A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| 2012 Minnesota Vikings season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Zygi Wilf |
| Head coach | Leslie Frazier |
| Home field | Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–6 |
| Division place | 2nd NFC North |
| Playoff finish | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Packers) 10–24 |
| Pro Bowlers | 7
|
| AP All-Pros | 4
|
| Team MVP | Adrian Peterson |
| Uniform | |
 | |
The 2012 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 52nd in the National Football League (NFL), as well as their second full season under head coach Leslie Frazier. They looked to improve upon their 3–13 season the year before, and did so after defeating the Tennessee Titans in Week 5; their win over the Houston Texans in Week 16 made this their first winning season since 2009. The Vikings also made the playoffs for the first time since 2009 with a Week 17 win over the Green Bay Packers to give them a 10–6 regular season record, but were defeated by the same opponents in the Wild Card playoff round the following week. Adrian Peterson was named the league's Most Valuable Player after rushing for 2,097 yards, just nine yards short of breaking the single-season record held by Eric Dickerson since 1984.
On May 10, 2012, the Minnesota State Legislature approved a bill for a new stadium for the team that would see a new facility (later named U.S. Bank Stadium) constructed by 2016 and ensure the Vikings' presence in Minneapolis through the year 2046.[1] The bill was signed by Governor Mark Dayton on May 14,[2] and approved by the Minneapolis City Council by a vote of 7–6 on May 25.[3][4]
As of 2023, the only player from the 2012 squad still with the Vikings is safety Harrison Smith.
Offseason
Pre-draft transactions
The first major transactions of the 2012 offseason were the releases of veteran guards Steve Hutchinson and Anthony Herrera, and CB Cedric Griffin on March 10, as the Vikings began rebuilding their offensive line and secondary. Three days later, the team re-signed perennial backup QB Sage Rosenfels and DT Letroy Guion off their unrestricted free agents list. This was followed up with the signing of the Seattle Seahawks' unrestricted free agent TE John Carlson on a five-year contract.
The next week, the team brought in FB Jerome Felton, also an unrestricted free agent, from the Indianapolis Colts. They then released DT Remi Ayodele on March 21, but re-signed DT Fred Evans. March 26 was a big day for signings by the Vikings, with the re-signings of WR Devin Aromashodu and LB Erin Henderson, as well as the free agent acquisitions of CB Zack Bowman from the Chicago Bears and T Geoff Schwartz from the Carolina Panthers.
April saw very few transactions go through in anticipation of the 2012 NFL Draft at the end of the month. Nevertheless, the Vikings signed LB Marvin Mitchell and WR Jerome Simpson, despite the fact that Simpson would miss the first three games of the season for a violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy.
Draft
| Pro Bowler |
| 2012 Minnesota Vikings Draft | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Contract | Notes | |
| Round | Overall | |||||
| 1 | 3 | Traded to the Cleveland Browns | ||||
| 4 | Matt Kalil | T | USC | 4 years[5] | From Browns | |
| 29 | Harrison Smith | S | Notre Dame | 4 years[6] | From Ravens | |
| 2 | 35 | Traded to the Baltimore Ravens | ||||
| 3 | 66 | Josh Robinson | CB | Central Florida | 4 years[7] | |
| 4 | 98 | Traded to the Baltimore Ravens | ||||
| 118 | Jarius Wright | WR | Arkansas | 4 years[7] | From Falcons via Browns | |
| 128 | Rhett Ellison | FB | USC | 4 years[7] | Compensatory pick | |
| 134 | Greg Childs | WR | Arkansas | 4 years[7] | Compensatory pick | |
| 5 | 138 | Traded to the Detroit Lions | ||||
| 139 | Robert Blanton | S | Notre Dame | 4 years[7] | From Browns | |
| 6 | 173 | Traded to the Washington Redskins | ||||
| 175 | Blair Walsh | K | Georgia | 4 years[7] | From Browns | |
| 7 | 210 | Audie Cole | ILB | NC State | 4 years[7] | |
| 211 | Traded to the Tennessee Titans | From Browns | ||||
| 219 | Trevor Guyton | DE | California | 4 years[7] | From Seahawks via Lions | |
| 223 | Traded to the Detroit Lions | From Eagles via Patriots | ||||
Notes:
- ^ Cleveland traded their first-round selection (4th overall), fourth-round selection (118th overall), fifth-round selection (139th overall), and seventh-round selection (211th overall) to move up one spot to the third overall selection and draft RB Trent Richardson.
- ^ Minnesota traded their second-round selection (35th overall) and fourth-round selection (98th overall) to Baltimore to move up six spots to 29th overall selection and make this pick.
- ^ Minnesota was awarded two compensatory picks for the loss of free agents Ray Edwards, Ben Leber, Tarvaris Jackson, and Sidney Rice.
- ^ Detroit traded their seventh-round selection (219th overall) and 2013 fourth-round selection (102nd overall) to Minnesota for their fifth-round selection (138th overall) and the seventh-round selection (223rd overall) that they received from New England in the trade for Randy Moss in 2010.
- ^e Minnesota traded their sixth-round selection (173rd overall) to Washington for QB Donovan McNabb.
- ^f Cleveland traded their sixth-round selection (175th overall) to Minnesota in exchange for DE Jayme Mitchell.[8]
- ^g Tennessee traded their 2013 sixth-round selection (176th overall) to Minnesota for the seventh-round selection (211th overall) that they received in the first-round trade with Cleveland.a Minnesota later traded the pick they received from Tennessee to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for a seventh-round pick and CB A. J. Jefferson.
Post-draft transactionsedit
With the 2012 Draft over, the Vikings resumed their transactions in May, signing a number of undrafted free agents to their roster, and releasing RB Caleb King, following a short jail term. With the drafting of Blair Walsh, veteran kicker Ryan Longwell found himself surplus to requirements for the Vikings and he was released on May 7. By the start of June, all of the Vikings draft selections (with the exception of T Matt Kalil) had been signed to long-term contracts.
Preseasonedit
Scheduleedit
This was the first year the Vikings used a TV/radio simulcast for their preseason games.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | NFL.com recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 10 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 6–17 | 0–1 | Candlestick Park | Recap |
| 2 | August 17 | Buffalo Bills | W 36–14 | 1–1 | Mall of America Field | Recap |
| 3 | August 24 | San Diego Chargers | L 10–12 | 1–2 | Mall of America Field | Recap |
| 4 | August 30 | at Houston Texans | L 24–28 | 1–3 | Reliant Stadium | Recap |
Game summariesedit
Week 1: at San Francisco 49ersedit
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikings | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 49ers | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California
- Date: August 10
- Game time: 8:00 p.m.
- Game weather: Sunny, 60 °F (16 °C)
- Game attendance: 69,732
- Referee: Jim Core ()
- TV announcers (WUCW-23): Paul Allen, Pete Bercich, Greg Coleman and Ben Leber
- Recap, Game Book
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|