1977 Minnesota Vikings season

1977 Minnesota Vikings season
Head Coach	Bud Grant
General Manager	Mike Lynn
Home Field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	9–5
Place	1st NFC Central
Playoff Finish	Won NFC Divisional Playoff (at Rams) 14–7; Lost NFC Championship Game (at Cowboys) 6–23
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1976	1978

File:1986 Jeno's Pizza - 18 - Alan Page.jpg

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

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 same opponent in week 6.^[1]^[2] In the NFC Championship game in a game played in Dallas, the Vikings lost to the Dallas Cowboys 23–6.

Offseason[]

1977 Draft[]

	Pro Bowler

1977 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College
Round	Choice	Overall	Player name	Position	College
1	27	27	Tommy Kramer	Quarterback	Rice
2	27	55	Dennis Swilley	Guard	Texas A&M
3	27	83	Tom Hannon	Linebacker	San Diego State
4	27	111	Traded to the Seattle Seahawks^[a]
5	26	138	Ken Moore	Tight end	Northern Illinois
6	27	166	Traded to the New England Patriots^[b]
7	27	194	Traded to the Cincinnati Bengals^[c]
8	27	222	Clint Strozier	Defensive back	USC
9	27	250	Scott Studwell	Linebacker	Illinois
10	27	278	Dan Beaver	Kicker	Illinois
11	27	306	Keith Hartwig	Wide receiver	Arizona
12	27	335	Jim Kelleher	Running back	Colorado

^{^[a]} Minnesota traded their 4th-round selection (111th overall) to Seattle for RB Ahmad Rashād.

^{^[b]} Minnesota traded their 6th-round selection (166th overall) and 1976 8th-round selection (235th overall) to New England for OL Doug Dumler.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 7th-round selection (194th overall) to Cincinnati for TE Orlando Nelson.

Roster[]

1977 Minnesota Vikings roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

84 Steve Craig
83 Stu Voigt

Offensive linemen

57 Doug Dumler C
68 Charles Goodrum G
61 Wes Hamilton G
78 Steve Riley T
67 Dennis Swilley C
53 Mick Tingelhoff C
62 Ed White
73 Ron Yary T

Defensive linemen

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 DE

Linebackers

Defensive backs

25 Nate Allen CB
20 Bobby Bryant CB
45 Tom Hannon SS
22 Paul Krause FS
29 Phil Wise SS
23 Jeff Wright SS
43 Nate Wright CB

Special teams

12 Neil Clabo P
14 Fred Cox K

Reserve lists

Practice squad

Rookies in italics
54 Active, 4 Inactive, 0 Practice squad

Preseason[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance^[3]
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 10: at Chicago Bears[]

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

at Soldier Field, Chicago

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

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 blocked punt return (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 11: at Green Bay Packers[]

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

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Date: Sunday, November 27
Game time: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: 10 °F (−12 °C)
TV announcers (CBS): Gary Bender and Johnny Unitas
PFR