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Contents

   



(Top)
  


1 Offseason  


1.1  1979 Draft  




1.2  Undrafted free agents  






2 Roster  




3 Preseason  




4 Regular season  


4.1  Schedule  




4.2  Standings  






5 Awards and records  




6 Statistics  


6.1  Team leaders  




6.2  League rankings  






7 References  













1979 Minnesota Vikings season







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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  

1979 Minnesota Vikings season
General managerMike Lynn
Head coachBud Grant
Home fieldMetropolitan Stadium
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersLBMatt Blair
WRAhmad Rashad
Uniform
  • Vikings seasons
  • 1980 →

    • 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

    [edit]

    1979 Draft

    [edit]
    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.

    Undrafted free agents

    [edit]
    1979 Undrafted Free Agents of note
    Player Position College
    Perry Kozlowski Free Safety North Dakota State
    Sammy Stinemark Free Safety Wyoming
    Marc Trestman Safety Moorhead State

    Roster

    [edit]
    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

    [edit]
    Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance[1]
    1 August 2 atSeattle Seahawks L 9–12 0–1 Kingdome 60,881
    2 August 11 atSan 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

    [edit]

    Schedule

    [edit]
    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 atChicago 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 atDetroit 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 atNew 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 atSt. Louis Cardinals L 7–37 4–6 Busch Memorial Stadium 47,213
    11 November 11 atGreen 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 atTampa Bay Buccaneers W 23–22 6–7 Tampa Stadium 70,039
    14 December 2 atLos 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 atNew England Patriots L 23–27 7–9 Schaefer Stadium 54,719

    Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

    Standings

    [edit]
    NFC Central
  • talk
  • edit
    		•  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

    [edit]

    Statistics

    [edit]

    Team leaders

    [edit]
    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

    [edit]
    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

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

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1979_Minnesota_Vikings_season&oldid=1227707460"
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