The 1987 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 27th year in the National Football League. A players' strike caused the cancellation of the September 27 game at the Kansas City Chiefs, while the games played on October 4, 11 and 18 were played with replacement players. The Vikings finished with an 8–7 record.
Despite finishing the season only one game over .500, and losing three of their final four games, Minnesota sneaked into the playoffs with the final Wild Card position. There, they won two huge upsets, beating the New Orleans Saints (12–3), and the San Francisco 49ers (13–2) on the road to advance to their first NFC Championship Game in 10 years. The Vikings were unable, however, to defeat the eventual Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins in the NFC Championship Game.
The last remaining active member of the 1987 Minnesota Vikings was quarterback Rich Gannon, who played his final NFL game in the 2004 season, although he missed the 1989 and 1994 seasons.
Offseason
1987 draft
Pro Bowler
1987 Minnesota Vikings Draft Draft order Player name Position College Notes Round Selection 1 14 D. J. Dozier Running back Penn State From Dolphins 16Traded to the Miami Dolphins 2 44 Ray Berry Linebacker Baylor 3 72 Henry Thomas Defensive tackle LSU 4 100 Reggie Rutland Cornerback Georgia Tech 5 128 Traded to the Miami Dolphins 6 156 Greg Richardson Wide receiver Alabama 7 184 Traded to the Seattle Seahawks 8 211 Rick Fenney Running back Washington 9 239 Leonard Jones Defensive back Texas Tech 10 267 Bob Riley Offensive tackle Indiana State 11 295 Brent Pease Quarterback Montana 12 323 Keith Williams Defensive tackle Florida Notes:
Undrafted free agents
+ 1987 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeDon BramlettDefensive tackleCarson–NewmanDale DawsonKickerEastern KentuckyDana DimelGuardKansas State
Staff
Roster
NFL replacement players After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:
1987 Minnesota Vikings replacement rosterQuarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends Offensive linemen
Defensive linemenLinebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 15 at New Orleans Saints L 17–23 0–1 Louisiana Superdome 52,884 2 August 22 Indianapolis Colts W 37–13 1–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 49,304 3 August 29 New England Patriots L 27–38 1–2 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 49,339 4 September 3 at Denver Broncos W 27–17 2–2 Mile High Stadium 74,081
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 13 Detroit Lions W 34–19 1–0 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 57,061 2 September 20 at Los Angeles Rams W 21–16 2–0 Anaheim Stadium 63,367 3 September 27 at Kansas City Chiefs canceled 2–0 Arrowhead Stadium 4 October 4 Green Bay Packers L 16–23 2–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 13,911 5 October 11 at Chicago Bears L 7–27 2–2 Soldier Field 32,113 6 October 18 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 10–20 2–3 Tampa Stadium 20,850 7 October 26 Denver Broncos W 34–27 3–3 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 51,011 8 November 1 at Seattle Seahawks L 17–28 3–4 Kingdome 61,134 9 November 8 Los Angeles Raiders W 31–20 4–4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 57,150 10 November 15 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 23–17 5–4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 48,605 11 November 22 Atlanta Falcons W 24–13 6–4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 53,866 12 November 26 at Dallas Cowboys W 44–38 7–4 Texas Stadium 54,229 13 December 6 Chicago Bears L 24–30 7–5 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 62,331 14 December 13 at Green Bay Packers L 10–16 7–6 Milwaukee County Stadium 47,059 15 December 20 at Detroit Lions W 17–14 8–6 Pontiac Silverdome 27,693 16 December 26 Washington Redskins L 24–27 8–7 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 59,160 Notes: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. The October 18 game against Tampa Bay was originally scheduled to be played in Minneapolis. The game was switched with the November 15 game due to Game 2 of the World Series. The game against the Broncos, originally scheduled for October 25, was pushed back to Monday because the Metrodome was being used for Game 7 of the World Series.
Game summaries
Week 9 vs. Los Angeles Raiders
Week 10: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 12: at Dallas Cowboys
In the Vikings' first game on Thanksgiving in 18 years, starting quarterback Tommy Kramer helped the team to a 14–0 lead by the end of the first quarter, opening with an 11-yard strike to Anthony Carter, before taking the ball in himself from a yard out. However, a bruised throwing arm meant he had to leave the game. Wade Wilson then took over. The Cowboys tied it up with two touchdowns of their own in the second quarter, but another throw from Kramer to Carter, this time from 37 yards, meant the Vikings took a seven-point lead into halftime. Darrin Nelson extended the Vikings' lead with the opening score of the second half, running 52 yards for the Vikings' fourth touchdown of the game. A field goal and another touchdown for the Cowboys reduced the Vikings' lead to four points going into the final quarter, but they restored the two-score margin with a field goal from Chuck Nelson and a 1-yard run from Rick Fenney. The Cowboys managed to come back and tie the game with just over two minutes left to play, enough time for the Vikings to drive downfield and set up a potential game-winning, 46-yard field goal attempt for Chuck Nelson with nine seconds left. He missed the kick and the game went to overtime. Both teams failed with their first two possessions, with both throwing interceptions. Vikings linebacker Scott Studwell returned his interception to the Minnesota 40-yard line to begin their third drive of the extra period. They opened with four straight run plays, including a fourth-down conversion to get them to midfield, followed by a 24-yard pass from Wilson to Carter, before Darrin Nelson ran the remaining distance for the walk-off game-winning touchdown. The result brought the Vikings to a 7–4 record with four games left to play.
Standings
Postseason
Schedule Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Wild Card January 3, 1988 at New Orleans Saints (4) W 44–10 1–0 Louisiana Superdome Divisional January 9, 1988 at San Francisco 49ers (1) W 36–24 2–0 Candlestick Park NFC Championship January 17, 1988 at Washington Redskins (3) L 10–17 2–1 Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
Game summaries
NFC Wild Card Playoffs: at (#4) New Orleans Saints
In the Saints' first playoff game in history, the Vikings dominated the game by recording two sacks, forcing four turnovers and allowing only 149 yards. The 34-point margin of victory stands as the most lopsided win by an NFC team in a Wild Card round game in NFL history.
NFC Divisional Playoffs: at (#1) San Francisco 49ers
The heavy underdog Vikings pulled off a shocker in San Francisco, controlling most of the game with Anthony Carter leading the way with 227 receiving yards.
NFC Championship Game: at (#3) Washington Redskins
In a defensive battle, the Redskins played a little better by limiting the Vikings to only 76 rushing yards and forcing eight sacks. Washington scored first on a 98-yard drive that was capped by running back Kelvin Bryant's 42-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Doug Williams. However, Minnesota tied the game before halftime with quarterback Wade Wilson's 23-yard touchdown pass to Leo Lewis. In the third quarter, Redskins linebacker Mel Kaufman returned an interception 10 yards to the Minnesota 17-yard line to set up kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh's 28-yard field goal. In the final period, Vikings kicker Chuck Nelson made an 18-yard field goal to tie the game, 10–10. The Redskins then marched 70 yards to score on Williams' 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Gary Clark to take the lead, 17–10, with 5:06 remaining in the game. Minnesota then advanced to the Washington 6-yard line, but Wilson's fourth down pass, intended for running back Darrin Nelson in the end zone was defended by Darrell Green with 52 seconds remaining and the Redskins ran out the clock.
Statistics
Team leaders Category Player(s) Value Passing yards Wade Wilson 2,106 Passing touchdowns Wade Wilson 14 Rushing yards Darrin Nelson 642 Rushing touchdowns D.J. Dozier Wade Wilson 5 Receiving yards Anthony Carter 922 Receiving touchdowns Anthony Carter 7 Points Chuck Nelson 75 Kickoff return yards Neal Guggemos 808 Punt return yards Leo Lewis 275 Tackles Jesse Solomon 126 Sacks Chris Doleman 11.0 Interceptions Joey Browner 6 Forced fumbles Chris Doleman 6
League rankings Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank Passing offense 2,826 176.6 20th Rushing offense 1,983 123.9 11th Total offense 4,809 300.6 15th Passing defense 3,100 193.8 16th Rushing defense 1,724 107.8 11th Total defense 4,824 301.8 10th
References
External links Vikings on Pro Football Reference Vikings on jt-sw.com