1978 Minnesota Vikings season

1978 Minnesota Vikings season
Head Coach	Bud Grant
General Manager	Mike Lynn
Home Field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	8–7–1
Place	1st NFC Central
Playoff Finish	Lost NFC Divisional Playoff (at Rams) 10–34
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1977	1979

The 1978 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 18th in the National Football League. The Vikings finished with an 8–7–1 record, and finished in first place in the NFC Central division, despite having a regular season point differential of −12. The team appeared in the playoffs for the 10th time in 11 years; as in each of their previous playoff seasons, this one ended with a loss. Following the season, longtime quarterback Fran Tarkenton retired.

Offseason

1978 Draft

Main article: 1978 NFL draft

1978 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall
1	21	21	Randy Holloway	Defensive End	Pittsburgh
2	20	48	John Turner	Defensive Back	Miami
3	19	75	Whip Walton	Linebacker	San Diego State
4	16	100	Jim Hough	Center	Utah State
5	22	132	Traded to the New York Giants
6	21	159	Traded to the San Francisco 49ers
7	20	186	Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles
8	10	204	Mike Wood	Kicker	Southeast Missouri State	from Seahawks
	19	213	Traded to the New York Jets
9	18	240	Mike Deutsch	Punter	Colorado State
10	22	272	Hughie Shaw	Running Back	Texas A&I
11	21	299	Ron Harris	Running Back	Colorado State
12	20	326	Jeff Morrow	Offensive Tackle	Minnesota

^{^[a]} Minnesota traded their 5th round selection (132nd overall) to the New York Giants for TE Bob Tucker.

^{^[b]} Minnesota traded their 6th round selection (159th overall) to San Francisco for DBs Windlan Hill and Nate Allen.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 7th round selection (186th overall) to Philadelphia for Safety Bill Bradley.

^{^[d]} Seattle traded their 8th round selection (204th overall) to Minnesota for CB Autry Beamon and LB Amos Martin.

^{^[e]} Minnesota traded their 8th round selection (213th overall) and 1979 10th round selection (263rd overall) to the New York Jets for Safety Phil Wise.

Roster

1978 Minnesota Vikings roster
	Quarterbacks 9 Tommy Kramer 10 Fran Tarkenton Running backs 44 Chuck Foreman 39 Mark Kellar 33 Brent McClanahan 35 Robert Miller Wide receivers 87 Kevin Miller 28 Ahmad Rashad 80 Harry Washington 85 Sammy White Tight ends 84 Steve Craig 83 Stu Voigt		Offensive linemen 68 Charles Goodrum G 61 Wes Hamilton G 51 Jim Hough G 78 Steve Riley T 67 Dennis Swilley C 53 Mick Tingelhoff C 73 Ron Yary T Defensive linemen 81 Carl Eller DE 75 Randy Holloway DE 70 Jim Marshall DE 77 Mark Mullaney DE 69 Doug Sutherland DT 72 James White DE		Linebackers 59 Matt Blair 58 Wally Hilgenberg 54 Fred McNeill 50 Jeff Siemon 55 Scott Studwell Defensive backs 25 Nate Allen CB 20 Bobby Bryant CB 45 Tom Hannon SS 22 Paul Krause FS 23 Jeff Wright SS 43 Nate Wright CB Special teams 8 Greg Coleman P 7 Rick Danmeier K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics 53 Active, 5 Inactive, 5 Practice squad

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance [1]
1	August 5	Washington Redskins	W 20–13	1–0	Metropolitan Stadium	46,212
2	August 12	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 13–17	1–1	Arrowhead Stadium	41,092
3	August 18	at Miami Dolphins	L 22–30	1–2	Miami Orange Bowl	46,316
4	August 26	Buffalo Bills	W 30–27	2–2	Metropolitan Stadium	45,062

Regular season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 3	at New Orleans Saints	L 24–31	0–1	Superdome	54,187
2	September 11	Denver Broncos	W 12–9	1–1	Metropolitan Stadium	46,508
3	September 17	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 10–16	1–2	Metropolitan Stadium	46,152
4	September 25	at Chicago Bears	W 24–20	2–2	Soldier Field	53,551
5	October 1	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 24–7	3–2	Tampa Stadium	65,972
6	October 8	at Seattle Seahawks	L 28–29	3–3	Kingdome	62,031
7	October 15	Los Angeles Rams	L 17–34	3–4	Metropolitan Stadium	46,551
8	October 22	Green Bay Packers	W 21–7	4–4	Metropolitan Stadium	47,411
9	October 26	at Dallas Cowboys	W 21–10	5–4	Texas Stadium	61,848
10	November 5	Detroit Lions	W 17–7	6–4	Metropolitan Stadium	46,008
11	November 12	Chicago Bears	W 17–14	7–4	Metropolitan Stadium	43,286
12	November 19	San Diego Chargers	L 7–13	7–5	Metropolitan Stadium	38,859
13	November 26	at Green Bay Packers	T 10–10 (OT)	7–5–1	Lambeau Field	51,737
14	December 3	Philadelphia Eagles	W 28–27	8–5–1	Metropolitan Stadium	38,722
15	December 9	at Detroit Lions	L 14–45	8–6–1	Silverdome	78,685
16	December 17	at Oakland Raiders	L 20–27	8–7–1	Oakland Coliseum	44,643

Standings

Template:1978 NFC Central standings

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Divisional	December 31, 1978	at Los Angeles Rams	L 10–34	0–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	69,631

In 2004, Football Outsiders named the 1978 Vikings as one of the "worst playoff teams ever":

Awards and records

• QB Fran Tarkenton set a new Vikings record throwing 32 interceptions, surpassing his own record of 25 (set in 1962, which surpassed his 1961 record of 17). The club record still stands.
• RB Rickey Young caught 88 passes, setting a Vikings single-season record as he led the NFL. The record will be surpassed by both Cris Carter and Randy Moss in many subsequent seasons.

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 28)
Passing offense	3,243	202.7	2nd
Rushing offense	1,536	96.0	28th
Total offense	4,779	298.7	17th
Passing defense	2,690	168.1	19th
Rushing defense	2,116	132.3	10th
Total defense	4,806	300.4	14th

Statistical leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing yards	Fran Tarkenton	3,468
Passing touchdowns	Fran Tarkenton	25
Rushing yards	Chuck Foreman	749
Rushing touchdowns	Chuck Foreman	5
Receiving yards	Ahmad Rashād	769
Receiving touchdowns	Sammy White	9
Points	Rick Danmeier	72
Kickoff return yards	Kevin Miller	854
Punt return yards	Kevin Miller	239
Interceptions	Bobby Bryant	7