2012 Minnesota Vikings season The Minnesota Vikings season was the franchise ' s 52nd season in the National Football League , as well as the 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 , and improved on their record from 2010 when they beat the Chicago Bears in Week 14 ; the team ' s 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 Packers in the Wild Card playoff round the following week . Adrian Peterson was named the league ' s MVP after rushing for 2 , 097 yards , just nine yards short of breaking the single - season record held by Eric Dickerson . On May 10 , 2012 , the Minnesota State Legislature approved a new Vikings Stadium bill that would construct a new facility by 2016 and ensure the Vikings ' presence in Minneapolis through the year 2046 . The deal was signed by Governor Mark Dayton and approved by the Minneapolis City Council on May 25 , 2012 . 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 resigned 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 resigned DT Fred Evans . March 26 was a big day for signings by the Vikings , with the resignings 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 . 2012 draft . Notes : Post - draft transactions . 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 . Preseason . Schedule . The Vikings ' preseason schedule was announced on April 4 , 2012 . Regular season . Schedule . LEGEND : Postseason . Game summaries . NFC Wild Card Round : at Green Bay Packers . Having secured the NFC ' s # 6 seed , the Vikings traveled to Lambeau Field for a rematch with the Packers . With the two teams meeting in the playoffs for only the second time ever , Blair Walsh capped the game ' s opening drive with a field goal to put the Vikings 3 – 0 up . However , the Packers then scored 24 unanswered points to take a 24 – 3 lead in the 3rd quarter . The Vikings tried to rally a comeback with a touchdown to make it 24 – 10 , but it was too little , too late as time ran out for Minnesota . Pro Bowl . Four Minnesota Vikings players were selected for the 2013 Pro Bowl : two on offense ( running back partners Adrian Peterson and Jerome Felton ) , one on defense ( DE Jared Allen ) and one special teamer ( K Blair Walsh ) . Of these , Peterson , Felton and Walsh were selected as starters , with Allen going as a reserve . With the withdrawal of Dallas Cowboys LB DeMarcus Ware on January 10 because of a shoulder injury , Vikings LB Chad Greenway was called up to the NFC roster as a replacement . TE Kyle Rudolph was also added to the NFC roster for his first Pro Bowl two weeks later after Atlanta Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez dropped out due to injury . Rookie Matt Kalil was also added later as a replacement for the Washington Redskins ' tackle , Trent Williams , yet another casualty of injury . Rudolph was named the game ' s MVP .