NFL Old School Game of the Week: Vikings' First NFL Game is a Dominant Win over Bears

 

On January 28, 1960 the National Football League announced that they would be added a new franchise in Minneapolis, Minnesota that would begin play in 1961 and become to be known as the Minnesota Vikings.

For their first season, the Vikings hired Norm Van Brocklin as their first head coach despite the fact the former NFL quarterback who had no coaching experience as he had just retired after the 1960 season in which he led the Philadelphia Eagles to the NFL championship.

With the head coach vacancy being fulfilled, the Vikings began to fill out a roster through free agency, the expansion draft and NFL draft as Minnesota would sign quarterback George Shaw, the man Johnny Unitas replaced as starting quarterback in Baltimore, and acquire running back Hugh McElhenny from the San Francisco 49ers, who had run for 4,288 yards and caught 195 passes for 2,666 yards during his nine seasons with the Niners.

In the collegiate draft, the Vikings would easy the #1 overall pick to select running back Tommy Mason from Tulane, the first of a class of 20 players that included in the third round, the selection of quarterback Fran  Tarkenton from the University of Georgia.

Tarkenton would serve as the backup to Shaw as the Vikings prepared to host the Chicago Bears at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota on September 17, 1961 for the first ever NFL game played in the state of Minnesota.

The Bears entered the 1961 season hoping to bounce back from a losing season the year before as they finished with a a 5-6-1 record for only the sixth losing season since their inception back in 1920.

Led by head coach George Halas, the Bears came into the game with the Vikings as a two-touchdown favorite as many experts believed Chicago would easily dispatch of Minnesota to get the '61 season off to a good start for the "Monsters of the Midway".

 The Vikings would begin their first offensive possession in team history at their 24-yard-line with an incomplete pass that would become a 23-yard gain as Bears cornerback J.C. Caroline was called for pass interference to give Minnesota a 1st down at their 47-yard-line.

From there, the Vikings would drive to the Chicago four-yard-line until Mike Mercer came on to kick a 12-yard field goal(The goalposts were at the goal line in 1961)to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead.

The Bears get the ball at their 26-yard-line for their first drive of the game as they drove to the Vikings' 30-yard-line until a comedy of errors would push Chicago backwards.

First, Gallimore fumbled a handoff from Brown which resulted in a fumble which was recovered by the quarterback but not after a loss of 11 yards to set up 2nd & 21 when Brown was sacked for a 10-yard loss which was followed by a two-yard loss by Casares that would force the Bears to punt on 4th & 33 where  center Mike Pyle's snap sailed over the head of punter John Adams and was recovered by the Vikings at the Chicago 14-yard-line, giving Minnesota a golden opportunity to increase their lead.

However, the Vikings could only muster three yards on three plays, forcing them to settle for a 18-yard field goal by Mercer which would sail wide left of the goalposts and no good as the Bears would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line.

But just one play later, the Vikings would have the ball back as linebacker Clancy Osborne intercepted a Brown pass to give Minnesota the ball at the Chicago 20-yard-line to give the Vikings another chance to get into the end zone.

The Vikings would drive to the Bears' one-yard-line where they would face a 4th & goal when Van Brocklin decided to go for the touchdown instead of kicking a field goal as Shaw tried to sneak into the end zone only to be stopped for no gain to keep the score at 3-0 as the first quarter came to an end.

Following a Chicago three-and-out, the Vikings would take over at the Bears' 31-yard-line when Van Brocklin took out Shaw and inserted Tarkenton in as quarterback.

Fran Tarkenton would come off the bench to complete 17 of 23 passes for 250 yards and throw four touchdown passes while running it for another touchdown.

The change at quarterback would pay off as Tarkenton would complete a 15-yard pass to fullback Mel Trippett on 2nd & 8 which was followed by a 14-yard touchdown pass to Bob Schnelker, the first in Vikings history, to increase Minnesota's lead to 10-0 just 87 seconds into the second quarter.

The Bears would begin their next drive at their 34-yard-line where they would advance to the Vikings' 26-yard-line when on 4th & 6, Halas decided to go for the 1st down, which he got when Brown connected with wide receiver Johnny Morris for a 23-yard completion to give Chicago a 1st & goal at the Minnesota three-yard-line.

After he was stopped for no gain on 1st down, Casares would punch it in for a three-yard touchdown to cut the Vikings' lead to 10-6 as the extra point would not be attempted as holder Dick Norman would fumble the snap from center.

Following an exchange of punts, the Vikings would get the ball back at their 42-yard-line as a 26-yard pass from Tarkenton to Jerry Reichow and an nine-yard run by the rookie quarterback put Minnesota at the Bears' 23-yard-line until Tarkenton fumbled the football which was recovered by Chicago linebacker Roger LeClerc to end the drive and allow the Bears to run out the clock in the first half with the Vikings on top 10-6.

The Bears would get the ball to start the second half as they would start their ensuing possession at their 20-yard-line only for Gallimore to lose the football on the first play from scrimmage as Vikings linebacker Rip Hawkins would make the hit that would force the fumble that was recovered by strong safety Rich Mostardi to give Minnesota the ball at the Chicago 27-yard-line.

Tarkenton would complete two passes to McElhenny for 13 yards to give Minnesota a 1st down at the Chicago 14-yard-line when an incomplete pass followed by a quarterback sack by Bears linebacker Joe Fortunato for a 15-yard loss would set up 3rd & 25.

That is when Tarkenton connected with Reichow for a 29-yard touchdown that would increase Minnesota's lead to 17-6 with 12:37 to go in the third quarter.

After forcing the Bears to punt on their ensuing possession, the Vikings got the ball back at their 29-yard-line as four plays took Minnesota into Chicago territory to the Bears' 49-yard-line when Tarkenton hit Reichow again, this time for a 48-yard completion to give the Vikings a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line.

Three running plays that resulted in a cumulative loss of one yard would set up 4th & goal when the Vikings decided to go for the touchdown which they got when Tarkenton completed a swing pass to McElhenny, who was able to get into the end zone for two-yard touchdown to push the Minnesota lead to 24-6 with 3:10 left in the third quarter.

Things would go from bad to worse for the Bears on their next drive as Brown would be intercepted again, this time by Vikings free safety Charlie Sumner to give Minnesota the ball at the Chicago 49-yard-line.

Seven plays later, the Vikings were back in the end zone as Tarkenton ran it in for a three-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to extend the Vikings' lead to 31-6.

Halas would insert Billy Wade at quarterback on the Bears' next possession which lasted only two plays as Wade would be intercepted by Vikings cornerback Jack Morris, whose 25-yard return gave Minnesota the ball at the Chicago 17-yard-line.

A pass interference penalty would push the Vikings back 15 yards to the Chicago 32-yard-line where they would face a 1st & 25 when Tarkenton found Dave Middleton for a 24-yard completion to set up 2nd & 1 where a three-yard run by Triplett gave Minnesota a 1st & goal at the Bears' five-yard-line.

Two runs by Doug Mayberry for three yards and an incomplete pass would bring up 4th & goal when Van Brocklin again went for the touchdown instead of the field goal as Tarkenton would find Middleton in the back of the end zone for the touchdown to push the Vikings' lead to 37-6 with 10:28 to go in the game.(The extra point was blocked by the way).

The Vikings celebrate in the locker room following their historic upset over the Bears.

The Bears would get into the end zone one more time before the end of the game, a 10-yard touchdown pass from Wade to Gallimore, as the Vikings came away with a stunning 37-13 win in their first game in team history.

The Bears would bounce back from the embarrassing loss to have a winning season as they would finish with an 8-6 record which included a 52-35 win over the Vikings in the final week of the regular season.

As for the Vikings, their win over the Bears would be the highlight of their inaugural season as they would finish with a 3-11 record as Minnesota would have only one winning season during Van Brocklin's tenure as head coach which lasted through the 1966 season.

Van Brocklin would be replaced by Bud Grant, who in his 19 seasons in Minnesota, would lead the Vikings 11 division titles and four trips to the Super Bowl, with Tarkenton as the quarterback for three of those four Super Bowl appearances.