1979 Minnesota Vikings season

1979 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach	Bud Grant
General manager	Mike Lynn
Home field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1979 Minnesota Vikings season was the franchise's 19th season in the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a record of seven wins and nine losses; their first losing season since 1967.

The season also marked the end of an era; as longtime defensive end Jim Marshall; the last remaining original Viking, retired after 19 seasons and having set then-league records for most games played (282) and starts (270).

The loss of Fran Tarketon to retirement meant third year quarterback Tommy Kramer to starter.

Offseason

1979 Draft

Main article: 1979 NFL draft

=Pro Bowler

1979 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College
Round	Choice	Overall	Player name	Position	College
1	16	16	Ted Brown	Running back	North Carolina State
2	15	43	Dave Huffman	Center	Notre Dame
3	16	72	Pick forfeited due to illegal tryout^[a]
4	15	97	Steve Dils	Quarterback	Stanford
5	19	129	Jerry Meter	Linebacker	Michigan
6	15	152	Joe Senser	Tight end	West Chester (PA)
7	16	181	Bob Winkel	Defensive tackle	Kentucky
8	15	207	Traded to the Baltimore Colts^[b]
9	16	236	Billy Diggs	Wide receiver	Winston-Salem State
10	15	263	Traded to the New York Jets^[c]
11	16	291	Brian Nelson	Wide receiver	Texas Tech
12	14	317	David Stephens	Linebacker	Kentucky

^{^[a]} The details of this forfeited pick are unknown.

^{^[b]} Minnesota traded their 8th round selection (207th overall) to Baltimore for OT Frank Myers.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 10th round selection (263rd overall) and 1978 8th round selection (213th overall) to the New York Jets for S Phil Wise.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance
1	September 2, 1979	San Francisco 49ers	W 28–22	Met Stadium	46,539
2	September 9, 1979	at Chicago Bears	L 26–7	Soldier Field	53,231
3	September 16, 1979	Miami Dolphins	L 27–12	Met Stadium	46,187
4	September 23, 1979	Green Bay Packers	W 27–21 (OT)	Met Stadium	46,524
5	September 30, 1979	at Detroit Lions	W 13–10	Silverdome	75,295
6	October 7, 1979	Dallas Cowboys	L 36–20	Met Stadium	47,572
7	October 15, 1979	at New York Jets	L 14–7	Shea Stadium	54,479
8	October 21, 1979	Chicago Bears	W 30–27	Met Stadium	41,164
9	October 28, 1979	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 12–10	Met Stadium	46,906
10	November 4, 1979	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 37–7	Busch Stadium	47,213
11	November 11, 1979	at Green Bay Packers	L 19–7	Milwaukee County Stadium	52,706
12	November 18, 1979	Detroit Lions	W 14–7	Met Stadium	43,650
13	November 25, 1979	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 23–22	Tampa Stadium	70,039
14	December 2, 1979	at Los Angeles Rams	L 27–21 (OT)	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	56,700
15	December 9, 1979	Buffalo Bills	W 10–3	Met Stadium	42,239
16	December 16, 1979	at New England Patriots	L 27–23	Schaefer Stadium	54,719

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Tampa Bay Buccaneers⁽²⁾	10	6	0	.625	6–2	8–6	273	237	W1
Chicago Bears⁽⁵⁾	10	6	0	.625	5–3	8–4	306	249	W3
Minnesota Vikings	7	9	0	.438	5–3	6–6	259	337	L1
Green Bay Packers	5	11	0	.313	3–5	4–8	246	316	W1
Detroit Lions	2	14	0	.125	1–7	2–10	219	365	L3

Roster

Minnesota Vikings roster

Quarterbacks

9 Tommy Kramer

Running Backs

44 Chuck Foreman

Wide Receivers

80 Terry LeCount

28 Ahmad Rashad

Tight Ends

83 Stu Voigt

38 Bob Tucker

Offensive Linemen

68 Charles Goodrum G

73 Ron Yary T

Defensive Linemen

77 Mark Mullaney DE

69 Doug Sutherland DT

Linebackers

59 Matt Blair

55 Scott Studwell

Defensive Backs

20 Bobby Bryant CB

25 Kurt Knoff FS

Special Teams

7 Rick Danmeier K

Reserve Lists

Practice Squad

Rookies in italics

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing Yards	Tommy Kramer	3,397
Passing Touchdowns	Tommy Kramer	23
Rushing Yards	Rickey Young	708
Rushing Touchdowns	Rickey Young	3
Receiving Yards	Ahmad Rashād	1,156
Receiving Touchdowns	Ahmad Rashād	9
Points	Rick Danmeier	67
Kickoff Return Yards	Jimmy Edwards	1,103
Punt Return Yards	Jimmy Edwards	186
Interceptions	Tom Hannon Nate Wright	4

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 28)
Passing Offense	3,139 Yards	196.2 YPG	12th
Rushing Offense	1,764 Yards	110.3 YPG	23rd
Total Offense	4,903 Yards	306.4 YPG	19th
Passing Defense	2,697 Yards	168.6 YPG	11th
Rushing Defense	2,526 Yards	157.9 YPG	26th
Total Defense	5,223 Yards	326.4 YPG	18th

References

Minnesota Vikings

Founded in 1961 Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Franchise	Franchise History Expansion draft Players First-round draft picks Quarterbacks Head coaches Seasons Statistics Draft

Stadiums	Metropolitan Stadium Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome TCF Bank Stadium U.S. Bank Stadium

Culture	Purple People Eaters "Skol, Vikings" Herschel Walker trade Love Boat scandal "Little Minnesota" (How I Met Your Mother episode) Cheerleaders

Rivalries	Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers

Lore	The Wrong Way Run Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy Gary Anderson's missed field goal Hail Mary 2010 Metrodome roof collapse

Division championships (19)	1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1980 1989 1992 1994 1998 2000 2008 2009 2015

Conference championships (4)	1969 1973 1974 1976

League championships (0^†)	^† does not include 1969 NFL championship

Retired numbers	10 53 70 77 80 88

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division

Seasons (56)	1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

Minnesota Vikings seasons

1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

1979 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Baltimore	Cincinnati	Denver	Dallas	Chicago	Atlanta
Buffalo	Cleveland	Kansas City	NY Giants	Detroit	Los Angeles
Miami	Houston	Oakland	Philadelphia	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	St. Louis	Minnesota	San Francisco
NY Jets		Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay

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