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1979 Minnesota Vikings season

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1979 Minnesota Vikings season
General managerMike Lynn
Head coachBud Grant
Home stadiumMetropolitan Stadium
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC Central
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro BowlersLB Matt Blair
WR Ahmad Rashad
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

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1979 draft

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Pro Bowler
1979 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Selection
116 Ted BrownRunning backNC State
243 Dave HuffmanCenterNotre Dame
372 Selection forfeited due to illegal tryout[a]
497 Steve DilsQuarterbackStanford
5129 Jerry MeterLinebackerMichigan
6152 Joe SenserTight endWest Chester
7181 Bob WinkelDefensive tackleKentucky
8207 Traded to the Baltimore Colts[A]
9236 Billy DiggsWide receiverWinston-Salem State
10263 Traded to the New York Jets[B]
11291 Brian NelsonWide receiverTexas Tech
12317 David StephensLinebackerKentucky

Notes

  1. ↑ The Vikings traded an eighth-round selection (207th overall) to the Baltimore Colts in exchange for OT Frank Myers.
  2. ↑ The Vikings traded a 10th-round selection (263rd overall) and a 1978 eighth-round selection (213th overall) to the New York Jets in exchange for S Phil Wise.
  1. ↑ The details of this forfeited pick are unknown.

Undrafted free agents

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1979 undrafted free agents of note
Player Position College
Douglas Cunningham Wide receiver Rice
Steve Gortz Punter UNLV
Kyle Heinrich Safety Washington
Perry Kozlowski Safety North Dakota State
Keith Nord Safety St. Cloud State
Tony Norman Defensive end Iowa State
Sammy Steinmark Safety Wyoming
Marc Trestman Safety Minnesota State–Moorhead

Roster

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1979 Minnesota Vikings roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Reserve

Rookies in italics

Preseason

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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

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Schedule

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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

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NFC Central
 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 6 0 .625 6–2 8–6 273 237 W1
(5) Chicago Bears 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

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Statistics

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Team leaders

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Category Player(s) Value
Passing yardsTommy Kramer3,397
Passing touchdownsTommy Kramer23
Rushing yardsRickey Young708
Rushing touchdownsRickey Young3
Receiving yardsAhmad Rashad1,156
Receiving touchdownsAhmad Rashad9
PointsRick Danmeier67
Kickoff return yardsJimmy Edwards1,103
Punt return yardsJimmy Edwards186
InterceptionsTommy Hannon
Nate Wright		4

League rankings

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Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank
(out of 28)
Passing offense3,139196.212th
Rushing offense1,764110.323rd
Total offense4,903306.419th
Passing defense2,697168.611th
Rushing defense2,526157.926th
Total defense5,223326.418th

References

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