1966 Minnesota Vikings season

1966 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach	Norm Van Brocklin
General manager	Jim Finks
Home field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	4–9–1
Division place	T-6th NFL Western
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1966 Minnesota Vikings season was the sixth year of season play for the Minnesota Vikings and the 47th regular season of the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a record of four wins, nine losses, and one tie under sixth-year head coach Norm Van Brocklin, who resigned on February 11, 1967.

Offseason

1966 Draft

Main article: 1966 NFL draft

1966 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall	Player name	Position	College	Notes
1	6	6	Jerry Shay	Tackle	Purdue
2	11	27	Jim Lindsey	Running Back	Arkansas
3	10	42	Don Hansen	Linebacker	Illinois
4	9	57	Ron Acks	Defensive Back	Illinois
5	8	72	Doug Davis	Tackle	Kentucky
5	12	76	Bob Hall	Defensive Back	Brown	from Bears^[a]
6	3	83	Wilbur Aylor	Tackle	Southwest Texas State	from Steelers via Giants^[b]
6	7	87	Traded to the Detroit Lions^[c]
7	11	106	Bob Meers	End	Massachusetts
8	10	120	Traded to the Baltimore Colts^[d]
9	9	134	Ron Green	Flanker	North Dakota
10	8	148	Traded to the Detroit Lions^[e]
11	7	162	Stan Quintana	Defensive Back	New Mexico
12	11	181	Bob Petrella	Defensive Back	Tennessee
13	10	195	Larry Martin	Tackle	San Diego State
14	9	209	Howard Twilley	Wide Receiver	Tulsa
15	8	223	Hugh Wright	Running Back	Adams State
16	7	237	Jim Williams	Defensive End	Arkansas
17	11	256	Monroe Beard	Running Back	Virginia Union
18	10	270	Dale Greco	Defensive Tackle	Illinois
19	9	284	Jesse Stokes	Running Back	Corpus Christi State
20	8	298	Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles^[f]

^{^[a]} Chicago traded their 5th round selection (76th overall) to Minnesota for OG Palmer Pyle.

^{^[b]} The New York Giants traded Pittsburgh's 6th round selection (83rd overall) to Minnesota for LB Bill Swain.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 6th round selection (87th overall) and 1965 7th round selection (92nd overall) to Detroit for DT Mike Bundra and End Larry Vargo.

^{^[d]} Minnesota traded their 8th round selection (120th overall) and LB John Campbell to Baltimore for OT Larry Kramer.

^{^[e]} Minnesota traded their 10th round selection (148th overall) to Detroit for DB Gary Lowe.

^{^[f]} Minnesota traded their 20th round selection (298th overall) to Philadelphia for HB Billy Ray Barnes.

Roster

1966 Minnesota Vikings final roster

Quarterbacks

17 Bob Berry
10 Fran Tarkenton

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

40 Preston Carpenter
83 John Powers

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

76 Paul Dickson DT
81 Carl Eller DE
77 Gary Larsen DT
70 Jim Marshall DE
73 Jerry Shay DT

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

14 Fred Cox K
39 Bobby Walden P

Reserve lists

Practice squad

Rookies in italics
54 Active, 4 Inactive, 0 Practice squad

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	October 9	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 in 1966, as the league expanded to an odd-number (15) of teams (Atlanta); one team was idle each week.

Standings

NFL Western Conference
	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	206	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

League rankings

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

Minnesota Vikings

Founded in 1961 Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Franchise	Franchise History Expansion draft Players First-round draft picks Quarterbacks Head coaches Seasons Statistics Draft

Stadiums	Metropolitan Stadium Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome TCF Bank Stadium U.S. Bank Stadium

Culture	Purple People Eaters "Skol, Vikings" Herschel Walker trade Love Boat scandal "Little Minnesota" (How I Met Your Mother episode) Cheerleaders

Rivalries	Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers

Lore	The Wrong Way Run Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy Gary Anderson's missed field goal Hail Mary 2010 Metrodome roof collapse

Division championships (19)	1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1980 1989 1992 1994 1998 2000 2008 2009 2015

Conference championships (4)	1969 1973 1974 1976

League championships (0^†)	^† does not include 1969 NFL championship

Retired numbers	10 53 70 77 80 88

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division

Seasons (56)	1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

Minnesota Vikings seasons

1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance

1966 NFL season

Eastern Conference	Atlanta	Philadelphia	Baltimore	Los Angeles	Western Conference
	Cleveland	Pittsburgh	Chicago	Minnesota
	Dallas	St. Louis	Detroit	San Francisco
	NY Giants	Washington	Green Bay

Related: 1966 AFL Season

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