1985 Minnesota Vikings season
OwnerMax Winter
General managerMike Lynn
Head coachBud Grant
Home fieldMetrodome
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersSS Joey Browner[1]
AP All-ProsSS Joey Browner[2]
Uniform

The 1985 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 25th in the National Football League. Under returning head coach Bud Grant, they finished with a 7–9 record and missed the playoffs for a third season in a row. At the end of the season, Grant retired for good after 18 years with the franchise.

Offseason

1985 Draft

Main article: 1985 NFL draft
Pro Bowler
1985 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Selection
1 2 Traded to the Atlanta Falcons[b] from Oilers[a]
3 Traded to the Houston Oilers[a]
4 Chris Doleman Defensive end Pittsburgh from Falcons[b]
2 30 Issiac Holt Cornerback Alcorn State Provisional trade not exercised[a][c]
3 59 Kirk Lowdermilk Center Ohio State
60 Tim Meamber Linebacker Washington from Falcons[b]
66 Tim Long Offensive tackle Memphis State from Chargers[d]
4 85 George Rhymes Wide receiver Oklahoma
106 Kyle Morrell Defensive back BYU from Rams[e]
5 115 Mark MacDonald Guard Boston College
6 142 Steve Bono Quarterback UCLA
164 Tim Newton Defensive tackle Florida from Raiders[f]
7 171 Traded to the Green Bay Packers[g]
8 198 Nikita Blair Linebacker UTEP
9 227 Jamie Covington Running back Syracuse
10 254 Juan Johnson Wide receiver Langston
11 283 Tim Williams Defensive back North Carolina A&T
12 310 Byron Jones Defensive tackle Tulsa
^[a] In an attempt to draft QB Bernie Kosar, the Vikings traded their first-round selection (3rd overall) and a provisional second-round selection (30th overall)[c] to the Houston Oilers in exchange for Houston's first-round selection (2nd overall).
^[b] When Kosar did not declare for the draft and instead controversially waited for the supplemental draft, the traded the first-round selection they received from the Oilers to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for Atlanta's first- and third-round selections (4th and 60th overall).
^[c] As part of the trade between the Vikings and Oilers[a], the Vikings agreed not to draft DE Ray Childress or trade the pick to a team that would draft Childress. Houston drafted Childress with the 3rd overall pick and this provisional selection was returned to Minnesota.
^[d] The Vikings traded CB John Turner to the San Diego Chargers in exchange for San Diego's third-round selection (66th overall).
^[e] The Vikings traded QB Steve Dils to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for the Rams' fourth-round selection (106th overall).
^[f] The Vikings traded LB Brad Van Pelt to the Los Angeles Raiders in exchange for the Raiders' sixth-round selection (164th overall) and 1986 second-round selection.
^[g] The Vikings traded their seventh-round selection (171st overall) to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for K Jan Stenerud.

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance[3]
1 August 10 at Miami Dolphins W 16–13 (OT) 1–0 Miami Orange Bowl 41,129
2 August 17 Pittsburgh Steelers W 41–34 2–0 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 56,887
3 August 24 Seattle Seahawks L 10–27 2–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 56,562
4 August 30 at Denver Broncos W 13–9 3–1 Mile High Stadium 69,373

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 8 San Francisco 49ers W 28–21 1–0 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 57,375
2 September 15 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 31–16 2–0 Tampa Stadium 46,188
3 September 19 Chicago Bears L 24–33 2–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 61,242
4 September 29 at Buffalo Bills W 27–20 3–1 Rich Stadium 45,667
5 October 6 at Los Angeles Rams L 10–13 3–2 Anaheim Stadium 61,139
6 October 13 at Green Bay Packers L 17–20 3–3 Milwaukee County Stadium 54,674
7 October 20 San Diego Chargers W 21–17 4–3 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 61,670
8 October 27 at Chicago Bears L 9–27 4–4 Soldier Field 63,815
9 November 3 Detroit Lions W 16–13 5–4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 58,012
10 November 10 Green Bay Packers L 17–27 5–5 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 59,970
11 November 17 at Detroit Lions L 21–41 5–6 Silverdome 54,647
12 November 24 New Orleans Saints L 23–30 5–7 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 54,117
13 December 1 at Philadelphia Eagles W 28–23 6–7 Veterans Stadium 54,688
14 December 8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 26–7 7–7 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 51,593
15 December 15 at Atlanta Falcons L 13–14 7–8 Atlanta Fulton County Stadium 14,167
16 December 22 Philadelphia Eagles L 35–37 7–9 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 49,722

Standings

NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Chicago Bears(1) 15 1 0 .938 8–0 12–0 456 198 W3
Green Bay Packers 8 8 0 .500 6–2 8–4 337 355 W2
Minnesota Vikings 7 9 0 .438 3–5 5–9 346 359 L2
Detroit Lions 7 9 0 .438 2–6 5–7 307 366 L3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2 14 0 .125 1–7 2–10 294 448 L4

Personnel

Staff

1985 Minnesota Vikings staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – Tom Batta


[4]

Roster

1985 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

Statistics

Team leaders

Category Player(s) Value
Passing yards Tommy Kramer 3,522
Passing touchdowns Tommy Kramer 19
Rushing yards Darrin Nelson 893
Rushing touchdowns Ted Brown 7
Receiving yards Anthony Carter 821
Receiving touchdowns Anthony Carter 8
Points Jan Stenerud 86
Kickoff return yards Buster Rhymes 1,345
Punt return yards Darrin Nelson 133
Tackles Chris Doleman 113
Sacks Keith Millard 11.0
Interceptions John Turner 5

League rankings

Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank
(out of 28)
Passing offense 3,635 227.2 7th
Rushing offense 1,516 94.8 27th
Total offense 5,151 321.9 16th
Passing defense 3,241 202.6 15th
Rushing defense 2,223 138.9 22nd
Total defense 5,464 341.5 16th

25-year team

The team recognized an all-time team in 1985 as part of the celebration of the 25th season.[5]

References

  1. ^ "1985 NFL Pro Bowlers". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  2. ^ "1985 NFL All-Pros". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "1985 Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - Pro Football Archives".
  4. ^ 2010 Minnesota Vikings Media Guide. p. 265. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  5. ^ "VIKINGS 25TH SEASON ALL-TIME TEAM 1961–85" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2011.
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