1977 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1977 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 17th in the National Football League. After starting the season 5–3, the team's starting quarterback Fran Tarkenton broke his leg in week 9 and missed the rest of the season. Despite losing Tarkenton, the team managed to finish the season with a 9–5 record and went to the playoffs as winners of the NFC Central division title. They beat the Los Angeles Rams 14–7 in the Divisional Round in a game played in Los Angeles and termed the Mud Bowl, although the Vikings had lost 35–3 to the Rams in week 6.^[1][2] In the NFC Championship game played in Dallas, the Vikings lost to the Dallas Cowboys 23–6.

1977 Minnesota Vikings season
General manager	Mike Lynn
Head coach	Bud Grant
Home stadium	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	1st NFC Central
Playoffs	Won Divisional Playoffs (at Rams) 14–7 Lost NFC Championship (at Cowboys) 6–23
Pro Bowlers	LB Matt Blair RB Chuck Foreman LB Jeff Siemon G Ed White WR Sammy White T Ron Yary
All-Pros	T Ron Yary (2nd team)
Uniform
← 1976 Vikings seasons 1978 →

The Vikings' famed Purple People Eaters defensive line stopping a Rams rushing play in the 1977 NFC Divisional Playoff game.

Offseason

1977 draft

Main article: 1977 NFL draft

Pro Bowler

1977 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order		Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Selection
1	27	Tommy Kramer	Quarterback	Rice
2	55	Dennis Swilley	Guard	Texas A&M
3	83	Tommy Hannon	Safety	Michigan State
4	111	Traded to the Seattle Seahawks[A]
5	138	Ken Moore	Tight end	Northern Illinois
6	166	Traded to the New England Patriots[B]
7	194	Traded to the Cincinnati Bengals[C]
8	222	Clint Strozier	Defensive back	USC
9	250	Scott Studwell	Linebacker	Illinois
10	278	Dan Beaver	Placekicker	Illinois
11	306	Keith Hartwig	Wide receiver	Arizona
12	335	Jim Kelleher	Running back	Colorado

Notes

1. The Vikings traded a fourth-round selection (111th overall) to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for WR Ahmad Rashad.
2. The Vikings traded a sixth-round selection (166th overall) and a 1976 eighth-round selection (235th overall) to the New England Patriots in exchange for C Doug Dumler.
3. The Vikings traded a seventh-round selection (194th overall) to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for TE Orlando Nelson.

Personnel

Staff

1977 Minnesota Vikings staff

Front office Principal owner/president – Max Winter Chairman/treasurer – H. P. Skoglund General manager – Mike Lynn Coordinator–administration – Harley Peterson Coordinator–football operations – Jerry Reichow Director of player personnel – Frank Gilliam Head coaches Head coach – Bud Grant Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Jerry Burns Offensive line – John Michels Offensive backfield – Bus Mertes

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Neill Armstrong Defensive line – Buddy Ryan Linebackers – Jack Nelson

^[3]

Roster

1977 Minnesota Vikings roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  9 Tommy Kramer 19 Bob Lee 10 Fran Tarkenton Running backs (RB) 44 Chuck Foreman 48 Sammy Johnson 39 Mark Kellar 33 Brent McClanahan 35 Robert Miller 36 Manfred Moore Wide receivers (WR) 26 Bob Grim 28 Ahmad Rashad 85 Sammy White Tight ends (TE) 84 Steve Craig 38 Bob Tucker 83 Stu Voigt

Offensive linemen (OL) 57 Doug Dumler C 68 Charlie Goodrum G 61 Wes Hamilton G 78 Steve Riley T 67 Dennis Swilley G 53 Mick Tingelhoff C 62 Ed White G 73 Ron Yary T Defensive linemen (DL) 81 Carl Eller DE 76 Joey Jackson DT 70 Jim Marshall DE 77 Mark Mullaney DE 88 Alan Page DT 69 Doug Sutherland DT 72 James White DT

Linebackers (LB) 59 Matt Blair OLB 58 Wally Hilgenberg OLB 54 Fred McNeill OLB 50 Jeff Siemon MLB 55 Scott Studwell MLB Defensive backs (DB) 25 Nate Allen CB 21 Joe Blahak CB 20 Bobby Bryant CB 45 Tommy Hannon FS 22 Paul Krause FS 29 Phil Wise SS 23 Jeff Wright SS 43 Nate Wright CB Special teams (ST) 12 Neil Clabo P 14 Fred Cox K

Reserve  7 Rick Danmeier K (IR) Rookies in italics 45 active, 1 reserve

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance[4]
1	August 6	at Los Angeles Rams	W 22–17	1–0	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	55,168
2	August 13	Cleveland Browns	W 34–33	2–0	Metropolitan Stadium	45,370
3	August 19	at Baltimore Colts	L 7–29	2–1	Memorial Stadium	45,529
4	August 26	Miami Dolphins	W 33–7	3–1	Metropolitan Stadium	44,396
5	September 3	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 7–26	3–2	Riverfront Stadium	52,942
6	September 10	at Buffalo Bills	W 30–6	4–2	Rich Stadium	35,017

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 18	Dallas Cowboys	L 10–16 (OT)	0–1	Metropolitan Stadium	47,678
2	September 24	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 9–3	1–1	Tampa Stadium	66,272
3	October 2	Green Bay Packers	W 19–7	2–1	Metropolitan Stadium	47,143
4	October 9	Detroit Lions	W 14–7	3–1	Metropolitan Stadium	45,860
5	October 16	Chicago Bears	W 22–16 (OT)	4–1	Metropolitan Stadium	47,708
6	October 24	at Los Angeles Rams	L 3–35	4–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	62,414
7	October 30	at Atlanta Falcons	W 14–7	5–2	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	59,257
8	November 6	St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–27	5–3	Metropolitan Stadium	47,066
9	November 13	Cincinnati Bengals	W 42–10	6–3	Metropolitan Stadium	45,371
10	November 20	at Chicago Bears	L 7–10	6–4	Soldier Field	49,563
11	November 27	at Green Bay Packers	W 13–6	7–4	Lambeau Field	56,267
12	December 4	San Francisco 49ers	W 28–27	8–4	Metropolitan Stadium	40,745
13	December 11	at Oakland Raiders	L 13–35	8–5	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	52,771
14	December 17	at Detroit Lions	W 30–21	9–5	Silverdome	78,572

Game summaries

Week 7: at Atlanta Falcons

• Television network: CBS^{[citation needed]}
• Announcers: Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier^{[citation needed]}

Minnesota's Fran Tarkenton threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Sammy White to tie the game in the second quarter, then tossed a 6-yard scoring pass to Bob Tucker in the fourth quarter after Chuck Foreman's 51-yard run to salvage a big win for the Vikings. The Falcons took the lead early lead on a 49-yard scoring pass from Scott Hunter to Greg McCrary.^{[citation needed]}

Week 10: at Chicago Bears

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	0	7	0	7
Bears	0	10	0	0	10

Game information

First quarter No scoring plays. Second quarter CHI – Walter Payton 1-yard run (Bob Thomas kick). Bears 7–0. CHI – Bob Thomas 37-yard field goal. Bears 10–0. Third quarter MIN – Matt Blair 10-yard return of blocked punt (Fred Cox kick). Bears 10–7. Fourth quarter No scoring plays. Top passers MIN – Bob Lee – 12/24, 116 yards, 2 INT CHI – Bob Avellini – 4/6, 33 yards, INT Top rushers MIN – Chuck Foreman – 14 rushes, 54 yards CHI – Walter Payton – 40 rushes, 275 yards, TD Top receivers MIN – Sammy White – 3 receptions, 31 yards CHI – James Scott – 2 receptions, 22 yards

Week 10: Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears – Game summary

at Soldier Field, Chicago

• Date: Sunday, November 20
• Game time: 12:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 48 °F (9 °C)
• Referee: Gordon McCarter
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Week 11: at Green Bay Packers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	13	0	0	13
Packers	6	0	0	0	6

Game information

First quarter GB – David Whitehurst 3-yard run (kick failed). Packers 6–0. Second quarter MIN – Sammy White 40-yard pass from Bob Lee (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 7–6. MIN – Fred Cox 21-yard field goal. Vikings 10–6. MIN – Fred Cox 31-yard field goal. Vikings 13–6. Third quarter No scoring plays. Fourth quarter No scoring plays. Top passers MIN – Bob Lee – 5/8, 68 yards, TD GB – David Whitehurst – 6/23, 75 yards, 2 INT Top rushers MIN – Chuck Foreman – 26 rushes, 101 yards GB – Eric Torkelson – 13 rushes, 53 yards Top receivers MIN – Sammy White – 1 reception, 40 yards, TD GB – Bert Askson – 1 reception, 34 yards

Week 11: Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers – Game summary

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

• Date: Sunday, November 27
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 10 °F (−12 °C)
• Referee: Don Wedge
• TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and Johnny Unitas
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Week 13: at Oakland Raiders

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	7	0	6	13
Raiders	21	0	7	7	35

Game information

First quarter OAK – Mark van Eeghen 2-yard run (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 7–0. OAK – Cliff Branch 10-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 14–0. OAK – Willie Hall 2-yard fumble recovery (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 21–0. Second quarter MIN – Nate Wright 27-yard fumble recovery (Fred Cox kick). Raiders 21–7. Third quarter OAK – Cliff Branch 32-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 28–7. Fourth quarter OAK – Carl Garrett 2-yard pass from Ken Stabler (Errol Mann kick). Raiders 35–7. MIN – Sammy White 11-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (kick failed, wide right). Raiders 35–13. Top passers MIN – Tommy Kramer – 16/34, 177 yards, TD, 3 INT OAK – Ken Stabler – 10/15, 143 yards, 3 TD Top rushers MIN – Chuck Foreman – 11 rushes, 48 yards OAK – Mark van Eeghen – 28 rushes, 112 yards, TD Top receivers MIN – Sammy White – 5 reception, 73 yards, TD OAK – Cliff Branch – 4 reception, 95 yards, 2 TD

Week 13: Minnesota Vikings at Oakland Raiders – Game summary

at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California

• Date: Sunday, December 11
• Game time: 4:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C)
• Referee: Fred Wyant
• TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully and Alex Hawkins
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings(3)	9	5	0	.643	6–1	8–4	231	227	W1
Chicago Bears(4)	9	5	0	.643	6–1	8–4	255	253	W6
Detroit Lions	6	8	0	.429	2–5	4–8	183	252	L1
Green Bay Packers	4	10	0	.286	2–5	4–7	134	219	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	12	0	.143	0–4	2–11	103	223	W2

Postseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance
Div	December 26	at Los Angeles Rams	W 14–7	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	62,538
Conf	January 1	at Dallas Cowboys	L 6–23	Texas Stadium	61,968

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing yards	Fran Tarkenton	1,734
Passing touchdowns	Fran Tarkenton	9
Rushing yards	Chuck Foreman	1,112
Rushing touchdowns	Chuck Foreman	6
Receiving yards	Sammy White	760
Receiving touchdowns	Sammy White	9
Points	Chuck Foreman Sammy White	54
Kickoff return yards	Manfred Moore	524
Punt return yards	Manfred Moore	277
Interceptions	Bobby Bryant	4

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 28)
Passing offense	2,368	169.1	6th
Rushing offense	1,821	130.1	21st
Total offense	4,189	299.2	14th
Passing defense	1,581	112.9	3rd
Rushing defense	2,218	158.4	21st
Total defense	3,799	271.4	11th