1982 Minnesota Vikings season

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1982 Minnesota Vikings season
General manager	Mike Lynn
Head coach	Bud Grant
Home field	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Results
Record	5–4
Division place	4th NFC (2nd NFC Central)
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Falcons) 30–24 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Redskins) 7–21
Pro Bowlers	LB Matt Blair
Uniform

← 1981 Vikings seasons 1983 →

The 1982 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 22nd season in the National Football League (NFL) and their first in the newly constructed Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The team was looking to improve on its 7–9 record from 1981. However, a players strike meant seven of the team's 16 games were canceled, and each NFL team was only able to play nine games. The Vikings won their opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before losing the next week to the Buffalo Bills, a game in which they had a 19–0 lead before the Bills pulled off a comeback to win 23–22.

After the strike ended, the Vikings lost 26–7 to the Packers in Green Bay before beating the Bears 35–7 the following week to sit at 2–2. After a loss to the Dolphins, the Vikings won their next two games to sit at 4–3. In their final game of the season, they upset the Dallas Cowboys 31–27 to clinch the NFC's fourth place spot in the playoffs^[i] In the playoffs, the Vikings defeated the Atlanta Falcons 30–24 to reach the divisional round. However, in that game, they lost 21–7 to the eventual champion Redskins.

1982 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order		Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Selection	Player name	Position	College	Notes
1	7	Darrin Nelson	Running back	Stanford
2	39	Terry Tausch	Guard	Texas
3	66	Traded to the New Orleans Saints^[A]
4	92	Jim Fahnhorst	Linebacker	Minnesota
5	120	Traded to the Miami Dolphins^[B]
6	147	Greg Storr	Linebacker	Boston College
7	179	Steve Jordan	Tight end	Brown
8	206	Kirk Harmon	Linebacker	Pacific
9	233	Bryan Howard	Defensive back	Tennessee State
10	260	Gerald Lucear	Wide receiver	Temple
11	286	Curtis Rouse	Guard	Chattanooga
12	318	Hobson Milner	Running back	Cincinnati

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance^[1]
1	August 7	Baltimore Colts^[ii]	W 30–14	1–0	Fawcett Stadium (Canton, Ohio)	23,379
2	August 14	at Atlanta Falcons	L 17–20	1–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	49,831
3	August 21	Seattle Seahawks	W 7–3	2–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome^[iii]	57,880
4	August 28	at Denver Broncos	L 17–27	2–2	Mile High Stadium	73,371
5	September 3	New Orleans Saints	W 24–21	3–2	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	59,810

Week	Original week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	1	September 12	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 17–10	1–0	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	58,440
2	2	September 16	at Buffalo Bills	L 22–23	1–1	Rich Stadium	77,753
—	3	September 26	Dallas Cowboys	Postponed	1–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	1982 NFL players strike
—	4	October 3	at Chicago Bears	Canceled	1–1	Soldier Field
—	5	October 10	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers			Tampa Stadium
—	6	October 17	New Orleans Saints			Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
—	7	October 24	Green Bay Packers			Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
—	8	November 1	Detroit Lions			Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
—	9	November 7	at San Francisco 49ers			Candlestick Park
—	10	November 14	at Washington Redskins			Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
3	11	November 21	at Green Bay Packers	L 7–26	1–2	Milwaukee County Stadium	44,681
4	12	November 28	Chicago Bears	W 35–7	2–2	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	54,724
5	13	December 5	at Miami Dolphins	L 14–22	2–3	Miami Orange Bowl	45,721
6	14	December 12	Baltimore Colts	W 13–10	3–3	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	53,981
7	15	December 19	at Detroit Lions	W 34–31	4–3	Pontiac Silverdome	73,058
8	16	December 26	New York Jets	L 14–42	4–4	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	58,672
9	17	January 3	Dallas Cowboys	W 31–27	5–4	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	60,007
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers⁽³⁾	5	3	1	.611	1–2	4–2	226	169	L1
Minnesota Vikings⁽⁴⁾	5	4	0	.556	3–1	4–1	158	178	W3
Tampa Bay Buccaneers⁽⁷⁾	5	4	0	.556	2–1	3–3	158	178	W1
Detroit Lions⁽⁸⁾	4	5	0	.444	3–3	4–4	181	176	W1
Chicago Bears	3	6	0	.333	1–3	2–5	141	174	L1

NFC v t e
#	Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Seeded postseason qualifiers
1	Washington Redskins	8	1	0	.889	190	128	W4
2	Dallas Cowboys	6	3	0	.667	226	145	L2
3	Green Bay Packers	5	3	1	.611	226	169	L1
4^[a]	Minnesota Vikings	5	4	0	.556	187	198	W1
5^[a]	Atlanta Falcons	5	4	0	.556	183	199	L2
6^[a]	St. Louis Cardinals	5	4	0	.556	135	170	L1
7^[a]	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	5	4	0	.556	158	178	W3
8^[b]	Detroit Lions	4	5	0	.444	181	176	W1
Did not qualify for the postseason
9^[b]	New Orleans Saints	4	5	0	.444	129	160	W1
10^[b]	New York Giants	4	5	0	.444	164	160	W1
11^[c]	San Francisco 49ers	3	6	0	.333	209	206	L1
12^[c]	Chicago Bears	3	6	0	.333	141	174	L1
13^[c]	Philadelphia Eagles	3	6	0	.333	191	195	L1
14	Los Angeles Rams	2	7	0	.222	200	250	W1
Tiebreakers
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Minnesota (4–1), Atlanta (4–3), St. Louis (5–4), Tampa Bay (3–3) seeds were determined by best won-lost record in conference games. ^ ^a ^b ^c Detroit finished ahead of New Orleans and the N.Y. Giants based on best conference record (4–4 to Saints’ 3–5 to Giants’ 3–5). ^ ^a ^b ^c San Francisco finished ahead of Chicago, and Chicago finished ahead of Philadelphia, based on conference record (49ers’ 2–3 to Bears’ 2–5 to Eagles’ 1–5).

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Wild Card	January 9	Atlanta Falcons (5)	W 30–24	1–0	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	60,560
Division	January 15	at Washington Redskins (1)	L 7–21	1–1	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	54,593

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing yards	Tommy Kramer	2,037
Passing touchdowns	Tommy Kramer	15
Rushing yards	Ted Brown	515
Rushing touchdowns	Tommy Kramer	3
Receiving yards	Sammy White	503
Receiving touchdowns	Sammy White	5
Points	Rick Danmeier	47
Kickoff return yards	Jarvis Redwine	286
Punt return yards	Eddie Payton	179
Sacks	Doug Martin	11.5
Interceptions	Willie Teal	4

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 28)
Passing offense	1,967	122.9	5th
Rushing offense	912	57.0	22nd
Total offense	2,879	179.9	14th
Passing defense	1,875	117.2	20th
Rushing defense	1,020	63.8	14th
Total defense	2,895	180.9	19th

v t e Minnesota Vikings
Founded in 1961 Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota Headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota
Franchise	Franchise History Expansion draft All-time roster First-round draft picks Quarterbacks Head coaches Seasons Statistics Draft Broadcasters Ownership Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center
Stadiums	Metropolitan Stadium Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome TCF Bank Stadium U.S. Bank Stadium
Culture	Purple People Eaters "Skol, Vikings" How I Met Your Mother "Little Minnesota" "Tailgate" Cheerleaders Alan Roach Truth Hurts (song) Quarterback "Higher" (Creed song)
Lore	The Wrong Way Run Hail Mary Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy Santa Claus game Miracle at the Met Herschel Walker trade Gary Anderson's missed field goal Love Boat scandal Minneapolis Miracle 33–0
Rivalries	Chicago Bears Dallas Cowboys Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Los Angeles Rams New Orleans Saints
Division championships (21)	1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1980 1989 1992 1994 1998 2000 2008 2009 2015 2017 2022
Conference championships (4)	1969 1973 1974 1976
League championships (1)	1969
Retired numbers	10 53 70 77 80 88
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division

v t e Minnesota Vikings seasons
1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–69) or Super Bowl (1966–) victory Italics indicates Super Bowl (1966–) appearance

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	3	0	0	7	10
Vikings	0	7	7	3	17

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	7	0	0	7
Vikings	0	14	7	14	35

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	0	7	0	7	14
Dolphins	6	3	3	10	22

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts	0	3	7	0	10
Vikings	7	0	3	3	13

Offseason

1982 draft

Roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 4: vs Chicago Bears

Week 5: at Miami Dolphins

Week 6: vs Baltimore Colts

Week 8: vs New York Jets

Standings

Postseason

Schedule

Statistics

Team leaders

League rankings

Notes

References