# 1966 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1966 season was the Minnesota Vikings' sixth in the National Football League. Sixth-year head coach Norm Van Brocklin resigned at the end of the season, after the team finished with a 4–9–1 record.

## Offseason
### 1966 draft

1966 Minnesota Vikings Draft :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Selection | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Jerry Shay | Offensive tackle | Purdue | |
| 2 | 27 | Jim Lindsey | Running back | Arkansas | |
| 3 | 42 | Don Hansen | Linebacker | Illinois | |
| 4 | 57 | Ron Acks | Safety | Illinois | |
| 5 | 72 | Doug Davis | Offensive tackle | Kentucky | |
| 5 | 76 | Bob Hall | Defensive back | Brown | from Bears |
| 6 | 83 | Wilbur Aylor | Offensive tackle | Southwest Texas State | from Steelers, via Giants |
| 6 | 87 | Traded to the Detroit Lions | Traded to the Detroit Lions | Traded to the Detroit Lions | |
| 7 | 106 | Bob Meers | End | UMass | |
| 8 | 120 | Traded to the Baltimore Colts | Traded to the Baltimore Colts | Traded to the Baltimore Colts | |
| 9 | 134 | Ron Green | Wide receiver | North Dakota | |
| 10 | 148 | Traded to the Detroit Lions | Traded to the Detroit Lions | Traded to the Detroit Lions | |
| 11 | 162 | Stan Quintana | Defensive back | New Mexico | |
| 12 | 181 | Bob Petrella | Defensive back | Tennessee | |
| 13 | 195 | Larry Martin | Offensive tackle | San Diego State | |
| 14 | 209 | Howard Twilley | Wide receiver | Tulsa | |
| 15 | 223 | Hugh Wright | Running back | Adams State | |
| 16 | 237 | Jim Williams | Defensive end | Arkansas | |
| 17 | 256 | Monroe Beard | Running back | Virginia Union | |
| 18 | 270 | Dale Greco | Defensive tackle | Illinois | |
| 19 | 284 | Jesse Stokes | Running back | Corpus Christi | |
| 20 | 298 | Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles | Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles | Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles | |
Notes
* ↑ The Vikings traded G Palmer Pyle to the Bears in exchange for a fifth-round selection (76th overall).
* ↑ The Vikings trade LB Bill Swain to the Giants in exchange for a sixth-round selection (83rd overall).
* ↑ The Vikings traded their sixth-round selection (87th overall) and a 1965 seventh-round selection (92nd overall) to the Lions in exchange for DT Mike Bundra and end Larry Vargo.
* ↑ The Vikings traded their eighth-round selection (120th overall) and LB John Campbell to the Colts in exchange for OT Larry Kramer.
* ↑ The Vikings traded their 10th-round selection (148th overall) to the Lions in exchange for DB Gary Lowe.
* ↑ The Vikings traded their 20th-round selection (298th overall) to the Eagles in exchange for HB Billy Ray Barnes.

## Preseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 6 | Detroit Lions | T 6–6 | 0–0–1 | Tulane Stadium (New Orleans, LA) | 38,229 |
| 2 | August 13 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 35–6 | 1–0–1 | Multnomah Stadium Portland, OR) | 21,228 |
| 3 | August 20 | Los Angeles Rams | W 24–10 | 2–0–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 40,270 |
| 4 | August 26 | Washington Redskins | W 30–27 | 3–0–1 | Cleveland Stadium (Cleveland, OH) | 83,418 |
| 5 | September 2 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 24–28 | 3–1–1 | Cotton Bowl | 58,316 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 11 | at San Francisco 49ers | T 20–20 | 0–0–1 | Kezar Stadium | 29,312 |
| 2 | September 18 | Baltimore Colts | L 23–38 | 0–1–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,426 |
| 3 | September 25 | at Dallas Cowboys | L 17–28 | 0–2–1 | Cotton Bowl | 64,116 |
| 4 | October 2 | Chicago Bears | L 10–13 | 0–3–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,426 |
| 5 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 6 | October 16 | Los Angeles Rams | W 35–7 | 1–3–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,426 |
| 7 | October 23 | at Baltimore Colts | L 17–20 | 1–4–1 | Memorial Stadium | 60,238 |
| 8 | October 30 | San Francisco 49ers | W 28–3 | 2–4–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 45,077 |
| 9 | November 6 | at Green Bay Packers | W 20–17 | 3–4–1 | Lambeau Field | 50,861 |
| 10 | November 13 | Detroit Lions | L 31–32 | 3–5–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 43,939 |
| 11 | November 20 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 6–21 | 3–6–1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 38,775 |
| 12 | November 27 | Green Bay Packers | L 16–28 | 3–7–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,426 |
| 13 | December 4 | Atlanta Falcons | L 13–20 | 3–8–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 37,117 |
| 14 | December 11 | at Detroit Lions | W 28–16 | 4–8–1 | Tiger Stadium | 43,022 |
| 15 | December 18 | at Chicago Bears | L 28–41 | 4–9–1 | Wrigley Field | 45,191 |
* A bye week was necessary as the league had expanded to an odd number (15) of teams (Atlanta); one team was idle each week.

## Standings

NFL Western Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Green Bay Packers | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 10–2 | 335 | 163 | W5 |
| Baltimore Colts | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 7–5 | 314 | 226 | W1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 6–6 | 289 | 212 | L1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 6 | 6 | 2 | .500 | 5–5–2 | 320 | 325 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 7 | 2 | .417 | 4–6–2 | 234 | 272 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 3–8–1 | 206 | 317 | L3 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 4 | 9 | 1 | .308 | 4–7–1 | 292 | 304 | L1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Statistics
### Team leaders

| Category | Player(s) | Value |
| Passing yards | Fran Tarkenton | 2,561 |
| Passing touchdowns | Fran Tarkenton | 17 |
| Rushing yards | Bill Brown | 829 |
| Rushing touchdowns | Bill Brown | 6 |
| Receiving yards | Paul Flatley | 777 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Preston Carpenter | 4 |
| Points | Fred Cox | 88 |
| Kickoff return yards | Mike Fitzgerald | 301 |
| Punt return yards | Ed Sharockman | 95 |
| Interceptions | Dale Hackbart | 5 |
| Sacks | Jim Marshall | 7 |
Note that sack totals from 1960 to 1981 are considered unofficial by the NFL.

### League rankings

| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank (out of 15) |
| Passing offense | 2,548 | 182.0 | 7th |
| Rushing offense | 2,091 | 149.4 | 3rd |
| Total offense | 4,639 | 331.4 | 4th |
| Passing defense | 2,236 | 159.7 | 2nd |
| Rushing defense | 1,686 | 120.4 | 7th |
| Total defense | 3,922 | 280.1 | 5th |