1983 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1983 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 23rd in the National Football League, and the 17th under head coach Bud Grant. The team finished with an 8–8 record and failed to reach the playoffs for the third time in five seasons. At the end of the season, Grant retired as head coach, although he returned for a final season in 1985.

1983 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coachBud Grant
General managerMike Lynn
Home fieldHubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Results
Record8–8
Division place4th NFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Offseason

1983 Draft

Pro Bowler
1983 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Selection
119 Joey BrownerSafetyUSC
246 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles[a]
373 Walker Lee AshleyLinebackerPenn State
4100 Mark RushRunning backMiami
5127 Mark StewartLinebackerWashington
6159 Mike JonesWide receiverTennessee State
7186 Carl LeeCornerbackMarshall
8213 Norris BrownTight endGeorgia
9239 Rod AchterWide receiverToledo
10255 Melvin BrownDefensive backMississippifrom Rams[b]
266 Walter TateCenterTennessee State
11298 Brian ButcherGuardClemson
12325 Maurice TurnerRunning backUtah State
^[a] The Vikings traded their 2nd-round selection (46th overall) to Philadelphia in exchange for defensive tackle Charlie Johnson.
^[b] The Vikings traded offensive tackle Ron Yary to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for the Rams' 10th-round selection (255th overall).

Roster

1983 Minnesota Vikings final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Preseason

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance[1]Notes
1August 6vs St. Louis CardinalsW 28–101–0Wembley Stadium (London, England)32,847Global Cup
2August 13Baltimore ColtsL 10–71–1Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome56,061
3August 19at Seattle SeahawksW 19–172–1Kingdome54,402
4August 26Denver BroncosW 34–33–1Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome59,435

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 4 at Cleveland Browns W 27–21 1–0 Cleveland Stadium 70,087
2 September 8 San Francisco 49ers L 17–48 1–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 58,167
3 September 18 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 19–16 (OT) 2–1 Tampa Stadium 57,567
4 September 25 Detroit Lions W 20–17 3–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 58,254
5 October 2 Dallas Cowboys L 24–37 3–2 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 60,774
6 October 9 at Chicago Bears W 23–14 4–2 Soldier Field 59,632
7 October 16 Houston Oilers W 34–14 5–2 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 58,910
8 October 23 at Green Bay Packers W 20–17 (OT) 6–2 Lambeau Field 55,236
9 October 30 at St. Louis Cardinals L 31–41 6–3 Busch Memorial Stadium 42,575
10 November 6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 12–17 6–4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 59,239
11 November 13 Green Bay Packers L 21–29 6–5 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 60,113
12 November 20 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 17–14 7–5 Three Rivers Stadium 58,417
13 November 27 at New Orleans Saints L 16–17 7–6 Louisiana Superdome 59,502
14 December 5 at Detroit Lions L 2–13 7–7 Silverdome 79,169
15 December 11 Chicago Bears L 13–19 7–8 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 57,880
16 December 17 Cincinnati Bengals W 20–14 8–8 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 51,565

Against the Detroit Lions in Week 14, the Vikings became the 35th team in NFL history and only the fifth since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger, to score just a safety in a game. This has happened only three times since: by the 1993 Cincinnati Bengals, the 2011 Atlanta Falcons, and the 2013 Jacksonville Jaguars.

Standings

NFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Detroit Lions(3) 9 7 0 .563 7–1 8–4 347 286 W1
Green Bay Packers 8 8 0 .500 4–4 6–6 429 439 L1
Chicago Bears 8 8 0 .500 4–4 7–7 311 301 W2
Minnesota Vikings 8 8 0 .500 4–4 4–8 316 348 W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2 14 0 .125 1–7 1–11 241 380 L3

Statistics

Team leaders

Category Player(s) Value
Passing yardsSteve Dils2,840
Passing touchdownsSteve Dils911
Rushing yardsDarrin Nelson642
Rushing touchdownsTed Brown10
Receiving yardsDarrin Nelson618
Receiving touchdownsSammy White4
PointsBenny Ricardo108
Kickoff return yardsJarvis Redwine838
Punt return yardsRufus Bess158
SacksDoug Martin13
InterceptionsJohn Swain
John Turner
6

League rankings

Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank
(out of 28)
Passing offense3,211200.713th
Rushing offense1,808113.020th
Total offense5,019313.720th
Passing defense2,903181.46th
Rushing defense2,584161.525th
Total defense5,487342.919th

References

  1. "1983 Minnesota Vikings". The Pro Football Archives. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.