1979 Minnesota Vikings season
General managerMike Lynn
Head coachBud Grant
Home fieldMetropolitan Stadium
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Uniform

The 1979 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 19th in the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a 7–9 record, their first losing season since 1967, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1972.

The loss of Fran Tarkenton to retirement in the off-season meant third-year quarterback Tommy Kramer became the starter. The season also marked the end of an era as the last remaining original Viking, longtime defensive end Jim Marshall, retired after 19 seasons with the Vikings and 20 in the NFL, having set league records for most consecutive games played (282) and consecutive starts (270). Counting playoff games, he had started in every one of the 289 games in Vikings history. Safety Paul Krause also retired after the season ended; he holds the league record with 81 career interceptions.

Offseason

1979 Draft

Main article: 1979 NFL Draft
Pro Bowler
1979 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Selection
1 16 Ted Brown Running back North Carolina State
2 43 Dave Huffman Center Notre Dame
3 72 Pick forfeited due to illegal tryout[a]
4 97 Steve Dils Quarterback Stanford
5 129 Jerry Meter Linebacker Michigan
6 152 Joe Senser Tight end West Chester (PA)
7 181 Bob Winkel Defensive tackle Kentucky
8 207 Traded to the Baltimore Colts[b]
9 236 Billy Diggs Wide receiver Winston-Salem State
10 263 Traded to the New York Jets[c]
11 291 Brian Nelson Wide receiver Texas Tech
12 317 David Stephens Linebacker Kentucky
^[a] The details of this forfeited pick are unknown.
^[b] The Vikings traded their eighth-round selection (207th overall) to the Baltimore Colts in exchange for OT Frank Myers.
^[c] The Vikings traded their 10th-round selection (263rd overall) and 1978 eighth-round selection (213th overall) to the New York Jets in exchange for S Phil Wise.

Roster

1979 Minnesota Vikings final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance[1]
1 August 2 at Seattle Seahawks L 9–12 0–1 Kingdome 60,881
2 August 11 at San Diego Chargers L 0–19 0–2 San Diego Stadium 49,037
3 August 18 Miami Dolphins L 10–21 0–3 Metropolitan Stadium 45,790
4 August 23 Kansas City Chiefs L 0–25 0–4 Metropolitan Stadium 39,578

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 2 San Francisco 49ers W 28–22 1–0 Metropolitan Stadium 46,539
2 September 9 at Chicago Bears L 7–26 1–1 Soldier Field 53,231
3 September 16 Miami Dolphins L 12–27 1–2 Metropolitan Stadium 46,187
4 September 23 Green Bay Packers W 27–21 (OT) 2–2 Metropolitan Stadium 46,524
5 September 30 at Detroit Lions W 13–10 3–2 Silverdome 75,295
6 October 7 Dallas Cowboys L 20–36 3–3 Metropolitan Stadium 47,572
7 October 15 at New York Jets L 7–14 3–4 Shea Stadium 54,479
8 October 21 Chicago Bears W 30–27 4–4 Metropolitan Stadium 41,164
9 October 28 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–12 4–5 Metropolitan Stadium 46,906
10 November 4 at St. Louis Cardinals L 7–37 4–6 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,213
11 November 11 at Green Bay Packers L 7–19 4–7 Milwaukee County Stadium 52,706
12 November 18 Detroit Lions W 14–7 5–7 Metropolitan Stadium 43,650
13 November 25 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 23–22 6–7 Tampa Stadium 70,039
14 December 2 at Los Angeles Rams L 21–27 (OT) 6–8 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 56,700
15 December 9 Buffalo Bills W 10–3 7–8 Metropolitan Stadium 42,239
16 December 16 at New England Patriots L 23–27 7–9 Schaefer Stadium 54,719

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

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

Awards and records

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 Rashad 1,156
Receiving touchdowns Ahmad Rashad 9
Points Rick Danmeier 67
Kickoff return yards Jimmy Edwards 1,103
Punt return yards Jimmy Edwards 186
Interceptions Tommy Hannon
Nate Wright		 4

League rankings

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

References

  1. ^ "1979 Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - Pro Football Archives".
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