1977 Minnesota Vikings season

1977 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach Bud Grant
General manager Mike Lynn
Home field Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record 9–5
Division place 1st NFC Central
Playoff finish Won NFC Divisional Playoff (at Rams) 14–7
Lost NFC Championship Game (at Cowboys) 6–23
The Vikings' famed Purple People Eaters defensive line stopping a Rams rushing play in the 1977 NFC Divisional Playoff game.

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 same opponent in week 6.[1][2] In the NFC Championship game in a game played in Dallas, the Vikings lost to the Dallas Cowboys 23–6.


Offseason

1977 Draft

Pro Bowler
1977 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College
Round Choice Overall
12727Tommy KramerQuarterbackRice
22755Dennis SwilleyGuardTexas A&M
32783Tom HannonLinebackerSan Diego State
427111Traded to the Seattle Seahawks[a]
526138Ken MooreTight endNorthern Illinois
627166Traded to the New England Patriots[b]
727194Traded to the Cincinnati Bengals[c]
827222Clint StrozierDefensive backUSC
927250Scott StudwellLinebackerIllinois
1027278Dan BeaverKickerIllinois
1127306Keith HartwigWide receiverArizona
1227335Jim KelleherRunning backColorado
^[a] Minnesota traded their 4th-round selection (111th overall) to Seattle for RB Ahmad Rashād.
^[b] Minnesota traded their 6th-round selection (166th overall) and 1976 8th-round selection (235th overall) to New England for OL Doug Dumler.
^[c] Minnesota traded their 7th-round selection (194th overall) to Cincinnati for TE Orlando Nelson.

Roster

1977 Minnesota Vikings final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists



Practice squad



Rookies in italics
 54 Active, 4 Inactive, 0 Practice squad

Preseason

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1August 6at Los Angeles RamsW 22–171–0Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum55,168
2August 13Cleveland BrownsW 34–332–0Metropolitan Stadium45,370
3August 19at Baltimore ColtsL 7–292–1Memorial Stadium45,529
4August 26Miami DolphinsW 33–72–2Metropolitan Stadium44,396
5September 3at Cincinnati BengalsL 7–262–3Riverfront Stadium52,942
6September 10at Buffalo BillsW 30–63–3Rich Stadium35,017

Regular season schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 18, 1977 Dallas Cowboys L 10–16 (OT) 0–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,678
2 September 24, 1977 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 9–3 1–1 Tampa Stadium 66,272
3 October 2, 1977 Green Bay Packers W 19–7 2–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,143
4 October 9, 1977 Detroit Lions W 14–7 3–1 Metropolitan Stadium 45,860
5 October 16, 1977 Chicago Bears W 22–16 (OT) 4–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,708
6 October 24, 1977 at Los Angeles Rams L 3–35 4–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 62,414
7 October 30, 1977 at Atlanta Falcons W 14–7 5–2 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 59,257
8 November 6, 1977 St. Louis Cardinals L 7–27 5–3 Metropolitan Stadium 47,066
9 November 13, 1977 Cincinnati Bengals W 42–10 6–3 Metropolitan Stadium 45,371
10 November 20, 1977 at Chicago Bears L 7-10 6–4 Soldier Field 49,563
11 November 27, 1977 at Green Bay Packers W 13–6 7–4 Lambeau Field 56,267
12 December 4, 1977 San Francisco 49ers W 28–27 8–4 Metropolitan Stadium 40,745
13 December 11, 1977 at Oakland Raiders L 13–35 8–5 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 52,771
14 December 17, 1977 at Detroit Lions W 30–21 9–5 Silverdome 78,572

Game summaries

Week 10: at Chicago Bears

1 2 34Total
Vikings 0 0 707
Bears 0 10 0010

at Soldier Field, Chicago

Game information

Week 11: at Green Bay Packers

1 2 34Total
Vikings 0 13 0013
Packers 6 0 006

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Game information
First quarter
  • GB – David Whitehurst 3-yard run (kick failed). Packers 6–0.

Second quarter

  • MIN – Sammy White 40-yard pass from Bob Lee (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 7–6.
  • MIN – Fred Cox 21-yard field goal. Vikings 10–6.
  • MIN – Fred Cox 31-yard field goal. Vikings 13–6.

Third quarter

  • No scoring plays.

Fourth quarter

  • No scoring plays.

Standings

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

Playoffs

Week Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance
Divisional December 26 at Los Angeles Rams W 14–7 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 62,538
Conference Championship January 1 at Dallas Cowboys L 6–23 Texas Stadium 61,968

Statistics

Team leaders

Category Player(s) Value
Passing yardsFran Tarkenton1,734
Passing touchdownsFran Tarkenton9
Rushing yardsChuck Foreman1,112
Rushing touchdownsChuck Foreman6
Receiving yardsSammy White760
Receiving touchdownsSammy White9
PointsChuck Foreman
Sammy White		54
Kickoff return yardsManfred Moore524
Punt return yardsManfred Moore277
InterceptionsBobby Bryant4

League rankings

Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank
(out of 28)
Passing offense2,368169.16th
Rushing offense1,821130.121st
Total offense4,189299.214th
Passing defense1,581112.93rd
Rushing defense2,218158.421st
Total defense3,799271.411th

References

  1. ↑ Heroes of Yesteryear: Pro Football’S Dying Breed of Players from a Bygone Era, Danny Jones, Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2017. Chapter on Chuck Foreman.
  2. ↑ 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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.