1985 Minnesota Vikings season

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.

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

Offseason

1985 Draft

Pro Bowler

1985 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order		Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Selection
1	2	Traded to the Atlanta Falcons^[b]			from Oilers^[a]
	3	Traded to the Houston Oilers^[a]
	4	Chris Doleman	Defensive end	Pittsburgh	from Falcons^[b]
2	30	Issiac Holt	Cornerback	Alcorn State	Provisional trade not exercised^[a]^[c]
3	59	Kirk Lowdermilk	Center	Ohio State
	60	Tim Meamber	Linebacker	Washington	from Falcons^[b]
	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

^{^[a]} In an attempt to draft QB Bernie Kosar, the Vikings traded their first-round selection (3rd overall) and a provisional second-round selection (30th overall)^[c] to the Houston Oilers in exchange for Houston's first-round selection (2nd overall).

^{^[b]} When Kosar did not declare for the draft and instead controversially waited for the supplemental draft, the traded the first-round selection they received from the Oilers to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for Atlanta's first- and third-round selections (4th and 60th overall).

^{^[c]} As part of the trade between the Vikings and Oilers^[a], the Vikings agreed not to 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]} The Vikings traded CB John Turner to the San Diego Chargers in exchange for San Diego's third-round selection (66th overall).

^{^[e]} The Vikings traded QB Steve Dils to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for the Rams' fourth-round selection (106th overall).

^{^[f]} The Vikings traded LB Brad Van Pelt to the Los Angeles Raiders in exchange for the Raiders' sixth-round selection (164th overall) and 1986 second-round selection.

^{^[g]} The Vikings traded their seventh-round selection (171st overall) to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for K Jan Stenerud.

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance[3]
1	August 10	at Miami Dolphins	W 16–13	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

Schedule

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

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

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

[4]

Roster

1985 Minnesota Vikings final roster

	Quarterbacks 13 Steve Bono  9 Tommy Kramer Running backs 46 Alfred Anderson 23 Ted Brown 20 Darrin Nelson Wide receivers 89 Mike Jones 87 Leo Lewis 88 Buster Rhymes 85 Sammy White Tight ends 84 Jay Carroll 86 Mike Mularkey		Offensive linemen 51 Jim Hough G 76 Tim Irwin T 53 Kirk Lowdermilk C 68 Curtis Rouse T 67 Dennis Swilley C 66 Terry Tausch G Defensive linemen 73 Neil Elshire DE 79 Doug Martin DE 75 Keith Millard DT 77 Mark Mullaney DE 96 Tim Newton DT		Linebackers 59 Matt Blair 56 Chris Doleman 50 Dennis Fowlkes 54 Fred McNeill 53 Tim Meamber Defensive backs 21 Rufus Bess CB 47 Joey Browner S 30 Issiac Holt 39 Carl Lee CB 28 Ted Rosnagle 37 Willie Teal CB 27 John Turner CB Special teams  8 Greg Coleman P  3 Jan Stenerud K		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	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	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

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
  • T: Ron Yary, Grady Alderman
  • G: Ed White, Milt Sunde
  • C: Mick Tingelhoff
  • TE: Stu Voigt
  • QB: Fran Tarkenton
  • RB: Bill Brown, Chuck Foreman
  • K: Fred Cox
• Defense
  • DE: Jim Marshall, Carl Eller
  • DT: Alan Page, Gary Larsen
  • OLB: Matt Blair, Roy Winston
  • ILB: Jeff Siemon, Scott Studwell
  • S: Paul Krause, Karl Kassulke
  • CB: 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.
4. 2010 Minnesota Vikings Media Guide. p. 265. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010. Retrieved February 18, 2011.