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1980 Minnesota Vikings season

NFL team season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1980 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 20th in the National Football League and their 14th under head coach Bud Grant. The Vikings improved on their 7–9 record from last year with a 9–7 record, equal to that of the Detroit Lions, but won the NFC Central division title on the conference record tiebreaker. In the Divisional Playoffs, the Vikings lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 31–16.

General managerMike Lynn
Head coachBud Grant
Offensive coordinatorJerry Burns
Defensive coordinatorBob Hollway
Quick facts Minnesota Vikings season, General manager ...
1980 Minnesota Vikings season
General managerMike Lynn
Head coachBud Grant
Offensive coordinatorJerry Burns
Defensive coordinatorBob Hollway
Home stadiumMetropolitan Stadium
Results
Record9–7
Division place1st NFC Central
PlayoffsLost Divisional Playoffs
(at Eagles) 16–31
All-ProsLB Matt Blair (1st team)
Pro BowlersLB Matt Blair
WR Ahmad Rashad
Uniform
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The most dramatic game of the season came in a Week 15 home game against Cleveland, with Minnesota's record standing at 8–6. The Vikings trailed 23–9 early in the fourth quarter, but with five seconds left in regulation, despite missing two field goals and two extra points in the game, they were on the Cleveland 46-yard line, having reduced the Browns' lead to one point. Quarterback Tommy Kramer threw a Hail Mary pass that Ahmad Rashad caught at the 2-yard line before backing into the end zone to give Minnesota a 28–23 win.[1]

Offseason

1980 draft

Main article: 1980 NFL draft
More information Draft order, Player name ...
1980 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Selection
19 Doug MartinDefensive tackleWashington
230 Willie TealCornerbackLSUFrom 49ers[A]
39 Traded to the San Francisco 49ers[A]
365 Traded to the San Francisco 49ers[A]
68 Brent BoydCenterUCLAFrom Saints[B]
492 Dennis JohnsonLinebackerUSC
5121 Doug PaschalRunning backNorth Carolina
122 Paul JonesRunning backCaliforniaFrom Saints[B]
6148 Ray YakavonisDefensive endEast Stroudsburg
7174 Henry JohnsonLinebackerGeorgia Tech
8204 Traded to the Seattle Seahawks[C]
9232 Dennis MosleyRunning backIowaIn lieu of #231 (passed)[D]
10258 Kenny BrownWide receiverNebraska
11288 Sam HarrellRunning backEast Carolina
12315 Thomas LaneDefensive backFlorida A&M
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Notes

  1. [A]
    The Vikings traded their second- and third-round selections (39th and 65th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a second-round selection (30th overall).
  2. [B]
    The Vikings traded RB Steve Riley to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for third- and fifth-round selections (68th and 122nd overall).
  3. [C]
    The Vikings traded an eighth-round selection (205th overall) to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for DL Steve Niehaus.
  4. [D]
    The Vikings originally had the 231st overall selection, but passed, allowing Buffalo to move up and Minnesota to choose 232nd overall.

Undrafted free agents

More information Player, Position ...
1980 undrafted free agents of note
Player Position College
Fred Bock Kicker St. John's
Robert Meyer Defensive back Wisconsin–River Falls
Ryan Mullaney Defensive end UNLV
Leven Weiss Linebacker Iowa
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Roster

1980 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

More information Week, Date ...
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance[2]
1 August 9 San Diego Chargers W 21–17 1–0 Metropolitan Stadium 45,179
2 August 18 at Kansas City Chiefs L 10–14 1–1 Arrowhead Stadium 39,879
3 August 23 at Miami Dolphins W 17–10 2–1 Miami Orange Bowl 36,116
4 August 30 Cleveland Browns W 38–16 3–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,262
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Regular season

Schedule

More information Week, Date ...
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 7 Atlanta Falcons W 24–23 1–0 Metropolitan Stadium 44,773
2 September 14 Philadelphia Eagles L 7–42 1–1 Metropolitan Stadium 46,460
3 September 21 at Chicago Bears W 34–14 2–1 Soldier Field 59,983
4 September 28 at Detroit Lions L 7–27 2–2 Silverdome 80,291
5 October 5 Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–23 2–3 Metropolitan Stadium 47,583
6 October 12 Chicago Bears W 13–7 3–3 Metropolitan Stadium 46,751
7 October 19 at Cincinnati Bengals L 0–14 3–4 Riverfront Stadium 44,487
8 October 26 at Green Bay Packers L 3–16 3–5 Lambeau Field 56,191
9 November 2 at Washington Redskins W 39–14 4–5 Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium 52,060
10 November 9 Detroit Lions W 34–0 5–5 Metropolitan Stadium 46,264
11 November 16 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 38–30 6–5 Metropolitan Stadium 46,032
12 November 23 Green Bay Packers L 13–25 6–6 Metropolitan Stadium 47,234
13 November 30 at New Orleans Saints W 23–20 7–6 Louisiana Superdome 30,936
14 December 7 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 21–10 8–6 Tampa Stadium 65,649
15 December 14 Cleveland Browns W 28–23 9–6 Metropolitan Stadium 42,202
16 December 21 at Houston Oilers L 16–20 9–7 Astrodome 51,064
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Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 15: vs Cleveland Browns

Main article: Miracle at the Met
Week 15: Cleveland Browns at Minnesota Vikings – Game summary
More information Quarter, Total ...
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Browns 7 6 3723
Vikings 0 0 91928
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at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota

More information Game information ...
Game information
First quarter

Second quarter

  • CLE – Brian Sipe 2-yard run (kick failed). Browns 13–0.

Third quarter

  • MIN – Joe Senser 31-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (kick failed). Browns 13–6.
  • CLE – Don Cockroft 32-yard field goal. Browns 16–6.
  • MIN – Rick Danmeier 24-yard field goal. Browns 16–9.

Fourth quarter

  • CLE – Cleo Miller 1-yard run (Don Cockroft kick). Browns 23–9.
  • MIN – Ted Brown 7-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (kick failed). Browns 23–15.
  • MIN – Ahmad Rashad 12-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick). Browns 23–22.
  • MIN – Ahmad Rashad 46-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (kick failed). Vikings 28–23.
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Trailing 23–9 entering the fourth quarter the Vikings came back and won on a desperation Hail Mary pass from quarterback Tommy Kramer to wide receiver Ahmad Rashad to clinch the NFC Central Division title in what became known as the "Miracle at the Met".

Standings

More information NFC Central, W ...
NFC Central
 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(3) Minnesota Vikings 9 7 0 .563 5–3 8–4 317 308 L1
Detroit Lions 9 7 0 .563 5–3 9–5 334 272 W2
Chicago Bears 7 9 0 .438 5–3 7–5 304 264 W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 5 10 1 .344 1–6–1 4–7–1 271 341 L3
Green Bay Packers 5 10 1 .344 3–4–1 4–7–1 231 371 L4
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Postseason

More information Week, Date ...
Week Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance
Divisional January 3 at Philadelphia Eagles L 16–31 Veterans Stadium 68,434
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Statistics

Team leaders

More information Category, Player(s) ...
Category Player(s) Value
Passing yardsTommy Kramer3,582
Passing touchdownsTommy Kramer19
Rushing yardsTed Brown912
Rushing touchdownsTed Brown8
Receiving yardsAhmad Rashad1,095
Receiving touchdownsJoe Senser7
PointsRick Danmeier81
Kickoff return yardsEddie Payton1,184
Punt return yardsEddie Payton251
InterceptionsJohn Turner6
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League rankings

More information Category, Total yards ...
Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank
(out of 28)
Passing offense3,688230.53rd
Rushing offense1,642102.627th
Total offense5,330333.111th
Passing defense3,400212.524th
Rushing defense2,456153.525th
Total defense5,856366.026th
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References

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