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1985 Minnesota Vikings season

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1985 Minnesota Vikings season
OwnerMax Winter
General managerMike Lynn
Head coachBud Grant
Home fieldMetrodome
Results
Record7–9
Division place3rd NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersS Joey Browner

The 1985 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 25th in the National Football League. Under returning head coach Bud Grant, they finished with a 7–9 record and missed the playoffs for a third season in a row. At the end of the season, Grant retired for good after 18 years with the franchise.

Offseason

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1985 draft

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Pro Bowler
1985 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Selection
1 2 Traded to the Atlanta Falcons[A] from Oilers[B]
3 Traded to the Houston Oilers[B]
4 Chris Doleman Defensive end Pittsburgh from Falcons[A]
2 30 Issiac Holt Cornerback Alcorn State Provisional trade but was not exercise[B][C]
3 59 Kirk Lowdermilk Center Ohio State
60 Tim Meamber Linebacker Washington from Falcons[A]
66 Tim Long Offensive tackle Memphis State from Chargers[D]
4 85 George Rhymes Wide receiver Oklahoma
106 Kyle Morrell Defensive back BYU from Rams[E]
5 115 Mark MacDonald Guard Boston College
6 142 Steve Bono Quarterback UCLA
164 Tim Newton Defensive tackle Florida from Raiders[F]
7 171 Traded to the Green Bay Packers[G]
8 198 Nikita Blair Linebacker UTEP
9 227 Jamie Covington Running back Syracuse
10 254 Juan Johnson Wide receiver Langston
11 283 Tim Williams Defensive back North Carolina A&T
12 310 Byron Jones Defensive tackle Tulsa

Notes

  1. ^ a b c When Kosar did not declare for the draft and instead controversially waited for the supplemental draft, the Vikings traded the first-round selection they received from the Oilers to the Falcons in exchange for a first- and third-round selections (4th and 60th overall).
  2. ^ a b c d In an attempt to select QB Bernie Kosar, the Vikings traded their first-round selection (3rd overall) and a provisional second-round selection (30th overall)[C] to the Oilers in exchange for a first-round selection (2nd overall).
  3. ^ a b As part of the trade between the Vikings and Oilers,[B] the Vikings agreed not to select DE Ray Childress or trade the pick to a team that would draft him. Houston selected Childress with the 3rd overall pick and this provisional selection was returned to Minnesota.
  4. ^ The Vikings traded CB John Turner to the Chargers in exchange for a third-round selection (66th overall).
  5. ^ The Vikings traded QB Steve Dils to the Rams in exchange for the a fourth-round selection (106th overall).
  6. ^ The Vikings traded LB Brad Van Pelt to the Raiders in exchange for the a sixth-round selection (164th overall) and a 1986 second-round selection (53rd overall).
  7. ^ The Vikings traded their seventh-round selection (171st overall) to the Packers in exchange for K Jan Stenerud.

Preseason

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance[1]
1 August 10 at Miami Dolphins W 16–13 (OT) 1–0 Miami Orange Bowl 41,129
2 August 17 Pittsburgh Steelers W 41–34 2–0 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 56,887
3 August 24 Seattle Seahawks L 10–27 2–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 56,562
4 August 30 at Denver Broncos W 13–9 3–1 Mile High Stadium 69,373

Regular season

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Schedule

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

Standings

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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

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Staff

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1985 Minnesota Vikings staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches



[2]

Roster

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1985 Minnesota Vikings roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve

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Rookies in italics

Statistics

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Team leaders

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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 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

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

25th anniversary team

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The team recognized an all-time team in 1985 as part of the celebration of the 25th season.

Position Player Tenure
Offense
QB Fran Tarkenton 1961–1966,
1972–1978
RB Bill Brown 1962–1974
Chuck Foreman 1973–1979
WR Ahmad Rashad 1976–1982
Sammy White 1976–1985
TE Stu Voigt 1970–1980
OT Ron Yary 1968–1981
Grady Alderman 1961–1975
G Ed White 1969–1977
Milt Sunde 1964–1974
C Mick Tingelhoff 1962–1978
Defense
DE Jim Marshall 1961–1979
Carl Eller 1964–1978
DT Alan Page 1967–1978
Gary Larsen 1965–1974
OLB Matt Blair 1974–1985
Roy Winston 1962–1976
MLB Jeff Siemon 1972–1982
Scott Studwell 1977–1990
CB Bobby Bryant 1968–1980
Ed Sharockman 1961–1972
S Paul Krause 1968–1979
Karl Kassulke 1963–1972
Special teams
K Fred Cox 1963–1977
P Greg Coleman 1978–1987
Coach
HC Bud Grant 1967–1983,
1985
Source:[4]

References

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  1. ^ "1985 Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - Pro Football Archives".
  2. ^ 2010 Minnesota Vikings Media Guide. p. 265. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  3. ^ "Frustration for Morrell". Provo (UT) Daily Herald. December 8, 1985. p. 9. Retrieved May 28, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  4. ^ "VIKINGS 25TH SEASON ALL-TIME TEAM 1961–85" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2011.