The 1977 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 17th in the National Football League. After starting the season 5–3, the team's starting quarterback Fran 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 the NFC Central division title. They beat the Los Angeles Rams 14–7 in the Divisional Round in a game played in Los Angeles and termed the Mud 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 the Dallas Cowboys 23–6.
| 1977 Minnesota Vikings season | |
|---|---|
| General manager | Mike Lynn |
| Head coach | Bud Grant |
| Home field | Metropolitan Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 9–5 |
| Division place | 1st NFC Central |
| Playoff finish | Won Divisional Playoffs (at Rams) 14–7 Lost NFC Championship (at Cowboys) 6–23 |
| Pro Bowlers | LB Matt Blair RB Chuck Foreman LB Jeff Siemon G Ed White WR Sammy White T Ron Yary |
| AP All-Pros | T Ron Yary (2nd team) |
| Uniform | |
 | |
Offseason
edit1977 draft
edit| 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 the Seattle Seahawks[A] | |||
| 5 | 138 | Ken Moore | Tight end | Northern Illinois | |
| 6 | 166 | Traded to the New England Patriots[B] | |||
| 7 | 194 | Traded to the Cincinnati 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
- ^ The Vikings traded a fourth-round selection (111th overall) to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for WR Ahmad Rashad.
- ^ The Vikings traded a sixth-round selection (166th overall) and a 1976 eighth-round selection (235th overall) to the New England Patriots in exchange for C Doug Dumler.
- ^ The Vikings traded a seventh-round selection (194th overall) to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for TE Orlando Nelson.
Roster
editQuarterbacks (QB)
Running backs (RB)
Wide receivers (WR)
Tight ends (TE)
|
Offensive linemen (OL)
Defensive linemen (DL)
|
Linebackers (LB)
Defensive backs (DB)
|
Reserve
Rookies in italics
54 active, 4 reserve, 0 practice squad |
Preseason
edit| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 6 | at Los 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 | at Baltimore 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 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 7–26 | 3–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 52,942 |
| 6 | September 10 | at Buffalo Bills | W 30–6 | 4–2 | Rich Stadium | 35,017 |
Regular season
editSchedule
edit| 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 | at Tampa 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 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 3–35 | 4–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 62,414 |
| 7 | October 30 | at Atlanta 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 | at Oakland 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 |
Game summaries
editWeek 7: at Atlanta Falcons
edit- Television network: CBS[citation needed]
- Announcers: Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier[citation needed]
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 from Scott Hunter to Greg McCrary.[citation needed]
Week 10: at Chicago Bears
editWeek 10: Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears – Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikings | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Bears | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
at Soldier Field, Chicago
- Date: Sunday, November 20
- Game time: 12:00 p.m.
- Game weather: 48 °F (9 °C)
- Referee: Gordon McCarter
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Week 11: at Green Bay Packers
editWeek 11: Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers – Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikings | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Packers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
- Date: Sunday, November 27
- Game time: 1:00 p.m.
- Game weather: 10 °F (−12 °C)
- Referee: Don Wedge
- TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and Johnny Unitas
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Week 13: at Oakland Raiders
editWeek 13: Minnesota Vikings at Oakland Raiders – Game summary
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikings | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| Raiders | 21 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
- Date: Sunday, December 11
- Game time: 4:00 p.m.
- Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C)
- Referee: Fred Wyant
- TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and Alex Hawkins
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Standings
edit| 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 |
Postseason
edit| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Div | December 26 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 14–7 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 62,538 |
| Conf | January 1 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 6–23 | Texas Stadium | 61,968 |
Statistics
editTeam leaders
edit| 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 |
League rankings
edit| 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 |
References
edit- ^ Heroes of Yesteryear: Pro Football’S Dying Breed of Players from a Bygone Era, Danny Jones, Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2017. Chapter on Chuck Foreman.
- ^ The Super '70s, Tom Danyluk, Mad Uke Publishing, 2005, page 95. The person being interviewed, "LM," is former Rams running back (1972-'79) Lawrence McCutcheon.
- ^ "1977 Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - Pro Football Archives".