| 1977 Minnesota Vikings season | |
|---|---|
| General manager | Mike Lynn |
| Head coach | Bud Grant |
| Home stadium | Metropolitan Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 9–5 |
| Division place | 1stNFC Central |
| Playoffs | WonDivisional Playoffs (atRams) 14–7 LostNFC Championship (atCowboys) 6–23 |
| All-Pros | TRon Yary (2nd team) |
| Pro Bowlers | LBMatt Blair RBChuck Foreman LBJeff Siemon GEd White WRSammy White TRon Yary |
| Uniform | |
 | |
The1977 season was theMinnesota Vikings' 17th in theNational Football League. After starting the season 5–3, the team's starting quarterbackFran Tarkenton broke his leg in week 9 and missed the rest of the season. Despite losing Tarkenton, the team managed to finish the season with a 9–5 record and went to the playoffs as winners of theNFC Central division title. They beat theLos Angeles Rams 14–7 in the Divisional Round in a game played in Los Angeles and termed theMud Bowl, although the Vikings had lost 35–3 to the Rams in week 6.[1][2] In the NFC Championship game played in Dallas, the Vikings lost to theDallas Cowboys 23–6.
| Pro Bowler |
| 1977 Minnesota Vikings Draft | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes | |
| Round | Selection | ||||
| 1 | 27 | Tommy Kramer | Quarterback | Rice | |
| 2 | 55 | Dennis Swilley | Guard | Texas A&M | |
| 3 | 83 | Tommy Hannon | Safety | Michigan State | |
| 4 | 111 | Traded to theSeattle Seahawks[A] | |||
| 5 | 138 | Ken Moore | Tight end | Northern Illinois | |
| 6 | 166 | Traded to theNew England Patriots[B] | |||
| 7 | 194 | Traded to theCincinnati Bengals[C] | |||
| 8 | 222 | Clint Strozier | Defensive back | USC | |
| 9 | 250 | Scott Studwell | Linebacker | Illinois | |
| 10 | 278 | Dan Beaver | Placekicker | Illinois | |
| 11 | 306 | Keith Hartwig | Wide receiver | Arizona | |
| 12 | 335 | Jim Kelleher | Running back | Colorado | |
Notes
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
| Defensive coaches
|
| Quarterbacks(QB) Running backs(RB) Wide receivers(WR) Tight ends(TE) | Offensive linemen(OL) | Linebackers(LB) Defensive backs(DB)
Special teams(ST) | Reserve lists Rookies in italics |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 6 | atLos Angeles Rams | W 22–17 | 1–0 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 55,168 |
| 2 | August 13 | Cleveland Browns | W 34–33 | 2–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 45,370 |
| 3 | August 19 | atBaltimore Colts | L 7–29 | 2–1 | Memorial Stadium | 45,529 |
| 4 | August 26 | Miami Dolphins | W 33–7 | 3–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 44,396 |
| 5 | September 3 | atCincinnati Bengals | L 7–26 | 3–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 52,942 |
| 6 | September 10 | atBuffalo Bills | W 30–6 | 4–2 | Rich Stadium | 35,017 |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 18 | Dallas Cowboys | L 10–16(OT) | 0–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,678 |
| 2 | September 24 | atTampa Bay Buccaneers | W 9–3 | 1–1 | Tampa Stadium | 66,272 |
| 3 | October 2 | Green Bay Packers | W 19–7 | 2–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,143 |
| 4 | October 9 | Detroit Lions | W 14–7 | 3–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 45,860 |
| 5 | October 16 | Chicago Bears | W 22–16(OT) | 4–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,708 |
| 6 | October 24 | atLos Angeles Rams | L 3–35 | 4–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 62,414 |
| 7 | October 30 | atAtlanta Falcons | W 14–7 | 5–2 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 59,257 |
| 8 | November 6 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 7–27 | 5–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,066 |
| 9 | November 13 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 42–10 | 6–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 45,371 |
| 10 | November 20 | at Chicago Bears | L 7–10 | 6–4 | Soldier Field | 49,563 |
| 11 | November 27 | at Green Bay Packers | W 13–6 | 7–4 | Lambeau Field | 56,267 |
| 12 | December 4 | San Francisco 49ers | W 28–27 | 8–4 | Metropolitan Stadium | 40,745 |
| 13 | December 11 | atOakland Raiders | L 13–35 | 8–5 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 52,771 |
| 14 | December 17 | at Detroit Lions | W 30–21 | 9–5 | Silverdome | 78,572 |
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikings | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
atTampa Stadium,Tampa, Florida
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packers | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Vikings | 7 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 19 |
atMetropolitan Stadium,Minnesota
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Minnesota's Fran Tarkenton threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Sammy White to tie the game in the second quarter, then tossed a 6-yard scoring pass to Bob Tucker in the fourth quarter after Chuck Foreman's 51-yard run to salvage a big win for the Vikings. The Falcons took the lead early lead on a 49-yard scoring pass fromScott Hunter toGreg McCrary.[citation needed]
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikings | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Bears | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikings | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Packers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
atLambeau Field,Green Bay, Wisconsin
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikings | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| Raiders | 21 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
atOakland-Alameda County Coliseum,Oakland, California
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
| NFC Central | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| Minnesota Vikings(3) | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 6–1 | 8–4 | 231 | 227 | W1 |
| Chicago Bears(4) | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 6–1 | 8–4 | 255 | 253 | W6 |
| Detroit Lions | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 2–5 | 4–8 | 183 | 252 | L1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 2–5 | 4–7 | 134 | 219 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 0–4 | 2–11 | 103 | 223 | W2 |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Div | December 26 | atLos Angeles Rams | W 14–7 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 62,538 |
| Conf | January 1 | atDallas Cowboys | L 6–23 | Texas Stadium | 61,968 |
| Category | Player(s) | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Passing yards | Fran Tarkenton | 1,734 |
| Passing touchdowns | Fran Tarkenton | 9 |
| Rushing yards | Chuck Foreman | 1,112 |
| Rushing touchdowns | Chuck Foreman | 6 |
| Receiving yards | Sammy White | 760 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Sammy White | 9 |
| Points | Chuck Foreman Sammy White | 54 |
| Kickoff return yards | Manfred Moore | 524 |
| Punt return yards | Manfred Moore | 277 |
| Interceptions | Bobby Bryant | 4 |
| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank (out of 28) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passing offense | 2,368 | 169.1 | 6th |
| Rushing offense | 1,821 | 130.1 | 21st |
| Total offense | 4,189 | 299.2 | 14th |
| Passing defense | 1,581 | 112.9 | 3rd |
| Rushing defense | 2,218 | 158.4 | 21st |
| Total defense | 3,799 | 271.4 | 11th |
