The Minnesota Vikings are getting ready for their first season outdoors since the early 1980s before the team moved into the Metrodome. The team will spend the next two seasons outside at TCF Bank Stadium. There have been several teams that made a transition from a pro stadium to a college stadium when renovations were done or a new stadium was built without much success. The question is whether or not the Vikings can be one of the first teams not to have that decline during the transition.
The example that is used most is the Chicago Bears who went from a 13-3 team in 2001 at Soldier Field to a 4-12 team the following season while playing at the University of Illinois. The Seattle Seahawks were a playoff team at 9-7 in 1999 playing at the Kingdome. They moved outside to the University of Washington for the 2000 season and finished 6-10. This is also a Minnesota team that has won just six outdoor games in their last 35 attempts. The Vikings were just 5-10-1 last season and if they were still in the Metrodome this year, they would have been playing five of their first six games under a roof and a total of 11 games indoors.
Instead, they will play just three times under perfect conditions no matter the weather outside. Here is a look at the final game at old Metropolitan Stadium from 1981 before the team moved inside. It is definitely a much different place than what the team has experienced for the last 30 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scNYnnQOpCM&feature=youtu.be
It means that the Vikings are going to need to depend on Adrian Peterson even more than they did in the past especially during those late season games in Minnesota where the weather is likely not going to be ideal. When I took a look at the 2014 schedule when it came out, I had the Vikings at 7-9 this season. That would be an improvement from last year and would buck the trend of teams having trouble in their transition season.
The schedule is obviously very difficult to begin the season and finding seven wins on the season could be a challenge but the bigger thing will be dealing with the conditions again. There has been just the one outdoor game in 2010 after the dome collapse in Brett Favre’s final game that didn’t go well for the Vikings. There is a lot of history against the Vikings being a good team in 2014 with a move from the indoors to the outdoors but maybe this can be the team that makes their own history.
I don't think it really matters where the Vikings play their home games.
i thought their new stadium was going to have a retractable roof?
i believe the stadium they will be using during the construction of the new faucility is outdoor.
ah, ok. that makes sense.
it gets flat out lethally cold in the twin cities.in the continental us,there are just a few cities that seem to always have a winter as cold as they do.playing outside when it is 10 below zero and the wind is blowing 30 mph is gonna effect everybody.
Why? Football players play outside all the time…
i loved playing in the rain or snow but when it would get down to 10 or 15 degrees, that was just painful.
I am really tired of hearing about this! If it's minus 20 for us,it's minus 20 for the opposition…if it's a blizzard for us,it's a blizzard for the opposition.The conditions are the same for both teams,and preparation and fundamentals are key.I believe with the new coaching staff we will be better prepared and better coached than we have been for years.How long that takes to transform into a winning record is anyones guess,but whether we are playing indoors or outdoors the conditions will not be an acceptable excuse!
it is like taking someone from Hawaii and bringing them to Alaska. It is freaking cold yes, but the Hawaiian dude or dudette will be affected more than the people who live there. They are used to dealing with the cold. As far as the OP, seems to me it would help them because they run the ball with AP and who would want to get punished by him on a freezing cold day.
They'll be alright outside.
Football games are often likened to war or battles. Suddenly we're supposed to care if someone's tootsies get cold? Suck it up, millionaires.
Yeah really. It'll be no different than playing in Chicago, Green Bay, Buffalo, Philly, Pitt, New England, etc in the winter. They are professionals not pussies.
The night before a game in cold elements, the players should all watch the Ice Bowl to remind themselves of what the game is all about.
I don't think that moving outside will affect the Vikings at all. Nor do I think that it will have any impact on their division rivals when they come to play, they're all used to playing in cold weather. It could actually be a huge advantage if they ever field a decent team and have the chance to host postseason games.
Thanks for all the opinions. It is something that will be worth watching for as the season wears on.
Id agree with whomever said its probably not going to matter much where the Vikings play. Theyre a bad team and theyre going to lose a lot of games no matter if the game is played at the north pole.
The cold is going to be a factor though and everyone is going to hate playing @ Minnesota because unlike Lambeau, TCF Bank isnt equipped to deal with the cold.
If you remember a few years back when their inflatable roof collapsed and the Vikes had to play at TCF Bank for a few weeks, there were a lot of problems with cuts and scrapes from getting tacked on frozen ground.