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1981 Minnesota Vikings

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Record: 7-9-0, Finished 4th in NFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 325 points (20.3/g), 13th of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 369 points (23.1/g), 21st.
 Differential of -44 points (-2.8/g), 18th.
 Expected W-L: 6.8-9.2.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -15 (-0.9/g), 25th.

Coached by Bud Grant (7-9-0)

1981 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sat September 5 box L 0-1 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 21 27 443 343 100 4 10 219 108 111
2 Mon September 14 box L 0-2 Oakland Raiders 10 36 19 269 227 42 3 14 310 161 149 1
3 Sun September 20 box W 1-2 Detroit Lions 26 24 18 406 312 94 3 19 404 232 172 2
4 Sun September 27 box W 2-2 @ Green Bay Packers 30 13 28 410 253 157 3 22 316 245 71 2
5 Sun October 4 box W 3-2 Chicago Bears 24 21 22 345 211 134 1 24 396 307 89 2
6 Sun October 11 box W 4-2 @ San Diego Chargers 33 31 29 526 433 93 3 18 425 305 120 1
7 Sun October 18 box W 5-2 Philadelphia Eagles 35 23 20 334 240 94 26 403 298 105 4
8 Sun October 25 box L 5-3 @ St. Louis Cardinals 17 30 22 387 318 69 3 18 320 182 138 2
9 Mon November 2 box L 5-4 @ Denver Broncos 17 19 19 325 223 102 2 17 329 182 147 2
10 Sun November 8 box W 6-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25 10 26 426 221 205 4 10 193 150 43 2
11 Sun November 15 box W 7-4 New Orleans Saints 20 10 17 357 287 70 1 23 314 198 116 2
12 Mon November 23 box L 7-5 @ Atlanta Falcons 30 31 25 460 330 130 5 19 342 193 149 3
13 Sun November 29 box L 7-6 Green Bay Packers 23 35 23 404 376 28 5 24 409 294 115 4
14 Sun December 6 box L 7-7 @ Chicago Bears 9 10 16 292 254 38 5 13 244 69 175 2
15 Sat December 12 box L 7-8 @ Detroit Lions 7 45 16 216 144 72 4 29 476 271 205 4
16 Sun December 20 box L 7-9 Kansas City Chiefs 6 10 16 245 161 84 4 13 273 133 140 2

Team Stats and Rankings

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
Team Offense 325 5845 1129 5.2 343 382 709 4333 27 29 5.9 217 391 1512 8 3.9 91 50 21 35
Team Defense 369 5373 1054 5.1 481 265 481 3328 26 16 6.5 163 540 2045 15 3.8 299 35 19 19
Lg Rank Offense 13 6 4 1 2 4 26 15 28 28 28 20 26 22
Lg Rank Defense 21 17 13 8 18 23 24 24 20 15 12 9 19 10

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk%
Tommy Kramer 26 QB 14 14 322 593 54.3 3912 26 4.4 24 4.0 63 6.6 5.2 12.1 279.4 72.6 19 149 6.1 4.8 3.1
Steve Dils 26 2 2 54 102 52.9 607 1 1.0 2 2.0 44 6.0 5.2 11.2 303.5 66.1 8 66 4.9 4.2 7.3
Wade Wilson 22 3 0 6 13 46.2 48 0 0.0 2 15.4 22 3.7 -3.2 8.0 16.0 16.3 2 19 1.9 -4.1 13.3
Ted Brown 24 FB 16 16 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 -45.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 -45.0 0.0
Team Total 26.3 16 382 709 53.9 4567 27 3.8 29 4.1 63 6.4 5.0 12.0 285.4 69.5 29 234 5.9 4.5 3.9
Opp Total 16 265 481 55.1 3328 26 5.4 16 3.3 6.9 6.0 12.6 208.0 81.0 33 271 6.5 5.1

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Rushing Receiving
Age Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb
Ted Brown 24 FB 16 16 274 1063 6 34 3.9 66.4 17.1 83 694 8.4 2 63 5.2 43.4 1757 8 3
Rickey Young 28 RB 16 13 47 129 0 13 2.7 8.1 2.9 43 296 6.9 2 22 2.7 18.5 425 2 4
Tony Galbreath 27 14 1 42 198 2 21 4.7 14.1 3.0 18 144 8.0 0 23 1.3 10.3 342 2 2
Tommy Kramer 26 QB 14 14 10 13 0 8 1.3 0.9 0.7 13 0 8
Jarvis Redwine 24 3 0 5 20 0 8 4.0 6.7 1.7 20 0 1
Steve Dils 26 2 2 4 14 0 7 3.5 7.0 2.0 14 0 3
Terry LeCount 25 16 2 3 51 0 38 17.0 3.2 0.2 24 425 17.7 2 43 1.5 26.6 476 2 0
Sammy White 27 WR 16 16 2 -1 0 1 -0.5 -0.1 0.1 66 1001 15.2 3 53 4.1 62.6 1000 3 1
Joe Senser* 25 TE 16 16 1 2 0 2 2.0 0.1 0.1 79 1004 12.7 8 53 4.9 62.8 1006 8 3
Sam Harrell 24 4 0 1 7 0 7 7.0 1.8 0.3 2 23 11.5 0 17 0.5 5.8 30 0 0
Leo Lewis 25 4 1 1 16 0 16 16.0 4.0 0.3 2 58 29.0 0 52 0.5 14.5 74 0 0
Jeff Siemon 31 LILB 16 15 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0 0 1
Ahmad Rashad* 32 WR 16 15 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 58 884 15.2 7 53 3.6 55.3 884 7 1
Bob Bruer 28 15 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 7 38 5.4 3 10 0.5 2.5 38 3 1
Team Total 26.3 16 391 1512 8 38 3.9 94.5 24.4 382 4567 12.0 27 63 23.9 285.4 6079 35 39
Opp Total 16 540 2045 15 3.8 127.8 33.8 265 3328 12.6 26 16.6 208.0 5373 41 27

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
Eddie Payton 30 RET 16 0 38 303 0 18 8.0 39 898 1 99 23.0 1201
Keith Nord 24 16 0 14 229 0 27 16.4 229
Mardye McDole 22 9 0 11 170 0 22 15.5 170
Matt Blair* 31 LOLB 16 16 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Tony Galbreath 27 14 1 1 16 0 16 16.0 358
Sammy White 27 WR 16 16 1 0 0 0 0.0 1000
Rickey Young 28 RB 16 13 1 15 0 15 15.0 440
Team Total 26.3 16 39 303 0 18 7.8 67 1328 1 99 19.8 7710
Opp Total 16 46 1 62 1260 0 20.3

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
0--19 20--29 30--39 40--49 50+ Tot PAT Punting
Age Pos G GS FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
Greg Coleman 27 P 15 0 88 3646 73 0 41.4
Rick Danmeier 29 K 16 0 1 1 6 5 12 11 6 4 25 21 84.0% 37 34 91.9%
Team Total 26.3 16 1 1 6 5 12 11 6 4 25 21 84.0% 37 34 91.9% 88 3646 73 0 41.4
Opp Total 16 27 17 63.0% 46 42 91.3% 84 3419 40.7

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
Matt Blair* 31 LOLB 16 16 1 1 0 1 1 2 0 0
Ted Brown 24 FB 16 16 3 3 0 0
Bob Bruer 28 15 0 1 0 0 0
Greg Coleman 27 P 15 0 0 1 0 0
Steve Dils 26 2 2 3 2 0 0
Tony Galbreath 27 14 1 2 0 0 0
Tom Hannon 26 SS 16 16 4 28 0 28 0 1 31 0 1
Randy Holloway 26 rde 16 8 0 1 45 1
Kurt Knoff 27 FS 16 16 3 24 0 20 0 1 0 0
Tommy Kramer 26 QB 14 14 8 3 0 0
Terry LeCount 25 16 2 0 1 0 0
Doug Martin 24 RDE 16 9 0 1 0 0
Mardye McDole 22 9 0 1 1 0 0
Fred McNeill 29 ROLB 16 16 2 26 0 14 0 1 11 0
Mark Mullaney 28 LDE 15 15 0 1 0 0
Keith Nord 24 16 0 2 1 0 0
Eddie Payton 30 RET 16 0 5 1 0 0
Ahmad Rashad* 32 WR 16 15 1 1 0 0
Jarvis Redwine 24 3 0 1 0 0 0
Robin Sendlein 23 16 0 0 1 0 0
Joe Senser* 25 TE 16 16 3 2 0 0
Jeff Siemon 31 LILB 16 15 1 1 -3 0
Scott Studwell 27 RILB 16 16 0 3 0 0
John Swain 22 12 1 2 18 0 18 0 1 0 0
Willie Teal 24 RCB 16 16 4 23 0 15
James White 28 NT 16 16 0 2 0 0
Sammy White 27 WR 16 16 1 0 0 0
Wade Wilson 22 3 0 2 1 0 0
Ray Yakavonis 24 15 0 0 1 0 0
Rickey Young 28 RB 16 13 4 0 0 0
Team Total 26.3 16 16 120 0 28 39 34 84 1 2
Opp Total 16 29 27 8

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
Rick Danmeier 29 K 16 0 34 21 97
Ted Brown 24 FB 16 16 6 2 48
Joe Senser* 25 TE 16 16 8 48
Ahmad Rashad* 32 WR 16 15 7 42
Bob Bruer 28 15 0 3 18
Sammy White 27 WR 16 16 3 18
Tony Galbreath 27 14 1 2 12
Terry LeCount 25 16 2 2 12
Rickey Young 28 RB 16 13 2 12
Randy Holloway 26 rde 16 8 1 6
Eddie Payton 30 RET 16 0 1 6
Tom Hannon 26 SS 16 16 1 2
Walt Williams 27 lcb 16 5 1 2
Team Total 26.3 16 8 27 1 1 34 21 2 323
Opp Total 16 15 26 1 42 17 369