# 1980 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1980 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 20th in the National Football League and their 14th under head coach Bud Grant. The Vikings improved on their 7–9 record from last year with a 9–7 record, equal to that of the Detroit Lions, but won the NFC Central division title on the tiebreaker. In the Divisional Playoffs the Vikings lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 31–16.
The most dramatic game of the season came in a Week 15 home game against Cleveland, with Minnesota at 8–6. The Vikings trailed 23–9 early in the fourth quarter, but with five seconds left in regulation, despite missing two field goals and two extra points in the game, they were on the Cleveland 46-yard line having reduced the Browns' lead to one point. Quarterback Tommy Kramer threw a Hail Mary pass that Ahmad Rashad caught at the 2-yard line before backing into the end zone to give Minnesota a 28–23 win.

## Offseason
### 1980 draft

1980 Minnesota Vikings Draft :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Selection | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 9 | Doug Martin | Defensive tackle | Washington | |
| 2 | 30 | Willie Teal | Cornerback | LSU | From 49ers |
| 2 | 39 | Traded to the San Francisco 49ers | Traded to the San Francisco 49ers | Traded to the San Francisco 49ers | |
| 3 | 65 | Traded to the San Francisco 49ers | Traded to the San Francisco 49ers | Traded to the San Francisco 49ers | |
| 3 | 68 | Brent Boyd | Center | UCLA | From Saints |
| 4 | 92 | Dennis Johnson | Linebacker | USC | |
| 5 | 121 | Doug Paschal | Running back | North Carolina | |
| 5 | 122 | Paul Jones | Running back | California | From Saints |
| 6 | 148 | Ray Yakavonis | Defensive end | East Stroudsburg | |
| 7 | 174 | Henry Johnson | Linebacker | Georgia Tech | |
| 8 | 204 | Traded to the Seattle Seahawks | Traded to the Seattle Seahawks | Traded to the Seattle Seahawks | |
| 9 | 232 | Dennis Mosley | Running back | Iowa | In lieu of #231 (passed) |
| 10 | 258 | Kenny Brown | Wide receiver | Nebraska | |
| 11 | 288 | Sam Harrell | Running back | East Carolina | |
| 12 | 315 | Thomas Lane | Defensive back | Florida A&M | |
Notes
* 1 2 3 The Vikings traded their second- and third-round selections (39th and 65th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a second-round selection (30th overall).
* 1 2 The Vikings traded RB Steve Riley to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for third- and fifth-round selections (68th and 122nd overall).
* ↑ The Vikings traded an eighth-round selection (205th overall) to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for DL Steve Niehaus.
* ↑ The Vikings originally had the 231st overall selection, but passed, allowing Buffalo to move up and Minnesota to choose 232nd overall.

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 9 | San Diego Chargers | W 21–17 | 1–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 45,179 |
| 2 | August 18 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 10–14 | 1–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | 39,879 |
| 3 | August 23 | at Miami Dolphins | W 17–10 | 2–1 | Miami Orange Bowl | 36,116 |
| 4 | August 30 | Cleveland Browns | W 38–16 | 3–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,262 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 7 | Atlanta Falcons | W 24–23 | 1–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 44,773 |
| 2 | September 14 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 7–42 | 1–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,460 |
| 3 | September 21 | at Chicago Bears | W 34–14 | 2–1 | Soldier Field | 59,983 |
| 4 | September 28 | at Detroit Lions | L 7–27 | 2–2 | Silverdome | 80,291 |
| 5 | October 5 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 17–23 | 2–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,583 |
| 6 | October 12 | Chicago Bears | W 13–7 | 3–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,751 |
| 7 | October 19 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 0–14 | 3–4 | Riverfront Stadium | 44,487 |
| 8 | October 26 | at Green Bay Packers | L 3–16 | 3–5 | Lambeau Field | 56,191 |
| 9 | November 2 | at Washington Redskins | W 39–14 | 4–5 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | 52,060 |
| 10 | November 9 | Detroit Lions | W 34–0 | 5–5 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,264 |
| 11 | November 16 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 38–30 | 6–5 | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,032 |
| 12 | November 23 | Green Bay Packers | L 13–25 | 6–6 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,234 |
| 13 | November 30 | at New Orleans Saints | W 23–20 | 7–6 | Louisiana Superdome | 30,936 |
| 14 | December 7 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 21–10 | 8–6 | Tampa Stadium | 65,649 |
| 15 | December 14 | Cleveland Browns | W 28–23 | 9–6 | Metropolitan Stadium | 42,202 |
| 16 | December 21 | at Houston Oilers | L 16–20 | 9–7 | Astrodome | 51,064 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Game summaries
#### Week 15: vs Cleveland Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 7 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 23 |
| Vikings | 0 | 0 | 9 | 19 | 28 |
at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota
* Date: December 14, 1980
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: 23 °F (−5 °C)
* Referee: Ben Dreith
* TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Len Dawson
Trailing 23–9 entering the fourth quarter the Vikings came back and won on a desperation Hail Mary pass from quarterback Tommy Kramer to wide receiver Ahmad Rashad to clinch the NFC Central Division title in what became known as the "Miracle at the Met".

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Minnesota Vikings$^{(3)}$ | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 5–3 | 8–4 | 317 | 308 | L1 |
| Detroit Lions | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 5–3 | 9–5 | 334 | 272 | W2 |
| Chicago Bears | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 304 | 264 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5 | 10 | 1 | .344 | 1–6–1 | 4–7–1 | 271 | 341 | L3 |
| Green Bay Packers | 5 | 10 | 1 | .344 | 3–4–1 | 4–7–1 | 231 | 371 | L4 |

## Postseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Venue | Attendance |
| Divisional | January 3 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 16–31 | Veterans Stadium | 68,434 |

## Statistics
### Team leaders

| Category | Player(s) | Value |
| Passing yards | Tommy Kramer | 3,582 |
| Passing touchdowns | Tommy Kramer | 19 |
| Rushing yards | Ted Brown | 912 |
| Rushing touchdowns | Ted Brown | 8 |
| Receiving yards | Ahmad Rashad | 1,095 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Joe Senser | 7 |
| Points | Rick Danmeier | 81 |
| Kickoff return yards | Eddie Payton | 1,184 |
| Punt return yards | Eddie Payton | 251 |
| Interceptions | John Turner | 6 |

### League rankings

| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank (out of 28) |
| Passing offense | 3,688 | 230.5 | 3rd |
| Rushing offense | 1,642 | 102.6 | 27th |
| Total offense | 5,330 | 333.1 | 11th |
| Passing defense | 3,400 | 212.5 | 24th |
| Rushing defense | 2,456 | 153.5 | 25th |
| Total defense | 5,856 | 366.0 | 26th |