1980 Minnesota Vikings season

1980 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach	Bud Grant
General manager	Mike Lynn
Home field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	1st NFC Central
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional

The 1980 Minnesota Vikings season was the team's 20th year in the National Football League's 61st season. The Vikings finished with a record of nine wins and seven losses. The Vikings won the NFC Central division, winning the tiebreaker with Detroit, who also had a 9–7 record.

The most dramatic game of the season came in a Week 15 home game against Cleveland, with Minnesota at 8–6. The Vikings came back from a fourteen-point deficit to come within 23–22, with only 0:05 left on the clock from Cleveland's 46-yard line. (The Vikings had missed two field goals and two extra points during the game.) Quarterback Tommy Kramer threw a hail mary pass which was caught by Ahmad Rashād at the two yard line. Rashād backed into the end zone to give Minnesota a 28–23 win with no time left.^[1][2]

Offseason

1980 Draft

1980 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall
1	9	9	Doug Martin	Defensive Tackle	Washington
2	2	30	Willie Teal	Defensive Back	Louisiana State	from 49ers^[a]
	11	39	Traded to the San Francisco 49ers^[a]
3	9	65	Traded to the San Francisco 49ers^[a]
	12	68	Brent Boyd	Center	UCLA	from Saints^[b]
4	9	92	Dennis Johnson	Linebacker	USC
5	11	121	Doug Paschal	Running Back	North Carolina
	12	122	Paul Jones	Running Back	California	from Saints^[b]
6	10	148	Ray Yakavonis	Defensive End	East Stroudsburg (PA)
7	9	175	Henry Johnson	Linebacker	Georgia Tech
8	11	205	Traded to the Seattle Seahawks^[c]
9	11	233	Dennis Mosley	Running Back	Iowa	originally Bills pick^[d]
10	9	259	Kenny Brown	Wide Receiver	Nebraska
11	11	289	Sam Harrell	Running Back	East Carolina
12	10	316	Thomas Lane	Defensive Back	Florida A&M

^{^[a]} Minnesota traded their 2nd round selection (39th overall) and 3rd round selection (65th overall) to San Francisco to move up 9 spots to the 30th overall selection and make this pick.

^{^[b]} New Orleans traded their 3rd round selection (68th overall) and 5th round selection (122nd overall) to Minnesota for RB Steve Riley.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 8th round selection (205th overall) to Seattle for DL Steve Niehaus.

^{^[d]} Minnesota originally chose 232nd overall but passed allowing Buffalo to move up and Minnesota to choose 233rd overall.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance
1	September 7, 1980	Atlanta Falcons	W 24–23	Met Stadium	44,773
2	September 14, 1980	Philadelphia Eagles	L 42–7	Met Stadium	46,460
3	September 21, 1980	at Chicago Bears	W 34–14	Soldier Field	59,983
4	September 28, 1980	at Detroit Lions	L 27–7	Silverdome	80,291
5	October 5, 1980	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 23–17	Met Stadium	47,583
6	October 12, 1980	Chicago Bears	W 13–7	Met Stadium	46,751
7	October 19, 1980	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 14–0	Riverfront Stadium	44,487
8	October 26, 1980	at Green Bay Packers	L 16–3	Lambeau Field	56,191
9	November 2, 1980	at Washington Redskins	W 39–14	RFK Stadium	52,060
10	November 9, 1980	Detroit Lions	W 34–0	Met Stadium	46,264
11	November 16, 1980	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 38–30	Met Stadium	46,032
12	November 23, 1980	Green Bay Packers	L 25–13	Met Stadium	47,234
13	November 30, 1980	at New Orleans Saints	W 23–20	Superdome	30,936
14	December 7, 1980	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 21–10	Tampa Stadium	65,649
15	December 14, 1980	Cleveland Browns	W 28–23	Met Stadium	42,202
16	December 21, 1980	at Houston Oilers	L 20–16	Astrodome	51,064

Game summaries

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total Browns 7 6 3 7 23 • Vikings 0 0 9 19 28 Date: December 14 Location: Metropolitan Stadium • Bloomington, Minnesota Game start: 12:00 p.m. Game weather: 23°F • Wind 12 Referee: Ben Dreith TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones & Len Dawson

Scoring summary 1 CLE Calvin Hill 18 yard pass from Brian Sipe (Don Cockroft kick) Browns 7–0 2 CLE Brian Sipe 2 yard run (kick failed) Browns 13–0 3 MIN Joe Senser 31 yard pass from Tommy Kramer (kick failed) Browns 13–6 3 CLE Don Cockroft 32 yard field goal Browns 16–6 3 MIN Rick Danmeier 24 yard field goal Browns 16–9 4 CLE Cleo Miller 1 yard run (Don Cockroft kick) Browns 23–9 4 MIN Ted Brown 7 yard pass from Tommy Kramer (kick failed) Browns 23–15 4 MIN Ahmad Rashād 12 yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Rick Danmeier kick) Browns 23–22 4 :00 MIN Ahmad Rashād 46 yard pass from Tommy Kramer (kick failed) Vikings 28–23

Trailing 23–9 entering the fourth quarter the Vikings came back and won on a desperation Hail Mary pass from quarterback Tommy Kramer to wide receiver Ahmad Rashād to clinch the NFC Central Division title in what became known as the "Miracle at the Met".

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance
Divisional	January 3, 1981	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 31–16	Veterans Stadium	68,434

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Minnesota Vikings^(3)	9	7	0	.563	5–3	8–4	317	308	L1
Detroit Lions	9	7	0	.563	5–3	9–5	334	272	W2
Chicago Bears	7	9	0	.438	5–3	7–5	304	264	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	10	1	.344	1–6–1	4–7–1	271	341	L3
Green Bay Packers	5	10	1	.344	3–4–1	4–7–1	231	371	L4

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing Yards	Tommy Kramer	3,582
Passing Touchdowns	Tommy Kramer	19
Rushing Yards	Ted Brown	912
Rushing Touchdowns	Ted Brown	8
Receiving Yards	Ahmad Rashād	1,095
Receiving Touchdowns	Joe Senser	7
Points	Rick Danmeier	81
Kickoff Return Yards	Eddie Payton	1,184
Punt Return Yards	Eddie Payton	251
Interceptions	John Turner	6

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 28)
Passing Offense	3,688 Yards	230.5 YPG	3rd
Rushing Offense	1,642 Yards	102.6 YPG	27th
Total Offense	5,330 Yards	333.1 YPG	11th
Passing Defense	3,400 Yards	212.5 YPG	24th
Rushing Defense	2,456 Yards	153.5 YPG	25th
Total Defense	5,856 Yards	366.0 YPG	26th

References

1. NFL Films: Fantastic Finishes (1988) at YouTube
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com: Cleveland Browns 23 at Minnesota Vikings 28, Sunday, December 14, 1980