Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check After opening the season with back-to-back losses, the Vikings ran off five straight wins and sat near the top of the NFC at midseason. After splitting their next four games, the Vikings were 7–4 and poised for a playoff run—however, they lost their last five games to close out the year.
The Vikings were led by quarterback Tommy Kramer , who enjoyed the most productive season of his career, throwing for 3,912 yards and 26 touchdowns. However, Kramer also threw 24 interceptions in 1981. The Vikings set an NFL record for pass attempts with 709.
A trio of offensive standouts paced the Vikings in 1981 at the skill positions. Running back Ted Brown was the team's main ball carrier, rushing for 1,063 yards, and also came in third in the NFL with 83 pass receptions; he scored eight touchdowns . Veteran wide receiver Sammy White also eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark for the first time in his career (1,001) and tight end Joe Senser , who would later become a color analyst on radio for the Vikings, logged 1,004 yards receiving with eight touchdowns; Senser went to the Pro Bowl for the 1981 season.
Schedule
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Week
Date
Opponent
Result
Record
Venue
Attendance
1
September 5
at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
L 13–210–1
Tampa Stadium 66,287
2
September 14
Oakland Raiders L 10–360–2
Metropolitan Stadium 47,186
3
September 20
Detroit Lions W 26–241–2
Metropolitan Stadium
45,350
4
September 27
at Green Bay Packers
W 30–132–2
Milwaukee County Stadium 55,012
5
October 4
Chicago Bears W 24–213–2
Metropolitan Stadium
43,827
6
October 11
at San Diego Chargers
W 33–314–2
San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium 50,708
7
October 18
Philadelphia Eagles W 35–235–2
Metropolitan Stadium
45,459
8
October 25
at St. Louis Cardinals
L 17–305–3
Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium 48,039
9
November 2
at Denver Broncos
L 17–195–4
Mile High Stadium 74,834
10
November 8
Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 25–106–4
Metropolitan Stadium
47,038
11
November 15
New Orleans Saints W 20–107–4
Metropolitan Stadium
45,215
12
November 23
at Atlanta Falcons
L 30–317–5
Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 54,086
13
November 29
Green Bay Packers L 23–357–6
Metropolitan Stadium
46,025
14
December 6
at Chicago Bears
L 9–107–7
Soldier Field 50,766
15
December 12
at Detroit Lions
L 7–457–8
Pontiac Silverdome 79,428
16
December 20
Kansas City Chiefs L 6–107–9
Metropolitan Stadium
41,110
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Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 1: Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Game summary
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at Tampa Stadium , Tampa, Florida
Date : September 5Game time : 8:05 p.m. EDTGame weather : Partly cloudy, showers, 80 °F (27 °C)Game attendance : 66,287Referee : Fred Silva (7)Recap , Game Book
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First quarter
Second quarter
Third quarter
MIN – Rick Danmeier 45-yard field goal, 10:41. Buccaneers 7–3. Drive: 7 plays, 39 yards, 2:36.
MIN – Rick Danmeier 25-yard field goal, 0:33. Buccaneers 7–6. Drive: 17 plays, 75 yards, 8:12. Fourth quarter
TB – Doug Williams 10-yard run (Garo Yepremian kick), 13:17. Buccaneers 14–6. Drive: 8 plays, 76 yards, 2:03.
MIN – Joe Senser 4-yard pass from Steve Dils (Rick Danmeier kick), 2:29. Buccaneers 14–13. Drive: 14 plays, 72 yards, 2:39.
TB – Neal Colzie 82-yard interception return (Garo Yepremian kick), 0:21. Buccaneers 21–13.
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Week 2: vs Oakland Raiders
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First quarter
OAK – Chris Bahr 21-yard field goal, 1:59. Raiders 3–0. Drive: 10 plays, 62 yards, 4:35. Second quarter
Third quarter
MIN – Rick Danmeier 37-yard field goal, 13:00. Raiders 16–10. Drive: 7 plays, 61 yards, 2:00.
OAK – Morris Bradshaw 12-yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Chris Bahr kick), 8:54. Raiders 23–10. Drive: 8 plays, 69 yards, 4:06. Fourth quarter
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Week 3: vs Detroit Lions
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First quarter
Second quarter
MIN – Joe Senser 4-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick), 11:56. Vikings 14–0. Drive: 3 plays, 5 yards, 1:25.
DET – Billy Sims 2-yard run (Eddie Murray kick), 7:28. Vikings 14–7. Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards, 4:28.
DET – Billy Sims 3-yard run (Eddie Murray kick), 1:13. Tied 14–14. Drive: 8 plays, 77 yards, 3:41.
MIN – Rick Danmeier 39-yard field goal, 0:00. Vikings 17–14. Drive: 10 plays, 58 yards, 1:13. Third quarter
MIN – Ted Brown 41-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (kick blocked), 8:12. Vikings 23–14. Drive: 5 plays, 98 yards, 2:22.
DET – Gary Danielson 1-yard run (Eddie Murray kick), 2:21. Vikings 23–21. Drive: 5 plays, 12 yards, 3:35. Fourth quarter
DET – Eddie Murray 25-yard field goal, 10:30. Lions 24–23. Drive: 11 plays, 70 yards, 5:08.
MIN – Rick Danmeier 20-yard field goal, 0:04. Vikings 26–24. Drive: 10 plays, 81 yards, 1:52.
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DET – Freddie Scott – 5 receptions, 113 yards
MIN – Ted Brown – 9 receptions, 115 yards, TD
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Week 6: at San Diego Chargers
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First quarter
Second quarter
MIN – Rickey Young 15-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick), 14:47. Tied 7–7. Drive: 9 plays, 66 yards, 3:24.
MIN – Ted Brown 4-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick), 9:00. Vikings 14–7. Drive: 11 plays, 71 yards, 5:10.
SD – Dwight Scales 60-yard pass from Dan Fouts (Rolf Benirschke kick), 6:45. Tied 14–14. Drive: 4 plays, 73 yards, 2:15. Third quarter
SD – Rolf Benirschke 39-yard field goal, 9:43. Chargers 17–14. Drive: 8 plays, 48 yards, 3:32.
MIN – Terry LeCount 26-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick), 6:28. Vikings 21–17. Drive: 7 plays, 92 yards, 3:15.
SD – Charlie Joiner 38-yard pass from Dan Fouts (Rolf Benirschke kick), 4:32. Chargers 24–21. Drive: 6 plays, 74 yards, 1:56.
MIN – Rick Danmeier 28-yard field goal, 2:35. Tied 24–24. Drive: 4 plays, 64 yards, 1:57. Fourth quarter
SD – Chuck Muncie 1-yard run (Rolf Benirschke kick), 10:47. Chargers 31–24. Drive: 15 plays, 74 yards, 6:48.
MIN – Terry LeCount 43-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (kick failed), 1:51. Chargers 31–30. Drive: 4 plays, 72 yards, 0:35.
MIN – Rick Danmeier 38-yard field goal, 0:00. Vikings 33–31. Drive: 5 plays, 22 yards, 1:45.
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Week 7: vs Philadelphia Eagles
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First quarter
PHI – Wilbert Montgomery 1-yard run (kick blocked), 1:55. Eagles 6–0. Drive: 5 plays, 59 yards, 2:45. Second quarter
MIN – Joe Senser 11-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick), 11:42. Vikings 7–6. Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 5:04.
PHI – Tony Franklin 30-yard field goal, 3:48. Eagles 9–7. Drive: 8 plays, 63 yards, 4:00.
MIN – Sammy White 50-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick), 1:54. Vikings 14–9. Drive: 5 plays, 68 yards, 1:44.
MIN – Bob Bruer 1-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick), 0:00. Vikings 21–9. Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards, 1:06. Third quarter
MIN – Ahmad Rashad 5-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick), 5:32. Vikings 28–9. Drive: 8 plays, 29 yards, 2:41. Fourth quarter
PHI – Wilbert Montgomery 25-yard pass from Ron Jaworski (Tony Franklin kick), 12:44. Vikings 28–16. Drive: 7 plays, 86 yards, 2:51.
MIN – Ted Brown 1-yard run (Rick Danmeier kick), 5:20. Vikings 35–16. Drive: 4 plays, 44 yards, 1:48.
PHI – Harold Carmichael 21-yard pass from Ron Jaworski (Tony Franklin kick), 2:47. Vikings 35–23. Drive: 5 plays, 67 yards, 2:24.
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PHI – Wilbert Montgomery – 10 receptions, 143 yards, TD
MIN – Joe Senser – 5 receptions, 88 yards, TD
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Week 9: at Denver Broncos
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First quarter
Second quarter
DEN – Fred Steinfort 42-yard field goal, 4:06. Broncos 3–0. Drive: 8 plays, 56 yards, 3:00.
MIN – Rick Danmeier 32-yard field goal, 0:18. Tied 3–3. Drive: 11 plays, 64 yards, 3:48. Third quarter
DEN – Fred Steinfort 49-yard field goal, 7:29. Broncos 6–3. Drive: 11 plays, 48 yards, 4:39. Fourth quarter
DEN – Rob Lytle 5-yard run (kick failed), 10:16. Broncos 12–3. Drive: 12 plays, 94 yards, 5:52.
DEN – Steve Watson 15-yard pass from Craig Morton (Fred Steinfort kick), 8:32. Broncos 19–3. Drive: 2 plays, 18 yards, 0:36.
MIN – Tony Galbreath 1-yard run (Rick Danmeier kick), 5:07. Broncos 19–10. Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 3:25.
MIN – Tony Galbreath 1-yard run (Rick Danmeier kick), 2:40. Broncos 19–17. Drive: 2 plays, 39 yards, 0:15.
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Week 10: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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First quarter
MIN – Rick Danmeier 33-yard field goal, 4:47. Vikings 3–0. Drive: 7 plays, 23 yards, 3:05. Second quarter
MIN – Rick Danmeier 38-yard field goal, 13:33. Vikings 6–0. Drive: 4 plays, 1 yard, 0:19.
MIN – Ted Brown 2-yard run (Rick Danmeier kick), 1:09. Vikings 13–0. Drive: 17 plays, 95 yards, 9:04.
MIN – Rick Danmeier 41-yard field goal, 0:00. Vikings 16–0. Drive: 7 plays, 47 yards, 0:40. Third quarter
MIN – Rickey Young 1-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick), 11:35. Vikings 23–0. Drive: 9 plays, 76 yards, 3:25.
TB – Bill Capece 27-yard field goal, 3:17. Vikings 23–3. Drive: 4 plays, 5 yards, 2:15. Fourth quarter
MIN – Doug Williams sacked in the end zone by Mark Mullaney and James White for a safety, 13:08. Vikings 25–3.
TB – Jimmie Giles 1-yard pass from Doug Williams (Bill Capece kick), 9:28. Vikings 25–10. Drive: 6 plays, 78 yards, 1:54.
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TB – Doug Williams – 3 rushes, 20 yards
MIN – Ted Brown – 31 rushes, 129 yards, TD Top receivers
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Week 11: vs New Orleans Saints
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First quarter
Second quarter
MIN – Rick Danmeier 35-yard field goal, 9:35. Vikings 3–0. Drive: 10 plays, 65 yards, 3:32.
NO – Benny Ricardo 24-yard field goal, 4:26. Tied 3–3. Drive: 11 plays, 69 yards, 5:09.
MIN – Joe Senser 11-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick), 0:19. Vikings 10–3. Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 3:12. Third quarter
MIN – Rick Danmeier 19-yard field goal, 8:29. Vikings 13–3. Drive: 15 plays, 78 yards, 6:31.
MIN – Ted Brown 9-yard run (Rick Danmeier kick), 5:36. Vikings 20–3. Drive: 4 plays, 62 yards, 1:45. Fourth quarter
NO – George Rogers 1-yard run (Benny Ricardo kick), 6:59. Vikings 20–10. Drive: 8 plays, 60 yards, 4:54.
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Week 16: vs Kansas City Chiefs
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First quarter
MIN – Rick Danmeier 43-yard field goal, 10:33. Vikings 3–0. Drive: 14 plays, 50 yards, 4:27.
KC – Nick Lowery 30-yard field goal, 1:12. Tied 3–3. Drive: 4 plays, 9 yards, 1:41. Second quarter
Third quarter
KC – Stan Rome 15-yard pass from Steve Fuller (Nick Lowery kick), 10:03. Chiefs 10–3. Drive: 8 plays, 37 yards, 4:57.
MIN – Rick Danmeier 33-yard field goal, 4:30. Chiefs 10–6. Drive: 6 plays, 30 yards, 1:15. Fourth quarter
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KC – Carlos Carson – 3 receptions, 78 yards
MIN – Tony Galbreath – 7 receptions, 60 yards
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Standings
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