# 1983 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1983 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 23rd in the National Football League (NFL), and their 17th under head coach Bud Grant. After starting 6–2, the Vikings lost six of their next seven – including a home loss to the 0–9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers – and were eliminated from playoff contention with one week to play.
Even with the loss to Tampa Bay, Minnesota would have won the NFC Central Division championship if not for a 13–2 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football in week 14.
The team finished 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.

## Offseason
### 1983 draft

* Pro Bowler
1983 Minnesota Vikings Draft :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Selection | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 19 | Joey Browner | Cornerback | USC | |
| 2 | 46 | Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles | Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles | Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles | Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles |
| 3 | 73 | Walker Lee Ashley | Linebacker | Penn State | |
| 4 | 100 | Mark Rush | Running back | Miami (FL) | |
| 5 | 127 | Mark Stewart | Linebacker | Washington | |
| 6 | 159 | Mike Jones | Wide receiver | Tennessee State | |
| 7 | 186 | Carl Lee | Cornerback | Marshall | |
| 8 | 213 | Norris Brown | Tight end | Georgia | |
| 9 | 239 | Rod Achter | Wide receiver | Toledo | |
| 10 | 255 | Melvin Brown | Defensive back | Ole Miss | From Rams |
| 10 | 266 | Walter Tate | Center | Tennessee State | |
| 11 | 298 | Brian Butcher | Guard | Clemson | |
| 12 | 325 | Maurice Turner | Running back | Utah State | |
Notes
* ↑ The Vikings traded a second-round selection (46th overall) to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for DT Charlie Johnson.
* ↑ The Vikings traded OT Ron Yary to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a 10th-round selection (255th overall).

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Notes |
| 1 | August 6 | vs St. Louis Cardinals | W 28–10 | 1–0 | Wembley Stadium (London, England) | 32,847 | Global Cup |
| 2 | August 13 | Baltimore Colts | L 7–10 | 1–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 56,061 | |
| 3 | August 19 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 19–17 | 2–1 | Kingdome | 54,402 | |
| 4 | August 26 | Denver Broncos | W 34–3 | 3–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 59,435 | |

## 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 :
| viewtalkedit | 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 yards | Steve Dils | 2,840 |
| Passing touchdowns | Steve Dils | 911 |
| Rushing yards | Darrin Nelson | 642 |
| Rushing touchdowns | Ted Brown | 10 |
| Receiving yards | Darrin Nelson | 618 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Sammy White | 4 |
| Points | Benny Ricardo | 108 |
| Kickoff return yards | Jarvis Redwine | 838 |
| Punt return yards | Rufus Bess | 158 |
| Sacks | Doug Martin | 13 |
| Interceptions | John Swain John Turner | 6 |

### League rankings

| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank (out of 28) |
| Passing offense | 3,211 | 200.7 | 13th |
| Rushing offense | 1,808 | 113.0 | 20th |
| Total offense | 5,019 | 313.7 | 20th |
| Passing defense | 2,903 | 181.4 | 6th |
| Rushing defense | 2,584 | 161.5 | 25th |
| Total defense | 5,487 | 342.9 | 19th |