1987 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1987 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 27th year in the National Football League. A players' strike caused the cancellation of the September 27 game at the Kansas City Chiefs, while the games played on October 4, 11 and 18 were played with replacement players. The Vikings finished with an 8–7 record.

Despite finishing the season only one game over .500, and losing three of their final four games, Minnesota sneaked into the playoffs with the final Wild Card position. There, they won two huge upsets, beating the New Orleans Saints (12–3) and San Francisco 49ers (13–2) on the road. The Vikings were unable, however, to defeat the eventual Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins in the NFC Championship Game.

The last remaining active member of the 1987 Minnesota Vikings was quarterback Rich Gannon, who played his final NFL game in the 2004 season, although he missed the 1989 and 1994 seasons.

Offseason

1987 Draft

Pro Bowler

1987 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order		Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Selection
1	14	D. J. Dozier	Running back	Penn State	from Dolphins[a]
	16	Traded to the Miami Dolphins[a]
2	44	Ray Berry	Linebacker	Baylor
3	72	Henry Thomas	Defensive tackle	Louisiana State
4	100	Reggie Rutland	Cornerback	Georgia Tech
5	128	Traded to the Miami Dolphins[a]
6	156	Greg Richardson	Wide receiver	Alabama
7	184	Traded to the Seattle Seahawks[b]
8	211	Rick Fenney	Running back	Washington
9	239	Leonard Jones	Defensive back	Texas Tech
10	267	Bob Riley	Offensive tackle	Indiana State
11	295	Brent Pease	Quarterback	Montana
12	323	Keith Williams	Defensive tackle	Florida

^{^[a]} The Vikings traded their first- and fifth-round selections (16th and 128th overall) to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for Miami's first-round selection (14th overall).

Undrafted free agents

1987 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Dale Dawson	Kicker	Eastern Kentucky

Staff

1987 Minnesota Vikings staff

Front office President – Wheelock Whitney, Jr. Executive vice president/general manager – Mike Lynn Director of football operations – Jerry Reichow Director of player personnel – Frank Gilliam Director of pro personnel – Bob Hollway Head coaches Head coach – Jerry Burns Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Bob Schnelker Running backs – Rollie Dotsch Interim running backs – John Brunner Receivers – Dick Rehbein Offensive line – John Michels

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Floyd Peters Defensive line – Paul Wiggin Linebackers – Monte Kiffin Secondary – Pete Carroll Special teams coaches Special teams/tight ends coach – Tom Batta

^[1]

Roster

1987 Minnesota Vikings final roster

	Quarterbacks 16 Rich Gannon  9 Tommy Kramer 11 Wade Wilson Running backs 46 Alfred Anderson FB 42 D. J. Dozier 31 Rick Fenney 20 Darrin Nelson 36 Allen Rice Wide receivers 81 Anthony Carter 80 Jim Gustafson 84 Hassan Jones 87 Leo Lewis PR 89 Greg Richardson Tight ends 82 Carl Hilton 83 Steve Jordan 86 Mike Mularkey		Offensive linemen 62 Chris Foote C 72 Dave Huffman G 76 Tim Irwin T 68 Greg Koch G 63 Kirk Lowdermilk C 71 Mark MacDonald G 52 Randy Rasmussen C 65 Gary Zimmerman T Defensive linemen 56 Chris Doleman DE 79 Doug Martin DE 73 Stafford Mays DT 75 Keith Millard DT 96 Tim Newton DT 95 Gerald Robinson DE 97 Henry Thomas DT		Linebackers 53 Sam Anno 58 Walker Lee Ashley 50 Ray Berry OLB 51 David Howard OLB 57 Chris Martin OLB 54 Jesse Solomon OLB 55 Scott Studwell MLB Defensive backs 47 Joey Browner SS 22 Steve Freeman CB 41 Neal Guggemos CB/KR 30 Issiac Holt CB 44 John Harris FS 24 Wymon Henderson CB 39 Carl Lee CB 48 Reggie Rutland CB 40 Wayne Smith CB Special teams  8 Greg Coleman P  1 Chuck Nelson K 13 Bucky Scribner P		Reserve lists 84 James Brim WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 23 Terry Love CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 67 Dennis Swilley C (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 66 Terry Tausch G (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Rookies in italics 51 active, 2 inactive, 0 practice squad Source

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

1987 Minnesota Vikings replacement roster
Quarterbacks  7 Tony Adams  5 Larry Miller Running backs 37 Phil Frye 36 Sam Harrell 32 Steve Harris 45 Leonard Moore 43 Jimmy Smith 35 Andre Thomas 49 Adam Walker 33 Jeff Womack Wide receivers 84 Jim Brim 86 Larry Brown 82 Ron Daugherty 85 Steve Finch 86 Willie Gillespie 80 Keith Kidd 80 Terry LeCount 81 Rickey Parks Tight ends 87 Clifton Eley 88 Marc May 89 Ed Schenk		Offensive linemen 71 Derek Burton T 64 Mark Hanson G 74 Mike McCurry G 64 Ted Million G 69 Frank Ori G 78 John Scardina T 60 Ron Selesky C 61 Mike Turner G 68 Kevin Webster G Defensive linemen 95 Don Bramlett DT 91 Dan Coleman DE 98 Phil Micech DE 90 Fred Molden DT 97 Tony Norman DE 63 Kurt Ploeger DE/DT 73 Joe Stepanek DT 62 Brad White DT		Linebackers 53 Steve Ache 94 Tim Bryant 59 Fabray Collins 52 Jim Dick 92 Kelly Quinn 50 Randy Scott Defensive backs 21 Rufus Bess PR/KR 29 Jamie Fitzgerald 38 Fletcher Louallen 23 Terry Love 28 Ted Rosnagle 35 Mike Slaton 34 Timothy Starks 27 John Turner Special teams 13 Dave Bruno P  4 Dale Dawson K 13 Bucky Scribner P

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance[2]
1	August 15	at New Orleans Saints	L 17–23	0–1	Louisiana Superdome	52,884
2	August 22	Indianapolis Colts	W 37–13	1–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	49,304
3	August 29	New England Patriots	L 27–38	1–2	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	49,339
4	September 3	at Denver Broncos	W 27–17	2–2	Mile High Stadium	74,081

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 13	Detroit Lions	W 34–19	1–0	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	57,061
2	September 20	at Los Angeles Rams	W 21–16	2–0	Anaheim Stadium	63,367
–	September 27	at Kansas City Chiefs	canceled	2–0	Arrowhead Stadium
3	October 4	Green Bay Packers	L 16–23	2–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	13,911
4	October 11	at Chicago Bears	L 7–27	2–2	Soldier Field	32,113
5	October 18	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 10–20	2–3	Tampa Stadium	20,850
6	October 26	Denver Broncos	W 34–27	3–3	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	51,011
7	November 1	at Seattle Seahawks	L 17–28	3–4	Kingdome	61,134
8	November 8	Los Angeles Raiders	W 31–20	4–4	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	57,150
9	November 15	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 23–17	5–4	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	48,605
10	November 22	Atlanta Falcons	W 24–13	6–4	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	53,866
11	November 26	at Dallas Cowboys	W 44–38 (OT)	7–4	Texas Stadium	54,229
12	December 6	Chicago Bears	L 24–30	7–5	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	62,331
13	December 13	at Green Bay Packers	L 10–16	7–6	Milwaukee County Stadium	47,059
14	December 20	at Detroit Lions	W 17–14	8–6	Pontiac Silverdome	27,693
15	December 26	Washington Redskins	L 24–27 (OT)	8–7	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	59,160

Notes:

• Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
• The October 18 game against Tampa Bay was originally scheduled to be played in Minneapolis. The game was switched with the November 15 game due to Game 2 of the World Series. The game against the Broncos, originally scheduled for October 25, was pushed back to Monday because the Metrodome was being used for Game 7 of the World Series.

Game summaries

Week 11: at Dallas Cowboys

In the Vikings' first game on Thanksgiving for 18 years, starting quarterback Tommy Kramer helped the team to a 14–0 lead by the end of the first quarter, opening with an 11-yard strike to Anthony Carter, before taking the ball in himself from a yard out. However, a bruised throwing arm meant he had to leave the game for a time meant Wade Wilson took over. The Cowboys tied it up with two touchdowns of their own in the second quarter, but another throw from Kramer to Carter, this time from 37 yards, meant the Vikings took a seven-point lead into halftime. Darrin Nelson extended the Vikings' lead with the opening score of the second half, running 52 yards for the Vikings' fourth touchdown of the game. A field goal and another touchdown for the Cowboys reduced the Vikings' lead to four points going into the final quarter, but they restored the two-score margin with a field goal from Chuck Nelson and a 1-yard run from Rick Fenney. The Cowboys managed to come back and tie the game with just over two minutes left to play, enough time for the Vikings to drive downfield and set up a potential game-winning, 46-yard field goal attempt for Chuck Nelson with nine seconds left. He missed the kick and the game went to overtime. Both teams failed with their first two possessions, with both throwing interceptions. Vikings linebacker Scott Studwell returned his interception to the Minnesota 40-yard line to begin their third drive of the extra period. They opened with four straight run plays, including a fourth-down conversion to get them to midfield, followed by a 24-yard pass from Wilson to Carter, before Darrin Nelson ran the remaining distance for the walkoff game-winning touchdown. The result brought the Vikings to a 7–4 record with four games left to play.^[3]

Standings

NFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Chicago Bears(2)	11	4	0	.733	7–0	9–2	356	282	W1
Minnesota Vikings(5)	8	7	0	.533	3–5	6–6	336	335	L1
Green Bay Packers	5	9	1	.367	3–4	4–7	255	300	L2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4	11	0	.267	3–4	4–9	286	360	L8
Detroit Lions	4	11	0	.267	2–5	4–7	269	384	W1

Postseason

Schedule

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Venue
Wild Card	January 3, 1988	at New Orleans Saints (4)	W 44–10	1–0	Louisiana Superdome
Divisional	January 9, 1988	at San Francisco 49ers (1)	W 36–24	2–0	Candlestick Park
NFC Championship	January 17, 1988	at Washington Redskins (3)	L 10–17	2–1	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium

Game summaries

NFC Wild Card Playoffs: at (#4) New Orleans Saints

In the Saints' first playoff game in history, the Vikings dominated the game by recording two sacks, forcing four turnovers and allowing only 149 yards. The 34-point margin of victory stands as the most lopsided win by an NFC team in a Wild Card round game in NFL history.

NFC Divisional Playoffs: at (#1) San Francisco 49ers

The heavy underdog Vikings pulled off a shocker in San Francisco, controlling most of the game with Anthony Carter leading the way with 227 receiving yards.

NFC Championship Game: at (#3) Washington Redskins

In a defensive battle, the Redskins played a little better by limiting the Vikings to only 76 rushing yards and forcing eight sacks. Washington scored first on a 98-yard drive that was capped by running back Kelvin Bryant's 42-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Doug Williams. However, Minnesota tied the game before halftime with quarterback Wade Wilson's 23-yard touchdown pass to Leo Lewis. In the third quarter, Redskins linebacker Mel Kaufman returned an interception 10 yards to the Minnesota 17-yard line to set up kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh's 28-yard field goal. In the final period, Vikings kicker Chuck Nelson made an 18-yard field goal to tie the game, 10–10. The Redskins then marched 70 yards to score on Williams' 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Gary Clark to take the lead, 17–10, with 5:06 remaining in the game. Minnesota then advanced to the Washington 6-yard line, but Wilson's fourth down pass, intended for running back Darrin Nelson in the end zone was defended by Darrell Green with 52 seconds remaining and the Redskins ran out the clock.

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing yards	Wade Wilson	2,106
Passing touchdowns	Wade Wilson	14
Rushing yards	Darrin Nelson	642
Rushing touchdowns	D.J. Dozier Wade Wilson	5
Receiving yards	Anthony Carter	922
Receiving touchdowns	Anthony Carter	7
Points	Chuck Nelson	75
Kickoff return yards	Neal Guggemos	808
Punt return yards	Leo Lewis	275
Tackles	Jesse Solomon	126
Sacks	Chris Doleman	11.0
Interceptions	Joey Browner	6
Forced fumbles	Chris Doleman	6

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 28)
Passing offense	2,826	176.6	20th
Rushing offense	1,983	123.9	11th
Total offense	4,809	300.6	15th
Passing defense	3,100	193.8	16th
Rushing defense	1,724	107.8	11th
Total defense	4,824	301.8	10th

References

External links

• Vikings on Pro Football Reference
• Vikings on jt-sw.com