1984 Minnesota Vikings season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Minnesota Vikings 1984 3–13 5th NFC Central Les Steckel Mike Lynn Metrodome Did not qualify K Jan Stenerud K Jan Stenerud (2nd team) File:Vikings1975-86.png Vikings seasons The 1984 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 24th in the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a 3–13 record, their worst record since the AFL–NFL merger, later equaled by the 2011 team, and the team's second worst overall record by win percentage (only 1962 was worse). The Vikings' 484 points allowed (30.3 average points per game) was the most by any NFL team between 1983 and 2000,Most Points Allowed: 1983 to 2000 and the most any Vikings team allowed in one season. At the time, it was the third-most allowed in a 16-game season, trailing only the 1981 Baltimore Colts (533, since surpassed by the 2024 Carolina Panthers with 534) and 1980 New Orleans Saints (487). The team was coached by Les Steckel after Bud Grant retired; after the bad season, Steckel was fired and Bud Grant was re-hired. Offseason 1984 draft 1984 NFL draft Pro Bowler 1984 Minnesota Vikings Draft Draft order Player name Position College Notes Round Selection113Keith MillardDefensive tackleWashington State240Traded to the Houston OilersOilers The Vikings traded second- and fourth-round selections (40th and 100th overall) to the Houston Oilers in exchange for QB Archie Manning and TE Dave Casper.367Alfred AndersonRunning backBaylor4100Traded to the Houston OilersOilers5127Traded to the Los Angeles RaidersRaiders The Vikings traded a fifth-round selection (127th overall) to the Los Angeles Raiders in exchange for fifth-, seventh-, and eleventh-round selections (140th, 196th and 308th overall).140Allen RiceRunning backBaylorfrom RaidersRaiders6154Dwight CollinsWide receiverPittsburgh7181John HainesDefensive tackleTexas196Lloyd LewisGuardTexas A&Ifrom RaidersRaiders8208Paul SverchekDefensive tackleCal Poly9235Keith KiddWide receiverArkansas10268James SpencerLinebackerOklahoma State11295Edgar PickettLinebackerClemson308Lawrence ThompsonWide receiverMiami (FL)from RaidersRaiders12321Mike JonesRunning backNorth Carolina A&TOriginally Packers pickThe Vikings were due to pick 322nd overall but the Packers passed, allowing the Vikings to move up one spot. Notes 1984 supplemental draft 1984 NFL supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players 1984 Minnesota Vikings Supplemental USFL/CFL Draft Draft order Player name Position College Pro team Round Selection113Allanda SmithCornerbackTCULos Angeles Express240Robert SmithDefensive endGrambling StateArizona Wranglers367David HowardLinebackerLong Beach StateLos Angeles Express Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance1984 Minnesota Vikings https://www.profootballarchives.com/1984nflmin.html The Pro Football Archives September 8, 2018 1 August 4 Atlanta Falcons W 37–6 1–0 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 51,693 2 August 11 Miami Dolphins L 7–29 1–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 54,003 3 August 18 Philadelphia Eagles L 10–31 1–2 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 51,743 4 August 24 at St. Louis Cardinals L 0–31 1–3 Busch Memorial Stadium 31,210 Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 2 San Diego Chargers L 13–42 0–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 57,276 2 September 9 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–19 0–2 Veterans Stadium 55,942 3 September 16 Atlanta Falcons W 27–20 1–2 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 53,955 4 September 23 at Detroit Lions W 29–28 2–2 Silverdome 57,511 5 September 30 Seattle Seahawks L 12–20 2–3 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 57,171 6 October 7 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 31–35 2–4 Tampa Stadium 47,405 7 October 14 at Los Angeles Raiders L 20–23 2–5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 49,276 8 October 21 Detroit Lions L 14–16 2–6Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 57,953 9 October 28 at Chicago Bears L 7–16 2–7 Soldier Field 57,517 10 November 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 27–24 3–7 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 54,949 11 November 11 at Green Bay Packers L 17–45 3–8 Milwaukee County Stadium 52,931 12 November 18 at Denver Broncos L 21–42 3–9 Mile High Stadium 74,716 13 November 25 Chicago Bears L 3–34 3–10 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 56,881 14 November 29 Washington Redskins L 17–31 3–11 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 55,017 15 December 8 at San Francisco 49ers L 7–51 3–12 Candlestick Park 56,670 16 December 16 Green Bay Packers L 14–38 3–13 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 51,197 Game summaries Week 3: vs Atlanta Falcons Minnesota Vikings 1984 2; text-align:center collapsed Week 3: Atlanta Falcons at Minnesota Vikings – Game summary September 16 1:00 p.m. EST Falcons 3 3 7 7 Vikings 3 3 21 0 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota 53,955 None (indoor stadium) Fred Wyant Recap, Game Book First quarter ATL – Mick Luckhurst 33-yard field goal, 7:32. Falcons 3–0. Drive: 10 plays, 55 yards, 6:28. MIN – Jan Stenerud 22-yard field goal, 3:39. Tie 3–3. Drive: 10 plays, 68 yards, 4:53. Second quarter MIN – Jan Stenerud 54-yard field goal, 14:29. Vikings 6–3. Drive: 3 plays, 0 yards, 0:22. ATL – Mick Luckhurst 43-yard field goal, 6:04. Tie 6–6. Drive: 6 plays, 21 yards, 2:49. Third quarter MIN – Leo Lewis 42-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Jan Stenerud kick), 12:10. Vikings 13–6. Drive: 6 plays, 59 yards, 2:50. ATL – Stacey Bailey 57-yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Mick Luckhurst kick), 9:58. Tie 13–13. Drive: 4 plays, 73 yards, 2:12. MIN – Steve Jordan 21-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Jan Stenerud kick), 5:50. Vikings 20–13. Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 4:08. MIN – Dwight Collins 43-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Jan Stenerud kick), 1:59. Vikings 27–13. Drive: 8 plays, 87 yards, 3:33. Fourth quarter ATL – Billy Johnson 32-yard pass from Steve Bartkowski (Mick Luckhurst kick), 5:43. Vikings 27–20. Drive: 7 plays, 64 yards, 3:19. Top passers ATL – Steve Bartkowski – 14/24, 195 yards, 2 TD, INT MIN – Tommy Kramer – 15/30, 203 yards, 2 TD Top rushers ATL – Gerald Riggs – 17 rushes, 83 yards MIN – Darrin Nelson – 15 rushes, 96 yards Top receivers ATL – Stacey Bailey – 4 receptions, 102 yards, TD MIN – Leo Lewis – 3 receptions, 69 yards, TD Week 15: at San Francisco 49ers Minnesota Vikings 1984 2; text-align:center collapsed Week 15: Minnesota Vikings at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary December 8, 1984 3:00 p.m. CST Vikings 0 7 0 0 49ers 14 17 6 14 Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California 56,670 Scattered clouds, 60 F C Gordon McCarter CBS Frank Glieber (play-by-play) and Dick Vermeil (color) Recap, Game Book First quarter SF – Dwight Clark 44-yard pass from Joe Montana (Ray Wersching kick), 6:44. 49ers 7–0. Drive: 1 play, 44 yards, 0:06. SF – Freddie Solomon 3-yard pass from Joe Montana (Ray Wersching kick), 1:41. 49ers 14–0. Drive: 11 plays, 67 yards, 4:26. Second quarter MIN – Darrin Nelson 5-yard run (Jan Stenerud kick), 13:16. 49ers 14–7. Drive: 9 plays, 79 yards, 3:25. SF – Wendell Tyler 5-yard run (Ray Wersching kick), 9:12. 49ers 21–7. Drive: 9 plays, 63 yards, 4:04. SF – Renaldo Nehemiah 59-yard pass from Joe Montana (Ray Wersching kick), 6:54. 49ers 28–7. Drive: 5 plays, 84 yards, 1:10. SF – Ray Wersching 41-yard field goal, 0:03. 49ers 31–7. Drive: 7 plays, 46 yards, 1:01. Third quarter SF – Ray Wersching 25-yard field goal, 9:48. 49ers 34–7. Drive: 10 plays, 40 yards, 5:12. SF – Ray Wersching 38-yard field goal, 0:44. 49ers 37–7. Drive: 10 plays, 31 yards, 4:30. Fourth quarter SF – Derrick Harmon 3-yard run (Ray Wersching kick), 10:08. 49ers 44–7. Drive: 8 plays, 72 yards, 3:29. SF – Bill Ring 15-yard run (Ray Wersching kick), 3:02. 49ers 51–7. Drive: 12 plays, 70 yards, 5:29. Top passers MIN – Wade Wilson – 18/32, 212 yards, INT SF – Joe Montana – 15/21, 246 yards, 3 TD Top rushers MIN – Darrin Nelson – 7 rushes, 38 yards, TD SF – Derrick Harmon – 11 rushes, 56 yards, TD Top receivers MIN – Leo Lewis – 3 receptions, 55 yards SF – Renaldo Nehemiah – 6 receptions, 125 yards, TD Standings Staff 1984 Minnesota Vikings #3B0160 white #F0BF00 President – Max Winter General manager – Mike Lynn Head coach – Les Steckel Offensive coordinator – Jerry Burns Offensive backfield – John Michels Receivers – Bob Leahy Offensive line – Dan Radakovich Special assistant – Dick Rehbein Quality control – Bus Mertes Defensive coordinator/inside linebackers – Floyd Reese Defensive line – Tom Batta Defensive backfield – Ross Fichtner Quality control – Bob Hollway Special teams/outside linebackers coach – Mike Sweatman Strength and conditioning – Bud Bjornaraa Strength and conditioning – Dean Brittenham 2010 Minnesota Vikings Media Guide 265 http://www.vikings.com/news/media-guide.html February 18, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20101224103239/http://www.vikings.com/news/media-guide.html 2010-12-24 dead Roster 1984 Minnesota Vikings https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/min/1984_roster.htm  9 Tommy Kramer  4 Archie Manning 11 Wade Wilson American football 46 Alfred Anderson American football y 23 Ted Brown American football 20 Darrin Nelson 36 Allen Rice y 24 Maurice Turner American football 84 Dwight Collins y 89 Mike Jones wide receiver, born 1960 87 Leo Lewis wide receiver 85 Sammy White American football 88 Don Hasselbeck 83 Steve Jordan tight end 86 Mike Mularkey 81 Joe Senser 64 Grant Feasel C 61 Wes Hamilton G 60 Matt Hernandez T 76 Tim Irwin T 78 Steve Riley American football T 68 Curtis Rouse G 67 Ron Sams C 66 Terry Tausch G 69 Hasson Arbubakrr DE 73 Neil Elshire DE 90 John Haines NT y American football 65 Charlie Johnson defensive tackle NT 79 Doug Martin defensive end DE 91 Greg Smith American football, born 1959 DE 58 Walker Lee Ashley ILB 59 Matt Blair OLB 50 Dennis Fowlkes ILB 52 Dennis Johnson linebacker ILB 94 Chris Martin linebacker OLB 54 Fred McNeill OLB 57 Robin Sendlein OLB 55 Scott Studwell ILB 21 Rufus Bess CB 47 Joey Browner CB/FS 43 Jeff Colter y CB 25 Marcellus Greene CB 45 Tommy Hannon SS 39 Carl Lee American football FS 29 John Swain CB 37 Willie Teal CB 34 Dan Wagoner SS  8 Greg Coleman American football P  3 Jan Stenerud K -- Melvin Brown no CB IR -- Melvin Brown no y WR IR 82 Bob Bruer TE IR 63 Robert Cobb American football NT Left Squad 51 Jim Hough C IR -- Keith Kidd y WR IR 77 Mark Mullaney DE IR 49 Keith Nord S PUP -- James Spencer no y LB IR Statistics Team leaders Category Player(s) Value Passing yards Tommy Kramer 1,678 Passing touchdowns Tommy Kramer 9 Rushing yards Alfred Anderson 773 Rushing touchdowns Ted Brown Darrin Nelson 3 Receiving yards Leo Lewis 830 Receiving touchdowns Leo Lewis 4 Points Jan Stenerud 90 Kickoff return yards Darrin Nelson 891 Punt return yards Darrin Nelson 180 Tackles Carl Lee 100 Sacks Randy Holloway 5 Interceptions Rufus Bess 3 League rankings Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank(out of 28) Passing offense 2,872 179.5 22nd Rushing offense 1,844 115.2 18th Total offense 4,716 294.8 25th Passing defense 3,779 236.2 26th Rushing defense 2,573 160.8 27th Total defense 6,352 397.0 28th References Category:Minnesota Vikings seasons Minnesota Minnesota Vikings