playing career and never got a dime in court. No denying the great season he had in 1969 however. I wish that 1969 playoff game against the Rams and Roman Gabriel had been kept by CBS as I would love to watch it again. He led a great comeback down 17-7 against a very good Rams defense.

Interesting characteristic about Liske if you ever see old film of him but when he would leave the pocket and throw on the run he would point downfield to where he was going to throw. As Lee Roy Jordan of the Cowboys said,:"That was damn considerate!"

Kapp played heroically in the 1968 Western Conference Final against the Colts and then threw seven TD passes against them in Week 2 of the 1969 season. I would have liked his chances.

I’ve seen QBs direct traffic when scrambling hundreds of times so Liske wasn’t doing anything out of the norm.