# 1985 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1985 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 25th in the National Football League. Under returning head coach Bud Grant, they finished with a 7–9 record and missed the playoffs for a third season in a row. At the end of the season, Grant retired for good after 18 years with the franchise.

## Offseason
### 1985 draft

* Pro Bowler
1985 Minnesota Vikings Draft :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Selection | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Traded to the Atlanta Falcons | Traded to the Atlanta Falcons | Traded to the Atlanta Falcons | from Oilers |
| 1 | 3 | Traded to the Houston Oilers | Traded to the Houston Oilers | Traded to the Houston Oilers | |
| 1 | 4 | Chris Doleman | Defensive end | Pittsburgh | from Falcons |
| 2 | 30 | Issiac Holt | Cornerback | Alcorn State | Provisional trade but was not exercise |
| 3 | 59 | Kirk Lowdermilk | Center | Ohio State | |
| 3 | 60 | Tim Meamber | Linebacker | Washington | from Falcons |
| 3 | 66 | Tim Long | Offensive tackle | Memphis State | from Chargers |
| 4 | 85 | George Rhymes | Wide receiver | Oklahoma | |
| 4 | 106 | Kyle Morrell | Defensive back | BYU | from Rams |
| 5 | 115 | Mark MacDonald | Guard | Boston College | |
| 6 | 142 | Steve Bono | Quarterback | UCLA | |
| 6 | 164 | Tim Newton | Defensive tackle | Florida | from Raiders |
| 7 | 171 | Traded to the Green Bay Packers | Traded to the Green Bay Packers | Traded to the Green Bay Packers | |
| 8 | 198 | Nikita Blair | Linebacker | UTEP | |
| 9 | 227 | Jamie Covington | Running back | Syracuse | |
| 10 | 254 | Juan Johnson | Wide receiver | Langston | |
| 11 | 283 | Tim Williams | Defensive back | North Carolina A&T | |
| 12 | 310 | Byron Jones | Defensive tackle | Tulsa | |
Notes
* 1 2 3 When Kosar did not declare for the draft and instead controversially waited for the supplemental draft, the Vikings traded the first-round selection they received from the Oilers to the Falcons in exchange for a first- and third-round selections (4th and 60th overall).
* 1 2 As part of the trade between the Vikings and Oilers, the Vikings agreed not to select DE Ray Childress or trade the pick to a team that would draft him. Houston selected Childress with the 3rd overall pick and this provisional selection was returned to Minnesota.
* 1 2 3 In an attempt to select QB Bernie Kosar, the Vikings traded their first-round selection (3rd overall) and a provisional second-round selection (30th overall) to the Oilers in exchange for a first-round selection (2nd overall).
* ↑ The Vikings traded CB John Turner to the Chargers in exchange for a third-round selection (66th overall).
* ↑ The Vikings traded QB Steve Dils to the Rams in exchange for the a fourth-round selection (106th overall).
* ↑ The Vikings traded LB Brad Van Pelt to the Raiders in exchange for the a sixth-round selection (164th overall) and a 1986 second-round selection (53rd overall).
* ↑ The Vikings traded their seventh-round selection (171st overall) to the Packers in exchange for K Jan Stenerud.

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 10 | at Miami Dolphins | W 16–13 (OT) | 1–0 | Miami Orange Bowl | 41,129 |
| 2 | August 17 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 41–34 | 2–0 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 56,887 |
| 3 | August 24 | Seattle Seahawks | L 10–27 | 2–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 56,562 |
| 4 | August 30 | at Denver Broncos | W 13–9 | 3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 69,373 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 8 | San Francisco 49ers | W 28–21 | 1–0 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 57,375 |
| 2 | September 15 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 31–16 | 2–0 | Tampa Stadium | 46,188 |
| 3 | September 19 | Chicago Bears | L 24–33 | 2–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 61,242 |
| 4 | September 29 | at Buffalo Bills | W 27–20 | 3–1 | Rich Stadium | 45,667 |
| 5 | October 6 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 10–13 | 3–2 | Anaheim Stadium | 61,139 |
| 6 | October 13 | at Green Bay Packers | L 17–20 | 3–3 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 54,674 |
| 7 | October 20 | San Diego Chargers | W 21–17 | 4–3 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 61,670 |
| 8 | October 27 | at Chicago Bears | L 9–27 | 4–4 | Soldier Field | 63,815 |
| 9 | November 3 | Detroit Lions | W 16–13 | 5–4 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 58,012 |
| 10 | November 10 | Green Bay Packers | L 17–27 | 5–5 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 59,970 |
| 11 | November 17 | at Detroit Lions | L 21–41 | 5–6 | Silverdome | 54,647 |
| 12 | November 24 | New Orleans Saints | L 23–30 | 5–7 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 54,117 |
| 13 | December 1 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 28–23 | 6–7 | Veterans Stadium | 54,688 |
| 14 | December 8 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 26–7 | 7–7 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 51,593 |
| 15 | December 15 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 13–14 | 7–8 | Atlanta Fulton County Stadium | 14,167 |
| 16 | December 22 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 35–37 | 7–9 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 49,722 |

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Chicago Bears$^{(1)}$ | 15 | 1 | 0 | .938 | 8–0 | 12–0 | 456 | 198 | W3 |
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 6–2 | 8–4 | 337 | 355 | W2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–5 | 5–9 | 346 | 359 | L2 |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 2–6 | 5–7 | 307 | 366 | L3 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 1–7 | 2–10 | 294 | 448 | L4 |

## Statistics
### Team leaders

| Category | Player(s) | Value |
| Passing yards | Tommy Kramer | 3,522 |
| Passing touchdowns | Tommy Kramer | 19 |
| Rushing yards | Darrin Nelson | 893 |
| Rushing touchdowns | Ted Brown | 7 |
| Receiving yards | Anthony Carter | 821 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Anthony Carter | 8 |
| Points | Jan Stenerud | 86 |
| Kickoff return yards | Buster Rhymes | 1,345 |
| Punt return yards | Darrin Nelson | 133 |
| Tackles | Chris Doleman | 113 |
| Sacks | Keith Millard | 11.0 |
| Interceptions | John Turner | 5 |

### League rankings

| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank (out of 28) |
| Passing offense | 3,635 | 227.2 | 7th |
| Rushing offense | 1,516 | 94.8 | 27th |
| Total offense | 5,151 | 321.9 | 16th |
| Passing defense | 3,241 | 202.6 | 15th |
| Rushing defense | 2,223 | 138.9 | 22nd |
| Total defense | 5,464 | 341.5 | 16th |

## 25th anniversary team

The team recognized an all-time team in 1985 as part of the celebration of the 25th season.
| Position | Player | Tenure |
| Offense |||
| QB | Fran Tarkenton | 1961–1966, 1972–1978 |
| RB | Bill Brown | 1962–1974 |
| RB | Chuck Foreman | 1973–1979 |
| WR | Ahmad Rashad | 1976–1982 |
| WR | Sammy White | 1976–1985 |
| TE | Stu Voigt | 1970–1980 |
| OT | Ron Yary | 1968–1981 |
| OT | Grady Alderman | 1961–1975 |
| G | Ed White | 1969–1977 |
| G | Milt Sunde | 1964–1974 |
| C | Mick Tingelhoff | 1962–1978 |
| Defense |||
| DE | Jim Marshall | 1961–1979 |
| DE | Carl Eller | 1964–1978 |
| DT | Alan Page | 1967–1978 |
| DT | Gary Larsen | 1965–1974 |
| OLB | Matt Blair | 1974–1985 |
| OLB | Roy Winston | 1962–1976 |
| MLB | Jeff Siemon | 1972–1982 |
| MLB | Scott Studwell | 1977–1990 |
| CB | Bobby Bryant | 1968–1980 |
| CB | Ed Sharockman | 1961–1972 |
| S | Paul Krause | 1968–1979 |
| S | Karl Kassulke | 1963–1972 |
| Special teams |||
| K | Fred Cox | 1963–1977 |
| P | Greg Coleman | 1978–1987 |
| Coach |||
| HC | Bud Grant | 1967–1983, 1985 |
| Source: |||