It was the year that the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke. Musical artists like Celine Dion and Lauryn Hill were topping the charts. It was also the year that the Minnesota Vikings fielded one of the most potent offensive attacks in NFL history. It was 1998. The traditional Thanksgiving Day NFL match-up in Dallas that year pitted the high flying Minnesota Vikings against the Dallas Cowboys. The legendary tandem of Pat Summerall and John Madden were calling the game for Fox.
The Vikings started the scoring early with a beautifully executed flea flicker. Quarterback Randall Cunningham got the pitch back from running back Robert Smith and connected with rookie receiver Randy Moss on a deep pass less than 4 minutes in. The Cowboys offense then took the field, which still featured the likes of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin. Aikman found Irvin on a deep pass of his own to put the Cowboys into Vikings territory. The Cowboys ended up settling for a field goal in what would be a sign of things to come in this game, with Dallas unable to match the Vikings attack. On the next drive, Randall Cunningham connected with Cris Carter for another touchdown pass, this time in tight coverage. With each of the Vikings star receivers now having a touchdown in the first quarter, it was 14-3 for the Vikings.
After a Dallas field goal, the Vikings continued to burn up the artificial turf of the old Texas Stadium, which was basically green pavement by today’s standards. Cunningham once again connected on a deep pass to the speedy Randy Moss for another touchdown. At 21-6, it looked like the route was on. Coach Chan Gailey and the Cowboys seemed to only be spectators taking in the match, much like the turkey-filled viewers at home. Even John Madden couldn’t help but mention how fun it was to watch the Vikings offense. It was also painfully clear how much the Cowboys defensive backfield was missing the play of Deion Sanders. He was out due to injury, and one can only imagine how entertaining it would have been to watch him do battle with the Vikings receivers.
The pace of the game calmed down a bit into the second quarter, as the teams exchanged punts. The Cowboys seemed to slow down the Vikings, but they could not capitalize and the scored remained 21-6. In fact, the faithful at Texas Stadium booed late into the quarter as the Cowboys receivers continued to drop passes. But Aikman would not be deterred, as he finally hits Patrick Jeffers for a touchdown. Sensing they needed as many points as possible, Gailey elects for a 2-point conversion, which was stuffed by the Vikings, and the score was 21-12. Gary Anderson tacked on a field goal for the Vikings to make the score 24-12 going in to halftime. As Anderson hit the field goal, Pat Summerall proclaimed what a great and accurate season he was having, as he was yet to miss a kick. What an ominous comment that would prove to be, knowing what fate would befall Anderson and the Vikings later that year.
Early in to the second half, the Cowboys put together a drive that got them inside the Vikings 10-yard line. As Emmitt Smith plunged over the goal line on a short run, the score was now 24-19 and just like that, the Cowboys were within a touchdown. The Vikings then went back to what had made them successful, as another bomb pass to Moss drew a pass interference call and a huge Vikings gain. On the very next play, Leroy Hoard carried a few defenders with him into the end zone on a powerful run, and the Vikings machine was back in top gear. A 2-point conversion attempt was successful after Moss hauled in a short pass from Cunningham to make it a 32-19 score.
In keeping with the Thanksgiving theme of the day, the audience is then treated to a view inside of John Madden’s travel bus. Never one to like flying, Madden used to travel from city to city in a large camping bus and on this day, it was being prepped for Thanksgiving dinner with turducken and 6-legged turkeys. Madden was speaking of awarding his annual turkey legs to the game’s top performers at the end of the contest.
In the closing seconds of the third quarter, Cunningham dumped a short pass off to Moss who outruns all the Cowboys defenders from the 50-yard line in. The score was now 39-22 and Summerall commented that Moss should start getting ready for some of Madden’s turkey.
In 1998, Minnesota’s profile was not just gaining ground because of the Vikings. Jesse Ventura had also just been elected Governor in an against-the-odds victory, and John Madden also made mention of this in the broadcast.
Although the odds were now stacked against them, the Cowboys wouldn’t stop fighting in this one, as Emmitt Smith ran for his second touchdown of the game. With about 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the score was 39-29. But the Vikings answered back as the track meet continued. Leroy Hoard took the ball and ran another one in, this time from about midfield. It was now 46-29 as this game was dragging on like a full course Thanksgiving dinner. As hard as the Cowboys continued to compete, even adding a late touchdown to make the score 46-36, they were simply outclassed by the Vikings offense on this day. The Vikings would go on to set an NFL record for points scored that year, and finish the regular season at a near perfect 15-1.
As Madden’s turkey legs were being awarded and as Randy Moss indulged, one cannot help but fast forward in their mind to the unfortunate demise of the Vikings season that year. The Vikings went on to host the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game. The game ended in heartbreak for Minnesota, with the Falcons winning in overtime after Gary Anderson missed his first field goal of the year late in the game. A field goal that would have iced the game for the Vikings. And to this day, we are still waiting for the first Vikings Super Bowl victory.
Not-so-instant-replay 