1982 Minnesota Vikings season

1982 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach Bud Grant
General manager Mike Lynn
Home field Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Results
Record 5–4
Division place 4th NFC
Playoff finish Won First Round (Falcons) 30–24
Lost Second Round (at Redskins) 7–21

The 1982 Minnesota Vikings season was the franchise's 22nd season in the National Football League. This was Minnesota's first season in the newly constructed Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

Offseason

1982 Draft

Main article: 1982 NFL draft
=Pro Bowler
1982 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College
Round Choice Overall
177Darrin NelsonRunning BackStanford
21239Terry TauschOffensive GuardUniversity of Texas at Austin
31166Traded to the New Orleans Saints[a]
4992Jim FahnhorstLinebackerMinnesota
59120Traded to the Miami Dolphins[b]
68147Greg StorrLinebackerBoston College
712179 Steve JordanTight EndBrown
811206Kirk HarmonLinebackerPacific
910233Bryan HowardDefensive BackTennessee State
109260Gerald LucearWide ReceiverTemple
117286Curtis RouseOffensive GuardTennessee-Chattanooga
1212318Hobson MilnerRunning BackCincinnati
^[a] Minnesota traded their 3rd round selection (66th overall) to New Orleans for RB Tony Galbreath.
^[b] Minnesota traded their 1981 6th round selection (154th overall) and 1982 5th round selection (120th overall) to Miami for OL Jim Langer.

Regular season

The Vikings opened up their new stadium with a 17–10 win over Tampa Bay in the season opener. A close loss to Buffalo on the road followed.

The season was then interrupted by the players' 57-day strike that reduced the NFL regular season to nine games. Upon resumption of play in November, the Vikings went 4–3 to close out the abbreviated regular season and closed the campaign with a 5–4 record. Games against Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, New Orleans, San Francisco, Tampa Bay and Washington were canceled.

As three of Minnesota's losses were to AFC opponents, their 4–1 conference record put them at the top of a logjam of teams with similar records in the playoff seedings. In 1982, the NFL took the top eight teams from each conference regardless of division record for playoff consideration. The Vikings earned the #4 seed based on this tiebreaker and home field advantage in round one.

In their opening round playoff game, the Vikings took on the Atlanta Falcons. The game was a back-and-forth affair that saw Minnesota take a 13–7 halftime lead, only to see the Falcons retake the lead late in the final period on a 41-yard field goal by Mick Luckhurst. With just under two minutes remaining, the Vikings began a game-winning drive that culminated in a Ted Brown 5-yard TD run to win the game and send the Vikings on to round two.

In the second round, the Vikings were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins, 21–7, at RFK Stadium. The Vikings trailed 14–0 after one quarter. Ted Brown's TD run in the second period cut it to 14–7, but Joe Theismann hit Alvin Garrett late in the quarter with an 18-yard TD strike to make it 21–7. Neither team scored in the second half.

QB Tommy Kramer threw for 2,037 yards and 15 TDs in the short season. RB Ted Brown had 515 yards to lead all rushers, and WR Sammy White tallied 503 yards and 5 TDs to lead receivers.

LB Matt Blair anchored the Vikings defense and also made the 1982 Pro Bowl.

Schedule

Week Original week Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance
1 1 September 12, 1982 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–10 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
58,440
2 2 September 16, 1982 at Buffalo Bills L 23–22 Rich Stadium
77,753
* 3 September 26, 1982 Dallas Cowboys Postponed Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
* 4 October 3, 1982 at Chicago Bears Canceled Soldier Field
* 5 October 10, 1982 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Canceled Tampa Stadium
* 6 October 17, 1982 New Orleans Saints Canceled Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
* 7 October 24, 1982 Green Bay Packers Canceled Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
* 8 November 1, 1982 Detroit Lions Canceled Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
* 9 November 7, 1982 at San Francisco 49ers Canceled Candlestick Park
* 10 November 14, 1982 at Washington Redskins Canceled RFK Stadium
3 11 November 21, 1982 at Green Bay Packers L 26–7 Milwaukee County Stadium
44,681
4 12 November 28, 1982 Chicago Bears W 35–7 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
54,724
5 13 December 5, 1982 at Miami Dolphins L 22–14 Miami Orange Bowl
45,721
6 14 December 12, 1982 Baltimore Colts W 13–10 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
53,981
7 15 December 19, 1982 at Detroit Lions W 34–31 Pontiac Silverdome
73,058
8 16 December 26, 1982 New York Jets L 42–14 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
58,672
9 3 January 3, 1983 Dallas Cowboys W 31–27 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
60,007

Playoffs

Week Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance
Wildcard January 9, 1983 Atlanta Falcons W 30–24 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
60,560
Division January 15, 1983 at Washington Redskins L 21–7 RFK Stadium
54,593

Standings

NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Green Bay Packers(3) 5 3 1 .611 1–2 4–2 226 169 L1
Minnesota Vikings(4) 5 4 0 .556 3–1 4–1 158 178 W3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers(7) 5 4 0 .556 2–1 3–3 158 178 W1
Detroit Lions(8) 4 5 0 .444 3–3 4–4 181 176 W1
Chicago Bears 3 6 0 .333 1–3 2–5 141 174 L1
National Football Conference
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Washington Redskins(1) 8 1 0 .889 190 128 W4
Dallas Cowboys(2) 6 3 0 .667 226 145 L2
Green Bay Packers(3) 5 3 1 .611 226 169 L1
Minnesota Vikings(4) 5 4 0 .556 187 198 W1
Atlanta Falcons(5) 5 4 0 .556 183 199 L2
St. Louis Cardinals(6) 5 4 0 .556 135 170 L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers(7) 5 4 0 .556 158 178 W3
Detroit Lions(8) 4 5 0 .444 181 176 W1
New Orleans Saints 4 5 0 .444 129 160 W1
New York Giants 4 5 0 .444 164 160 W1
San Francisco 49ers 3 6 0 .333 209 206 L1
Chicago Bears 3 6 0 .333 141 174 L1
Philadelphia Eagles 3 6 0 .333 191 195 L1
Los Angeles Rams 2 7 0 .222 200 250 W1

Statistics

Team leaders

Category Player(s) Value
Passing Yards Tommy Kramer 2,037
Passing Touchdowns Tommy Kramer 15
Rushing Yards Ted Brown 515
Rushing Touchdowns Tommy Kramer 3
Receiving Yards Sammy White 503
Receiving Touchdowns Sammy White 5
Points Rick Danmeier 47
Kickoff Return Yards Jarvis Redwine 286
Punt Return Yards Eddie Payton 179
Sacks Doug Martin 11.5
Interceptions Willie Teal 4

League rankings

Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank
(out of 28)
Passing Offense 1,967 Yards 122.9 YPG 5th
Rushing Offense 912 Yards 57.0 YPG 22nd
Total Offense 2,879 Yards 179.9 YPG 14th
Passing Defense 1,875 Yards 117.2 YPG 20th
Rushing Defense 1,020 Yards 63.8 YPG 14th
Total Defense 2,895 Yards 180.9 YPG 19th

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.