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 Rams in week 6.Heroes of Yesteryear: Pro Football’S Dying Breed of Players from a Bygone Era, Danny Jones, Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2017. Chapter on Chuck Foreman.The Super '70s, Tom Danyluk, Mad Uke Publishing, 2005, page 95. The person being interviewed, "LM," is former Rams running back (1972-'79) Lawrence McCutcheon. In the NFC Championship 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 Notes Round Selection127 Tommy KramerQuarterbackRice255Dennis SwilleyGuardTexas A&M383Tommy HannonSafetyMichigan State4111Traded to the Seattle Seahawks5138Ken MooreTight endNorthern Illinois6166Traded to the New England Patriots7194Traded to the Cincinnati Bengals8222Clint StrozierDefensive backUSC9250 Scott StudwellLinebackerIllinois10278Dan BeaverPlacekickerIllinois11306Keith HartwigWide receiverArizona12335Jim KelleherRunning backColorado
Notes
Personnel Staff
Roster
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 6 at Los Angeles Rams W 22–17 1–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 55,168 2 August 13 Cleveland BrownsW 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 BengalsL 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 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 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 2: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 3: vs Green Bay Packers
Week 7: at Atlanta Falcons Television network: CBS Announcers: Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier Minnesota's Fran Tarkenton threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Sammy White to tie the game in the second quarter, then tossed a 6-yard scoring pass to Bob Tucker in the fourth quarter after Chuck Foreman's 51-yard run to salvage a big win for the Vikings. The Falcons took the lead early lead on a 49-yard scoring pass from Scott Hunter to Greg McCrary.
Week 10: at Chicago Bears
Week 11: at Green Bay Packers
Week 13: at Oakland Raiders
Standings
Postseason Week Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance Divisional December 26 at Los Angeles Rams W 14–7 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 62,538 Conference January 1 at Dallas Cowboys L 6–23 Texas Stadium 61,968
Statistics
Team leaders Category Player(s) Value Passing yards Fran Tarkenton 1,734 Passing touchdowns Fran Tarkenton 9 Rushing yards Chuck Foreman 1,112 Rushing touchdowns Chuck Foreman 6 Receiving yards Sammy White 760 Receiving touchdowns Sammy White 9 Points Chuck Foreman Sammy White 54 Kickoff return yards Manfred Moore 524 Punt return yards Manfred Moore 277 Interceptions Bobby Bryant 4
League rankings Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank Passing offense 2,368 169.1 6th Rushing offense 1,821 130.1 21st Total offense 4,189 299.2 14th Passing defense 1,581 112.9 3rd Rushing defense 2,218 158.4 21st Total defense 3,799 271.4 11th
References