The day the Vikings put Joe Montana on the bench and Bill Walsh on the hot seat

May 15, 2024

Shortly after the Vikings beat the Saints in overtime on Sunday, the memories started rushing back for Keith Millard.

The former Viking started to put the pieces together. Minnesota entering the playoffs as the No. 5 seed on the heels of a pair of concerning performances, prevailing over the heavy favorite in New Orleans on wild-card weekend to set up a trip to No. 1 seed San Francisco in the NFC semifinals.

“I didn’t really put a lot into it until after the Saints game,” Millard said by phone this week. “When we won that game, I was like, here we go. It’s like the ’87 season all over again.”

If only these Vikings were bringing Anthony Carter with them.

When Millard reflects on a standout eight-year NFL career, few games come up more than the one at Candlestick Park on Jan. 9, 1988. After routing the favored Saints the previous weekend, the Vikings were 11-point underdogs to Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and the top-seeded 49ers.

When it was all over, Carter had outshined Rice, Montana had watched the last quarter from the bench and legendary 49ers coach Bill Walsh was in owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr.’s crosshairs.

“I’ll never forget Eddie telling Bill that night: ‘Bill, I don’t want you to lose another playoff game. This is the last one you lose with the 49ers,’” longtime former 49ers executive Carmen Policy said.

The final score: Vikings 36, 49ers 24. All these years later, only one thing comes to mind when 49ers tight end Brent Jones reflects on one of the biggest upsets in NFL playoff history.

“Somebody please cover Anthony Carter,” he said.

On Saturday, the sixth-seeded Vikings will play on the road against the top-seeded 49ers again, almost 32 years to the day after Millard, AC, Wade Wilson and the rest of an underestimated team stormed in and throttled a dynasty in the making.

Setting the stage

The 1987 season was a mess. A strike led to replacement players being used for three games. The Vikings went 0-3 in those games, putting a talented team in a deep hole.

Greg Coleman, Vikings punter and player rep: There were teams all across the league where you had superstars crossing the line and guys going in from this team and that team. We were one of the few that didn’t. What they told us, these scab games weren’t going to count, and they lied to us. Damn if they didn’t.

The 49ers took the replacement games more seriously. They went undefeated in those games on their way to a 13-2 record.

Carmen Policy, 49ers executive: I came back from the meetings and I told Eddie and I told Bill Walsh: These games are going to count. … This season is going to pick up in the normal course after whatever number of games are played with replacements.

So we went out and got the best possible replacement players we could get.

Tom Rathman, 49ers fullback: We were the No. 1 seed, had home-field advantage in the strike year. I think the strike players got us to 3-0, so they got us in position to get the home-field advantage.

The Vikings spent those four weeks of labor discord practicing on their own at local high schools in suburban Minneapolis, workouts organized by Coleman and tight end Steve Jordan. All the while, the two leaders also haggled with Vikings GM Mike Lynn back at team headquarters in Eden Prairie.

Coleman: There were a few of our players who had no-strike clauses in their contracts. They come to me and say, “I gotta cross.” I gotta go or I’m gonna lose money. So I had to go to Mike Lynn on behalf of a number of our players and deal with Mike Lynn.

I’ll never forget him putting his feet on the desk and smoking those KOOL cigarettes. He would say, “It’s tough in the arena. You want something from me. I want something from you. You tell (union president Gene) Upshaw that we want this, and we want that.” … But we did stick together. I do believe without question that it paid dividends in the end.

Anthony Carter, Vikings receiver: We always practiced together. We didn’t give up on the season. A lot of guys went their own separate ways during the strike. We had a lot of guys that hung around. We just never gave up. We knew we had a good team, even though we lost those games at the end of the season.

Keith Millard, Vikings defensive tackle: Guys were worried about getting their paychecks. We were hashing it out and having conversations. I really believe that it made us closer as a team. We knew we had talent. But I think that staying together really made us stronger so that when we actually did get into the playoffs, we just knew that you look around the room and those players, we got enough to get this thing done. Let’s just go unleash the dogs and go for it.

The 49ers, meanwhile, raised eyebrows with a dozen players crossing the picket line, including Montana, running back Roger Craig and cornerback Eric Wright. It was a decision The Associated Press described at the time as “the biggest rift in the union ranks.” But there was harmony on the field as the 49ers outscored their final three opponents of the regular season 124-7 to steamroll into the playoffs, even with backup quarterback Steve Young playing most of those games due to an injury to Montana. The 49ers ranked No. 1 in total offense, rushing offense, scoring offense, total defense, pass defense and point differential. They boasted seven eventual Hall of Famers, including DeBartolo.

Rathman: I think the numbers speak for themselves. We felt like we were the best team every time we stepped out onto the field. When we were clicking, when everything was working, all three phases of the game, we were a tough team. But then, it doesn’t take much in a football game to really turn ebb and flow.

Brent Jones, 49ers tight end: Because it was a strike year, I think that things were weird. There were guys who had different opinions about the strike, about what was going on, about what was up with the players’ union. I would say all of our great teams, that one seemed to be more disjointed for whatever reason. But I can’t put my finger on it specifically. In the end, that team was talented as any team that we had. But we just didn’t get it done on game day.

The Vikings lost three of their last four games and were heavy underdogs going into the Superdome to face New Orleans. Starting quarterback Tommy Kramer was injured in the game, but backup Wade Wilson came in and played well, Carter returned a punt for a touchdown and the Vikings rolled 44-10.

Millard: When we whupped them, everybody was on point.

The postgame celebration was muted. The Vikings knew what was waiting for them the next week.

Coleman: Nobody gave us a snowball’s chance in Havana of No. 1, going to New Orleans and beating the Saints, and then especially coming out and playing the Niners. Montana and Walsh and that whole dynasty. Jerry Rice and that whole piece. But it was us against the world.

Scott Studwell, Vikings linebacker: I’m sure nobody gave us a chance.

Millard: Basically they said we backed into the playoffs. That was the narrative, so to speak. We just used that as fuel for the fire.

Signs of trouble in San Francisco

As confident as the 49ers were with all of their talent, something didn’t feel right in the week leading up to the game. The strike had messed with team unity, there was a growing quarterback controversy involving Montana and Young and Walsh was starting to feel the pressure after consecutive one-game exits in 1985 and 1986.

Policy: Bill wasn’t quite right. His coaching wasn’t the best, and so forth. And we were going through this other combination of Steve Young-Joe Montana. And we didn’t have our feet solidly on the ground in terms of how we felt about ourselves and about the team and about the season.

Dwaine Board, 49ers defensive end: I remember that week, man. I thought we had a great week of practice. But Bill was mad at Bubba Paris. So he ran us all because Bubba was overweight. And we went into the game and nobody had legs. And Minnesota ran over all over us.

Roger Craig, 49ers running back: We had a bad week of practice leading up to that game. I remember that it was wet, rainy, bad weather. It tires your legs out when you’re running on the mud like that. We spent all week slipping and sliding trying to run on that surface, and it takes a lot out of you.

We had tired legs.

Jones: Yeah, I mean … Maybe it didn’t help us, but none of that would have covered Anthony Carter.

The Vikings, meanwhile, were flying high after the beat down of the Saints. They believed they had enough talent to win and that the 0-3 stint from the replacement players masked all of the talent that was actually there.

Studwell: We had Pro Bowlers, we had Hall of Famers just like they did. Maybe not as many. We had a very talented football team. With Jordan and AC, Darrin Nelson, Wade. We were as talented as anybody in the league, at least in my opinion.

Carter: We figured we could compete with those guys, especially after we went on the road and won the game against New Orleans.

Policy: I sensed it. The attitude wasn’t right. The whole week of practice. I stayed in constant touch, even though I was back in Ohio. We came out a little early and met with some of the players, and we met with them at the hotel the night before. We just had a really bad feeling — we all did.

Randy Cross, 49ers offensive lineman (on if they were concerned about the Vikings): Not really. And maybe that’s part of the problem. They had just upset New Orleans in New Orleans — also eerily familiar. They were not the better team.

Jones: I don’t know if it’s because we were overlooking the Vikings or if we thought we were going to just show up and roll through them. But it was a real comeuppance, I remember that.

Policy: But we were the best team in football. And we felt, obviously that would overcome everything. Once we get out there, it’s going to come together, and we’ll see it all turn out the way it’s designed to turn out. And we’re going to wind up going to the Super Bowl.

And then the game started.

Kickoff

Vikings coach Jerry Burns had a big decision to make at quarterback. Kramer was the incumbent who had struggled with injuries and was on his last legs. Wilson was the career backup who started the first four games of the season and the final two. He came on in relief against the Saints and threw two touchdowns. Burns ultimately chose Wilson, thinking that his mobility would be an asset against a ferocious 49ers defense.

Coleman: TK was coming off some tough times. He was banged up throughout the previous year and part of that year. (Burns) just said, “I gotta follow my gut.” TK said, “I disagree.” He said a few other choice words. But also, “I’ll support you.” That’s the kind of team that we had.

Studwell: Tommy had been hurt. They went with Wade and he played well in New Orleans. He played well in ‘Frisco. He was the guy at the time give us the best opportunity to win.

Carter: Fortunately, it was the right decision. Wade and I, we always seemed to bond together and hook up together, much more than Kramer. It was the right decision, I would say.

Board: It’s funny when they change up on you. When you’re accustomed to getting ready for somebody else and then all of a sudden somebody else comes in. Well, Wade Wilson had the game of his life.

Ray Wersching, 49ers kicker: I mean, they had a connection that we couldn’t stop.

(Focus on Sport / Getty Images)

Wilson led all NFL quarterbacks with five rushing touchdowns that season, and his athleticism showed up early. He had an 11-yard scramble on third-and-6 to keep the Vikings opening drive alive and hit Carter twice. The drive ended with a field goal from Chuck Nelson. The Vikings were on the board early and ready to turn a revved up defense loose on an all-time great quarterback.

Millard: You felt it in the locker room before you even went out on the field. You could see it in everybody’s eyes. There was a confidence factor there that carried over from that Saints game. I just didn’t think there would be any way we could lose. Everybody was stepping up. It was a great feeling.

Studwell: We were really good up front on defense. We had two corners that could run and cover and play with anybody in the league. Joey (Browner) was still on the top of his game. We had a lot of pieces in place to compete with that football team offensively.

Millard: We knew we had to shut down their receivers and constantly keep Montana under pressure and constantly rattle his cage to have a chance. I think we did that on defense. They just couldn’t block us.

Cross: They also had (Chris) Doleman back there and Millard and Henry Thomas inside. They had a really good front four who were having a really good game.

The Vikings caught their first break on their third possession. Niners safety Ronnie Lott intercepted a pass from Wilson, but the play was negated by a pass interference call. Wilson responded with two throws to Carter, including a leaping grab along the sideline, to set up a touchdown pass to Carl Hilton for a 10-3 lead in the second quarter. But Carter was just getting started.

Carter: Once my number was called and I was on fire, I was in the zone. It’s one of those things an athlete really can’t explain. But once you’re in it, you’re just in it.

Cross: With the defense that we had, you were not real familiar with that kind of thing happening. Between the pass rush and the coverage, they had always been amazing. As it turned out, he made play after play after play.

The 49ers went three-and-out again on the next possession. Then Carter struck again, leaping up and catching a pass off of Don Griffin’s fingertips for a 63-yard gain. He was up to six catches for 124 yards in the second quarter, and the Vikings led 13-3.

Carter: You’re basically locked in. You don’t hear nothing. You just blank everything out and just focus on the football game. I didn’t score a touchdown, but every ball that came, I just wanted it that day.

Coleman: It was an amazing calm that he had. It was an excitement, but he was calm. He didn’t let the emotion take over, although he was having one hell of a game. He just kept saying, let’s just keep going. Keep feeding me, keep feeding me. And that’s what Wade did.

Jones: I think on offense, we got out of our plan. And you start pressing and trying things more on a whim. And we could just never get sync — and we could never stop Anthony Carter. So it felt like we were fighting against a tidal wave the whole day.

Rice had yet to catch a pass, and the Niners were getting antsy. On third-and-11 from their 34-yard line, Montana threw a deep out, but the pass hung in the air. Cornerback Reggie Rutland intercepted it and returned it 45 yards for a 20-3 lead.

Tim Ryan, CBS play-by-play man, during the broadcast: Minnesota has San Francisco in deep trouble.

Joe Theismann, CBS color analyst, during the broadcast: We have a stunned Candlestick Park.

Millard: I knew we were going to make it happen right from the get-go. I think what really solidified it for me is the pressure we were getting on Montana. He’s a hard guy to get to.

Coleman (who was inactive but on the sideline): Don’t let up. Don’t let up. Don’t let up. That’s what it was. That was the whole mantra on the sideline. Don’t let up.

Policy: (DeBartolo) would sometimes go into a room by himself and watch it on TV when things weren’t going well. And he was really upset with it. Again, there was this foreboding and it was like, “This is coming to pass. Why is it coming to pass? We’re letting this thing slip through our fingers.”

Coming out of halftime, the 49ers got a glimmer of hope when Jeff Fuller intercepted a pass from Wilson and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-10.

Board: I thought we were back in it. But in the playoffs, man, anything can happen. You have to be able to close, and we didn’t do a good job on defense that day.

Policy: If not for Jeff Fuller intercepting the ball and scoring, we’re — I mean, we were embarrassed anyway — but really embarrassed.

Jones: Nothing was going to fall into place for us, and I don’t think anybody saw it coming.

The benching

The Vikings came right back. Wilson threw a touchdown to Hassan Jones to push the lead back to 27-10. The 49ers punted on the ensuing possession, and that is when Walsh made the decision to bench Montana, who was 12 for 26 for 109 yards with one interception and four sacks, for Steve Young. It was the first time in Montana’s storied eight-year career that he had been benched.

(Arthur Anderson / AP)

Studwell: Anytime you force somebody’s hand to sit down a Hall of Fame quarterback, you’re doing something right on defense. They were looking for a spark. It was a bad day for Montana to have a bad day. Not to take anything away from him, because he was such a great player. We all have those days. Fortunately for us, he had one of those days that day.

Carter: Their best quarterback and one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game threw that interception and later got benched. It was like my old high school coach used to say, “Katie, bar the door.”

Policy: It was Bill’s effort from the beginning to replace Joe with Steve (as the full-time starter) and do it earlier rather than later. I tried warning Bill about the whole thing, about bringing Steve in. It’s a great idea, but you have to bring him in with the right understanding. I said, “You’re going to create a major division between yourself, the team and — importantly — Eddie, if you don’t make the right moves here and handle them the right way.”

Cross: With Joe, we’d won a couple Super Bowls. We’d won a bunch of playoff games. We’d won a bunch of games, period, with him. So it was very, very strange. You knew there was a chance, but not until he really did it, did it really hit you and sink in.

Steve Young, 49ers quarterback in his book “My Life Behind the Spiral”: In the locker room at halftime Bill rants. Then he pulls me aside and says, “be ready.” … Joe puts on his raincoat and I remove mine. Behind the bench I start throwing. The fans see me and start yelling obscenities at Walsh. I try to block it out. Bill’s decision makes me the villain. But my job is to help the team win.

Cross: That whole dynamic was very unique and kind of uncomfortable, to be honest. (Bill’s) pissed. All the coaches are pissed. We’re pissed. We needed a spark. We needed something different to happen. They were just making plays happen like crazy on offense, and we couldn’t get anything going on defense.

Millard: When they took Montana out, we knew we had them. I don’t think he got hurt, I just think it was because we rattled him. He wasn’t on point, which was rare for him. That was even more of a confidence builder for us. But at that point, “We got ’em, guys. Let’s just keep going.”

Not so fast. Young’s mobility put the Vikings defense on its heels right away. He moved the 49ers right down the field and scored on a rushing touchdown that was called back for a holding penalty. No matter, two plays later, he ran it in from 5 yards out. Vikings 27, 49ers 17.

Cross: Steve was always really confident. You were never going to catch him, “Golly gosh, this is a big moment.” That was never his M.O. There was never a problem. He was always very, very confident.

Studwell: They were two very different type of players. Steve relied on his mobility and agility. He had the same arm strength as Montana did, but he could win with his feet. He was very dangerous outside the pocket. He put a lot more pressure on us defensively. He got out and escaped a few times, so they did come back and they did rally the troops a little bit.

With the 49ers given new life, Burns went back to his “big knockers,” which is what he called his go-to players. Wilson lofted a pass down the field toward Carter, who leaped over Tim McKyer to make a sensational catch. The Vikings tacked on another field goal, and it was 30-17.

Carter: The one play that really stands out in my mind is when I leaped over Tim McKyer on that post pattern. That’s the one I definitely remember.

Coleman: Here’s what I would like to see quarterbacks do: AC was not open a lot of times. Wade Wilson threw him open. He trusted AC going up and getting the ball. And that’s what he did.

Wersching: Could you believe that? I remember. I was saying, “We have to stop this guy! How do we stop this?”

Already desperate, Walsh seemed to have a trick play up his sleeve on fourth down from the Vikings 31. The coach tried to fool the Vikings by sneaking out Young as the holder instead of punter Max Runager for the 48-yard attempt. No one, not the Vikings, not even Theismann, bought it.

Theismann, on the broadcast: You saw them get their guys out there, hardly stay in the huddle, get to the line of scrimmage as quickly as possible. I’m sure what they wanted to do. There was something called besides a Wersching kick.

Wersching: Steve was my holder, and that (would have been) the first time he ever held in a game. But all of a sudden the opponents saw Steve Young as the holder. And the first thing out of their mouths was, “Watch the fake!” And of course, we were going to run with the fake.

The 49ers called timeout and Walsh sent Wersching back onto the field with Runager. He badly missed the kick and a chorus of boos rained down. The Vikings tacked on another field goal to make it 33-17. The 49ers also tried a halfback pass from Harry Sydney deep to Rice that was snuffed out and Young threw his first interception of the season when he was picked off by Carl Lee.

Coleman: That second half they were desperate. They tried a whole lot of stuff that didn’t work. But we were prepared for it.

Studwell: They were looking for a spark, obviously. Fortunately for us they didn’t get it. I think we confounded them somewhat. We outplayed them on the defensive side of the ball. When your quarterback and receiver are connecting like they were and putting up the points they put up, it certainly made our day a lot easier.

But Young did hit John Frank for a 16-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it 33-24, and the Vikings weren’t about to take anything for granted.

Millard: He freaked us out a little bit with his runs and his determination. He got us later the next year with that kind of stuff. But he started kind of freaking us out to the point where it was like, “We need to get this game over with.”

Young, in his book: I am frustrated. I can’t help wondering where we’d be if Bill had turned me loose sooner.

The Vikings recover the onside kick, but they know the game isn’t over. That’s when Wilson hits Carter on an out-and-up down the sideline past McKyer to put the team back into field goal range and end any doubt.

Carter (giggling): I threw my hands up (to celebrate). That was the ice right there.

Coleman: AC could’ve ran for governor over those last two or three weeks. He was just phenomenal. He was a special player.

(Eric Risberg / AP)

Carter finished with 12 catches for a playoff record 227 yards, dominating the highly anticipated matchup with Rice, who was held to three catches for 28 yards.

Policy, who would have voted for someone else: Ohhh, it was horrible. How many yards did he get? He had over 200 yards. Oh, my God. It was torture. You had this feeling to begin with, and then all he did was keep rubbing it in and poking you in the eye and stabbing you with a hot stick. It was horrible, just horrible.

Carter: They try to compare Jerry to myself and me to Jerry. I just had a better game than him. It’s a team sport, not an individual sport.

Millard: C Lee shutting down Jerry Rice. Everybody just stepped up and played out of their minds.

The aftermath

The Vikings went on to play at Washington in the NFC Championship Game, falling 17-10. But that was after a raucous celebration for an incredible upset.

Millard: It was pretty crazy. I’m telling you, it was different than any win that I’ve been a part of. It was like that after the Saints game, but with the Saints game, we knew we had the Niners next, so we kind of kept it under control and kept perspective. But when we beat the Niners … and stopped probably the greatest team of that era, we were feeling pretty good.

Studwell: That was awesome. Burnsie was great. I think everybody felt really happy for him. They won that game for him. Just having the opportunity to go play for the NFC championship and play for the Super Bowl, it’s a feeling that you might have once or twice in your career. It was heartbreaking at the end, but at least we had a chance.

Millard: People always ask me what do you remember the most about your career in Minnesota. It was that. It was that playoff run we had in ’87, based on where we started and where we ended up. I just wish we ended it on a better note against Washington.

Studwell: That was a great moment in my career. I think it was a great moment in the Viking history. It’s just too bad we couldn’t take it all the way.

The mood was much different in San Francisco. DeBartolo stripped Walsh of his president’s title to set the stakes.

Cross: From Eddie down, guys were mad, frustrated. It was not a pleasant place to be, I remember that.

Policy: Bill knew that he couldn’t afford another (playoff) loss. He understood that. And I think that it was pretty obvious that something dramatic had to be done to change things in terms of where they were headed.

In some ways, it may have galvanized the team. The 49ers rebounded to win the Super Bowl after the 1988 and 1989 seasons, dispatching the Vikings in the playoffs both times, as well as a regular-season matchup in October 1988 in which Young had an electric, 49-yard scramble to seal the victory.

Young, to The Athletic (on the run): After that loss (in the playoffs), we had to find a way to win that game. … It was as if I was a cartoon character. One door closed, so I turned around and ran in another direction. And then another door closed, so I turned around in another direction. And suddenly, it was like water running downhill.

Jones: We won it the next two years after that — and should have won it the next three years after that. So, I mean, you think about our opportunities to have three or four in a row would have been remarkable. But that’s what I remember most: just seeing the Vikings school us was rough.

All of those old Vikings remain tethered to the franchise to this day. And after watching Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Danielle Hunter and the rest of the current Vikings defy the odds last weekend, they think history can repeat itself.

Studwell: Nobody gave us a chance on Sunday other than those 53 guys and that staff. Based on some of the comments that you’ve heard from these guys, they’ve got a little chip on their shoulder. That’s a good thing. We were kind of the same way.

Millard: And I’m telling you, when I saw that game against the Saints I felt that same energy with the Vikings. … I think they’re gonna do the same thing Saturday against the Niners. I’d put my money on it. I’m not a betting man, but I’d put my money on ‘em. I really believe they’re going to do a great job.

Coleman: There’s so many similarities to that ’87 team and this team, it ain’t funny.

The old 49ers, on the other hand, say they should serve as a cautionary tale to this year’s team.

Rathman: They’ve done a really nice job, just putting the team together, getting the players that they have. Because they do have a lot of dynamic players. Dynamic defensive line, and they’ve added it too. Capture it when you can. Don’t be like the 49ers of ’87. I’m serious. That’s exactly what you can’t be.

(Top photo: Al Golub / AP)

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