1985 Minnesota Vikings season

1985 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach	Bud Grant (18th season)
General manager	Mike Lynn (Since 1975)
Owner	Max Winter (Since 1961)
Home field	Metrodome
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	1[1] SS Joey Browner
AP All-Pros	1[2] SS Joey Browner

The 1985 Minnesota Vikings season was the franchise's 25th season in the National Football League The Vikings finished with a record of seven wins and nine losses.

The team was able to bring back Bud Grant. After 18 years, Grant retired.

Offseason

1985 Draft

=Pro Bowler

1985 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall
1	2	2	Traded to the Atlanta Falcons^[b]			from Oilers^[a]
	3	3	Traded to the Houston Oilers^[a]
	4	4	Chris Doleman	Defensive End	Pittsburgh	from Falcons^[b]
2	2	30	Issiac Holt	Cornerback	Alcorn State	Provisional trade not exercised^[a]^[c]
3	3	59	Kirk Lowdermilk	Center	Ohio State
	4	60	Tim Meamber	Linebacker	Washington	from Falcons^[b]
	10	66	Tim Long	Offensive Tackle	Memphis State	from Chargers^[d]
4	1	85	George Rhymes	Wide Receiver	Oklahoma
	22	106	Kyle Morrell	Defensive Back	BYU	from Rams^[e]
5	3	115	Mark MacDonald	Offensive Guard	Boston College
6	2	142	Steve Bono	Quarterback	UCLA
	24	164	Tim Newton	Defensive Tackle	Florida	from Raiders^[f]
7	3	171	Traded to the Green Bay Packers^[g]
8	2	198	Nikita Blair	Linebacker	Texas-El Paso
9	3	227	Jamie Covington	Running Back	Syracuse
10	2	254	Juan Johnson	Wide Receiver	Langston
11	3	283	Tim Williams	Defensive Back	North Carolina A&T
12	2	310	Byron Jones	Defensive Tackle	Tulsa

^{^[a]} In an attempt to draft QB Bernie Kosar, Minnesota traded their 1st round selection (3rd overall) and a provisional 2nd round selection (30th overall)^[c] to Houston to move up 1 spot to the Oilers 2nd overall position on April 9, 1985.

^{^[b]} When QB Bernie Kosar did not declare for the draft and instead controversially waited for the supplemental draft, Minnesota traded the 2nd overall pick to Atlanta for their 1st round selection (4th overall) and 3rd round selection (60th overall).

^{^[c]} As part of the initial trade between the Vikings and Oilers^[a], the Vikings agreed to not draft DE Ray Childress or trade the pick to a team that would draft Childress. Houston drafted Childress with the 3rd overall pick and this provisional selection was returned to Minnesota.

^{^[d]} San Diego traded their 3rd round selection (66th overall) to Minnesota for CB John Turner.

^{^[e]} The Rams traded their 4th round selection (106th overall) to Minnesota for QB Steve Dils.

^{^[f]} The Raiders traded their 6th round selection (164th overall) and 1986 2nd round selection to Minnesota for LB Brad Van Pelt.

^{^[g]} Minnesota traded their 7th round selection (171st overall) to Green Bay for PK Jan Stenerud.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Results		Venue	Attendance
			Final score	Team record
1	September 8, 1985	San Francisco 49ers	W 28–21	1–0	Metrodome	57,375
2	September 15, 1985	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 31–16	2–0	Tampa Stadium	46,188
3	September 19, 1985	Chicago Bears	L 24–33	2–1	Metrodome	61,242
4	September 29, 1985	at Buffalo Bills	W 27–20	3–1	Rich Stadium	45,667
5	October 6, 1985	at Los Angeles Rams	L 10–13	3–2	Anaheim Stadium	61,139
6	October 13, 1985	at Green Bay Packers	L 17–20	3–3	Milwaukee County Stadium	54,674
7	October 20, 1985	San Diego Chargers	W 21–17	4–3	Metrodome	61,670
8	October 27, 1985	at Chicago Bears	L 9–27	4–4	Soldier Field	63,815
9	November 3, 1985	Detroit Lions	W 16–13	5–4	Metrodome	58,012
10	November 10, 1985	Green Bay Packers	L 17–27	5–5	Metrodome	59,970
11	November 17, 1985	at Detroit Lions	L 21–41	5–6	Silverdome	54,647
12	November 24, 1985	New Orleans Saints	L 23–30	5–7	Metrodome	54,117
13	December 1, 1985	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 28–23	6–7	Veterans Stadium	54,688
14	December 8, 1985	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 26–7	7–7	Metrodome	51,593
15	December 15, 1985	at Atlanta Falcons	L 13–14	7–8	Atlanta Fulton County Stadium	14,167
16	December 22, 1985	Philadelphia Eagles	L 35–37	7–9	Metrodome	49,722

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears^(1)	15	1	0	.938	8–0	12–0	456	198	W3
Green Bay Packers	8	8	0	.500	6–2	8–4	337	355	W2
Minnesota Vikings	7	9	0	.438	3–5	5–9	346	359	L2
Detroit Lions	7	9	0	.438	2–6	5–7	307	366	L3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	2	14	0	.125	1–7	2–10	294	448	L4

Personnel

Staff

1985 Minnesota Vikings staff
	Front office President – Max Winter General Manager – Mike Lynn Head coaches Head Coach – Bud Grant Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator – Jerry Burns Offensive coaches Running Backs – Marc Trestman Receivers – Dick Rehbein Offensive Line – John Michels			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Bob Hollway Defensive Line – Paul Wiggin Linebackers – Floyd Reese Defensive Backs – Pete Carroll Special teams coaches Special Teams – Tom Batta

^[3]

Roster

1985 Minnesota Vikings final roster
	Quarterbacks  9 Tommy Kramer Running backs 46 Alfred Anderson 23 Ted Brown 20 Darrin Nelson Wide receivers 87 Leo Lewis 85 Sammy White Tight ends 86 Mike Mularkey		Offensive linemen 51 Jim Hough G Defensive linemen 79 Doug Martin DE 77 Mark Mullaney DE		Linebackers 59 Matt Blair 54 Fred McNeill Defensive backs 47 Joey Browner S 39 Carl Lee CB Special teams  8 Greg Coleman P		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing Yards	Tommy Kramer	3,522
Passing Touchdowns	Tommy Kramer	19
Rushing Yards	Darrin Nelson	893
Rushing Touchdowns	Ted Brown	7
Receiving Yards	Anthony Carter	821
Receiving Touchdowns	Anthony Carter	8
Points	Jan Stenerud	86
Kickoff Return Yards	George "Buster" Rhymes	1,345
Punt Return Yards	Darrin Nelson	133
Tackles	Chris Doleman	113
Sacks	Keith Millard	11.0
Interceptions	John Turner	5

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 28)
Passing Offense	3,635 Yards	227.2 YPG	7th
Rushing Offense	1,516 Yards	94.8 YPG	27th
Total Offense	5,151 Yards	321.9 YPG	16th
Passing Defense	3,241 Yards	202.6 YPG	15th
Rushing Defense	2,223 Yards	138.9 YPG	22nd
Total Defense	5,464 Yards	341.5 YPG	16th

25 year team

The team recognized an all-time team in 1985 as part of the celebration of the 25th season VIKINGS 25TH SEASON ALL-TIME TEAM 1961–85

• OFFENSE
• WRs: Ahmad Rashad, Sammy White
• Ts: Ron Yary, Grady Alderman
• Gs: Ed White, Milt Sunde
• C: Mick Tingelhoff
• TE: Stu Voigt
• QB: Fran Tarkenton
• RBs: Bill Brown, Chuck Foreman
• K: Fred Cox
• DEFENSE
• DEs: Jim Marshall, Carl Eller
• DTs: Alan Page, Gary Larsen
• OLBs: Matt Blair, Roy Winston
• ILBs: Jeff Siemon, Scott Studwell
• Ss: Paul Krause, Karl Kassulke
• CBs: Bobby Bryant, Ed Sharockman
• P: Greg Coleman
• Head Coach: Bud Grant

References

1. "1985 NFL Pro Bowlers". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
2. "1985 NFL All-Pros". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
3. 2010 Minnesota Vikings Media Guide. p. 265. Retrieved February 18, 2011.