# 1986 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1986 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 26th season in the National Football League, and their first with former offensive coordinator Jerry Burns as head coach, following the departure of Bud Grant at the end of the previous season.
The Vikings finished with a 9–7 record and missed the playoffs for the fourth season in a row.

## Offseason
### 1986 draft

1986 Minnesota Vikings Draft :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Selection | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Traded to the San Diego Chargers | Traded to the San Diego Chargers | Traded to the San Diego Chargers | |
| 1 | 14 | Gerald Robinson | Defensive end | Auburn | From Packers, via Chargers |
| 2 | 40 | Traded to the Miami Dolphins | Traded to the Miami Dolphins | Traded to the Miami Dolphins |
| 2 | 44 | Traded to the New York Giants | Traded to the New York Giants | Traded to the New York Giants | From Chargers |
| 2 | 53 | Traded to the New York Giants | Traded to the New York Giants | Traded to the New York Giants | From Raiders |
| 3 | 66 | Traded to the San Diego Chargers | Traded to the San Diego Chargers | Traded to the San Diego Chargers | |
| 4 | 93 | Joe Phillips | Defensive tackle | SMU | |
| 5 | 120 | Hassan Jones | Wide receiver | Florida State | |
| 6 | 147 | Thomas Rooks | Running back | Illinois | |
| 7 | 179 | Carl Hilton | Tight end | Houston | |
| 8 | 206 | Gary Shippang | Offensive tackle | West Chester | |
| 9 | 232 | Mike Slaton | Cornerback | South Dakota | |
| 10 | 259 | Joe Cormier | Wide receiver | USC | |
| 11 | 286 | John Armstrong | Wide receiver | Richmond | |
| 12 | 318 | Jesse Solomon | Linebacker | Florida State | |
Notes:
* 1 2 3 4 The Vikings traded a first- and a third-round selection (8th and 66th overall) to the Chargers in exange for a first- and a second-sound selection (14th and 44th overall).
* ↑ The Vikings traded a second-round selection (40th overall) and LB Robin Sendlein to the Dolphins in exange for WR Anthony Carter.
* 1 2 The Vikings traded two second-round selections (44th and 53rd overall) to the Giants in exange for OT Gary Zimmerman.
* ↑ The Vikings traded LB Brad Van Pelt to the Raiders in exange for a second-round selection (53rd overall) and a 1985 sixth-round selection (164th overall).

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 9 | Miami Dolphins | W 30–16 | 1–0 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 52,865 |
| 2 | August 16 | Denver Broncos | W 29–27 | 2–0 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 53,193 |
| 3 | August 22 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 17–27 | 2–1 | Kingdome | 57,730 |
| 4 | August 30 | at Indianapolis Colts | W 23–20 (OT) | 3–1 | Hoosier Dome | 57,969 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 7 | Detroit Lions | L 10–13 | 0–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 54,851 |
| 2 | September 14 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 23–10 | 1–1 | Tampa Stadium | 34,579 |
| 3 | September 21 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 31–7 | 2–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 56,795 |
| 4 | September 28 | Green Bay Packers | W 42–7 | 3–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 60,478 |
| 5 | October 5 | at Chicago Bears | L 0–23 | 3–2 | Soldier Field | 63,921 |
| 6 | October 12 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 27–24 (OT) | 4–2 | Candlestick Park | 58,637 |
| 7 | October 19 | Chicago Bears | W 23–7 | 5–2 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 62,851 |
| 8 | October 26 | Cleveland Browns | L 20–23 | 5–3 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 59,133 |
| 9 | November 2 | at Washington Redskins | L 38–44 (OT) | 5–4 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | 51,928 |
| 10 | November 9 | at Detroit Lions | W 24–10 | 6–4 | Silverdome | 53,725 |
| 11 | November 16 | New York Giants | L 20–22 | 6–5 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 62,003 |
| 12 | November 23 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 20–24 | 6–6 | Riverfront Stadium | 53,003 |
| 13 | November 30 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 45–13 | 7–6 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 56,235 |
| 14 | December 7 | at Green Bay Packers | W 32–6 | 8–6 | Lambeau Field | 47,637 |
| 15 | December 14 | at Houston Oilers | L 10–23 | 8–7 | Astrodome | 32,738 |
| 16 | December 21 | New Orleans Saints | W 33–17 | 9–7 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 51,209 |

### Game summaries
#### Week 1: vs Detroit Lions

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| Vikings | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota
* Date: September 7
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: None (indoor stadium)
* Game attendance: 54,851
* Referee: Red Cashion
* TV announcers (CBS): Tom Brookshier and Dick Vermeil
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
MIN – Chuck Nelson 35-yard field goal, 3:38. Vikings 3–0.
Second quarter
DET – James Jones 2-yard run (Eddie Murray kick), 1:56. Lions 7–3.
Third quarter
DET – Eddie Murray 33-yard field goal, 2:01. Lions 10–3.
Fourth quarter
DET – Eddie Murray 44-yard field goal, 9:05. Lions 13–3.
MIN – Jim Gustafson 5-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Chuck Nelson kick), 0:03. Lions 13–10.
Top passers
DET – Eric Hipple – 8/15, 95 yards, INT
MIN – Tommy Kramer – 21/38, 223 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
DET – James Jones – 36 rushes, 174 yards, TD
MIN – Darrin Nelson – 11 rushes, 58 yards
Top receivers
DET – Leonard Thompson – 3 receptions, 40 yards
MIN – Darrin Nelson – 6 receptions, 74 yards :

#### Week 8: vs Cleveland Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 23 |
| Vikings | 3 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 20 |
at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota
* Date: October 26
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: None (indoor stadium)
* Game attendance: 59,133
* Referee: Tom Dooley
* TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Jimmy Cefalo
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
MIN – Chuck Nelson 33-yard field goal, 6:55. Vikings 3–0.
CLE – Matt Bahr 52-yard field goal, 3:16. Tie 3–3.
Second quarter
MIN – Darrin Nelson 5-yard run (Chuck Nelson kick), 5:00. Vikings 10–3.
MIN – Anthony Carter 8-yard pass from Tommy Kramer (Chuck Nelson kick), 0:24. Vikings 17–3.
Third quarter
CLE – Felix Wright 30-yard blocked punt return (Matt Bahr kick), 12:40. Vikings 17–10.
MIN – Chuck Nelson 32-yard field goal, 3:29. Vikings 20–10.
Fourth quarter
CLE – Matt Bahr 19-yard field goal, 13:13. Vikings 20–13.
CLE – Curtis Dickey 17-yard run (Matt Bahr kick), 3:23. Tie 20–20.
CLE – Matt Bahr 22-yard field goal, 1:46. Browns 23–20.
Top passers
CLE – Bernie Kosar – 9/18, 101 yards, TD
MIN – Tommy Kramer – 18/35, 261 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
CLE – Curtis Dickey – 19 rushes, 106 yards, TD
MIN – Darrin Nelson – 22 rushes, 118 yards, TD
Top receivers
CLE – Reggie Langhorne – 2 receptions, 37 yards
MIN – Allen Rice – 4 receptions, 71 yards :

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Chicago Bears$^{(2)}$ | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 7–1 | 10–2 | 352 | 187 | W7 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 6–2 | 8–4 | 398 | 273 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 3–5 | 4–8 | 277 | 326 | L4 |
| Green Bay Packers | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 3–5 | 3–9 | 254 | 418 | L1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 1–7 | 1–13 | 239 | 473 | L7 |

## Statistics
### Team leaders

| Category | Player(s) | Value |
| Passing yards | Tommy Kramer | 3,000 |
| Passing touchdowns | Tommy Kramer | 24 |
| Rushing yards | Darrin Nelson | 793 |
| Rushing touchdowns | Ted Brown Darrin Nelson | 4 |
| Receiving yards | Steve Jordan | 859 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Anthony Carter | 7 |
| Points | Chuck Nelson | 110 |
| Kickoff return yards | Rufus Bess | 705 |
| Punt return yards | Rufus Bess | 162 |
| Tackles | Jesse Solomon | 96 |
| Sacks | Keith Millard | 10.5 |
| Interceptions | Issiac Holt | 8 |
| Forced fumbles | Chris Doleman | 2 |

### League rankings

| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank (out of 28) |
| Passing offense | 3,913 | 244.6 | 5th |
| Rushing offense | 1,738 | 108.6 | 16th |
| Total offense | 5,651 | 353.2 | 4th |
| Passing defense | 3,216 | 201.0 | 13th |
| Rushing defense | 1,796 | 112.3 | 13th |
| Total defense | 5,012 | 313.3 | 11th |

## Awards and records

* On August 2, Fran Tarkenton was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. He was the first player inducted who was primarily a Minnesota Viking during his career.
* Tommy Kramer, the NFL passer rating leader, was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year by Pro Football Weekly.