1978 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1978 Minnesota Vikings season was the team's 18th in the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a record of eight wins, seven losses, and one tie, and finished in first place in the NFC Central division.

In 2004, Football Outsiders named the 1978 Vikings as one of the "worst playoff teams ever":^[1]

"A 10–10 tie against the Packers on Thanksgiving weekend helped the Vikings clinch the division. The Vikings won the first meeting between the two teams, but the Packers would eventually have a better division record (the Vikings had lost to the 5–11 Buccaneers early in the year). A win might have given the Packers the division. Green Bay led 10–3 with under two minutes to play, but Fran Tarkenton led a 57-yard drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass to Ahmad Rashad to force overtime. Both teams missed field goals in overtime, and the Vikings emerged with a better head-to-head record.

The Vikings were 7–5–1 after that game and looked like a legitimate playoff team, but after a tight win against the Eagles, the team lost their final two games, including a 45–14 blowout at the hands of the Lions. The weak finish foreshadowed a quick exit from the postseason. The Rams beat the Vikings in the opening round of the playoffs 34–10, outgaining Bud Grant's team 409–244.

Were those Vikings an up-and-coming team? Just the opposite: they were a perennial Super Bowl contender on their way down. They had talent, but players like Tarkenton (38 years old), Carl Eller (36), Jim Marshall (40), Mick Tingelhoff (38) and Paul Krausse (36) were on their last legs. The Vikings had spent the early part of the 1970s beating up on the NFC Central. [...] [I]n 1975, the Vikings went 12–2, and no division opponents was [Sic] above .500. In 1977 and 1978, they started falling back to earth."

The Vikings won the division despite being outscored by twelve points in the regular season.

Offseason

1978 Draft

^{^[a]} Minnesota traded their 5th round selection (132nd overall) to the New York Giants for TE Bob Tucker.

^{^[b]} Minnesota traded their 6th round selection (159th overall) to San Francisco for DBs Windlan Hill and Nate Allen.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 7th round selection (186th overall) to Philadelphia for Safety Bill Bradley.

^{^[d]} Seattle traded their 8th round selection (204th overall) to Minnesota for CB Autry Beamon and LB Amos Martin.

^{^[e]} Minnesota traded their 8th round selection (213th overall) and 1979 10th round selection (263rd overall) to the New York Jets for Safety Phil Wise.

Schedule

Playoffs

Standings

Statistics

Team leaders

League rankings

References