Wild Card Round: Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants (Giants Stadium), the bracket opens here. Kickoff: Sat December 27, 1997 at 12:30pm. Winner advances to the divisional round. Loser starts the offseason early.[1][2]
Wild card weekend is the most chaotic football the calendar produces. Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants at Giants Stadium is the kind of game that decides whether a season was a long buildup or a quick exit. These are the games where the second-tier playoff teams have to prove they belong. Most don't. The few who do define the rest of January.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Giants Stadium shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
Minnesota Vikings versus New York Giants in the Wild Card Round. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of Minnesota Vikings-New York Giants cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 11-5 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 11-5 | L1 |
| Tennessee Oilers | 8-8 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7-9 | W3 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 6-9-1 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| New England Patriots | 10-6 | W1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 9-7 | L2 |
| New York Jets | 9-7 | L1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 6-10 | L3 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 3-13 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | 13-3 | W6 |
| Denver Broncos | 12-4 | W1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 8-8 | W2 |
| Oakland Raiders | 4-12 | L5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 4-12 | L8 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers | 13-3 | L1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 7-9 | L1 |
| Carolina Panthers | 7-9 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 6-10 | L1 |
| St. Louis Rams | 5-11 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 13-3 | W5 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 10-6 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 9-7 | W2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 9-7 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears | 4-12 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| New York Giants | 10-5-1 | W3 |
| Washington Redskins | 8-7-1 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 6-9-1 | L3 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6-10 | L5 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 4-12 | -- |
1997 Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants NFC Wild Card Playoff
1997 NFC Wild Card Minnesota v NY Giants
1997 NFC Wildcard Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants
NY Giants 1997-12-27 NYG 22 vs Vikings 23 Wildcard Playoff
Can Cunningham & Co. Come Back? Giants vs. Vikings (1997 Wildcard) Classic Highlights
Vikings/Giants 1997 Wild Card Highlights and Postgame interviewsMinnesota Vikings None, New York Giants None
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Vikings | 0 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 03102323 |
| New York Giants | 6 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 619192222 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Giants | Brad Daluiso 43 yard field goal | 0-3 |
| Giants | Brad Daluiso 22 yard field goal | 0-6 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Giants | Aaron Pierce 2 yard pass from Danny Kanell ( Brad Daluiso kick) | 0-13 |
| Giants | Brad Daluiso 41 yard field goal | 0-16 |
| Vikings | Eddie Murray 26 yard field goal | 3-16 |
| Giants | Brad Daluiso 51 yard field goal | 3-19 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Vikings | Leroy Hoard 4 yard rush ( Eddie Murray kick) | 10-19 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Vikings | Eddie Murray 26 yard field goal | 13-19 |
| Giants | Brad Daluiso 22 yard field goal | 13-22 |
| Vikings | Jake Reed 30 yard pass from Randall Cunningham ( Eddie Murray kick) | 20-22 |
| Vikings | Eddie Murray 24 yard field goal | 23-22 |
Minnesota Vikings defeated New York Giants 23-22 at Giants Stadium in the Wild Card Round. The final scoring play was Vikings: Eddie Murray 24 yard field goal. The result came down to the final possession; Minnesota Vikings won by 1. Top line of the day: Randall Cunningham: 203 pass yards on 15-of-36, 1 TD, 1 INT. Minnesota Vikings advance to the divisional round.[1][2]
Minnesota Vikings walked out of Giants Stadium as the team that survived a Wild Card Round New York Giants will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 23-22. The game stayed within 1 points throughout, the kind of contest where every drive felt like a referendum and every defensive stop carried twice its usual weight. The final scoring play came from Vikings: Eddie Murray 24 yard field goal. Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Minnesota Vikings advance to the divisional round.
Minnesota Vikings 23, New York Giants 22. Round: Wild Card Round. Attendance: 77497. Q1: 2 scoring plays. Q2: 4 scoring plays. Q3: 1 scoring play. Q4: 4 scoring plays. Top performers:
- Randall Cunningham: 203 pass yards on 15-of-36, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Jake Reed: 5 catches for 89 yards
Wild Card Round, played at Giants Stadium. Final: Minnesota Vikings 23, New York Giants 22, with Minnesota Vikings taking the result by 1. **First quarter**
- Giants: Brad Daluiso 43 yard field goal
- Giants: Brad Daluiso 22 yard field goal
Second quarter
- Giants: Aaron Pierce 2 yard pass from Danny Kanell ( Brad Daluiso kick)
- Giants: Brad Daluiso 41 yard field goal
- Vikings: Eddie Murray 26 yard field goal
- Giants: Brad Daluiso 51 yard field goal
Third quarter
- Vikings: Leroy Hoard 4 yard rush ( Eddie Murray kick)
Fourth quarter
- Vikings: Eddie Murray 26 yard field goal
- Giants: Brad Daluiso 22 yard field goal
- Vikings: Jake Reed 30 yard pass from Randall Cunningham ( Eddie Murray kick)
- Vikings: Eddie Murray 24 yard field goal
Top performers
- Randall Cunningham: 203 pass yards on 15-of-36, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Jake Reed: 5 catches for 89 yards
A 1-point margin in Wild Card Round is the kind of result that defines reputations on both sidelines.
| Vikings | Giants | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 16 | 13 |
| Total Yards | 293 | 266 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 2 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 15/36 | 16/32 |
| Pass yards | 203 | 199 |
| Pass TD | 1 | 1 |
| Interceptions | 1 | 0 |
| Sacks taken | 2 | 1 |
| Sack yards lost | 16 | 9 |
| Net pass yards | 187 | 190 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 28 | 36 |
| Rush yards | 106 | 76 |
| Rush TD | 1 | 0 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 4 | 2 |
| Fumbles lost | 2 | 2 |
| Penalties | 3 | 4 |
| Penalty yards | 21 | 28 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | |||||
| Randall Cunningham | 15/36 | 203 | 1 | 1 | |
| NYG | |||||
| Danny Kanell | 16/32 | 199 | 1 | 0 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | ||||
| Robert Smith | 16 | 40 | 0 | 16 |
| Randall Cunningham | 7 | 38 | 0 | 11 |
| Leroy Hoard | 3 | 14 | 1 | 6 |
| Charles Evans | 2 | 14 | 0 | 9 |
| NYG | ||||
| Tiki Barber | 17 | 29 | 0 | 14 |
| Charles Way | 10 | 28 | 0 | 9 |
| Rodney Hampton | 8 | 18 | 0 | 7 |
| Eric Lane | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIN | ||||
| Jake Reed | 5 | 89 | 1 | 33 |
| Cris Carter | 6 | 83 | 0 | 21 |
| Andrew Glover | 2 | 18 | 0 | 11 |
| Leroy Hoard | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Greg DeLong | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| NYG | ||||
| David Patten | 5 | 86 | 0 | 37 |
| Chris Calloway | 6 | 53 | 0 | 21 |
| Tiki Barber | 3 | 31 | 0 | 16 |
| Charles Way | 1 | 27 | 0 | 27 |
| Aaron Pierce | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
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