1991 Minnesota Vikings season

1991 Minnesota Vikings season
General manager	Jeff Diamond
Head coach	Jerry Burns
Home field	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd NFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	TE Steve Jordan G Randall McDaniel DT Henry Thomas
AP All-Pros	G Randall McDaniel (2nd team)
Uniform

The 1991 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 31st in the National Football League. They finished with an 8–8 record, improving on their 6–10 record from the previous season, and missed the playoffs for the second straight year. Head coach Jerry Burns retired at the end of the season.

Herschel Walker, going into his third year with Minnesota, went through another season of frustration and he was released following the season. In his two-and-a-half seasons with the Vikings, he failed to record a 1,000-yard season. The infamous trade that brought Walker to Minnesota never lived up to expectations and allowed the Dallas Cowboys to use two of the draft picks they received in the trade on Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson, who became part of a dominant team that won three Super Bowls in the 1990s.

Offseason

1991 draft

Main article: 1991 NFL draft

Pro Bowler

1991 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order		Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Selection
1	11	Traded to the Dallas Cowboys
2	38	Traded to the Dallas Cowboys
3	65	Carlos Jenkins	Linebacker	Michigan State
	68	Jake Reed	Wide receiver	Grambling State	From Cowboys
4	92	Randy Baldwin	Running back	Ole Miss
5	119	Chris Thome	Center	Minnesota
6	146	Traded to the Los Angeles Raiders
	163	Todd Scott	Safety	Southwestern Louisiana	From Raiders
7	179	Scotty Reagan	Defensive tackle	Humboldt State
	180	Tripp Welborne	Safety	Michigan	From Cowboys, via Raiders
8	206	Reggie Johnson	Defensive end	Arizona
9	232	Gerald Hudson	Running back	Oklahoma State
10	259	Brady Pierce	Offensive tackle	Wisconsin
11	286	Ivan Caesar	Linebacker	Boston College
12	313	Darren Hughes	Wide receiver	Carson–Newman

Draft trades

Staff

1991 Minnesota Vikings staff

Front office President/Chief Executive Officer – Roger Headrick Head coaches Head coach – Jerry Burns Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Tom Moore Assistant offensive coordinator/passing game – Dick Rehbein Quarterbacks – Marc Trestman Running backs – John Brunner Offensive line – John Michels

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Monte Kiffin Defensive line – Paul Wiggin Linebackers – Maxie Baughan Defensive backs – Jerry Brown Special teams coaches Special teams/Tight Ends– Tom Batta

Roster

1991 Minnesota Vikings roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 16 Rich Gannon 12 Sean Salisbury 11 Wade Wilson Running backs (RB) 21 Terry Allen 46 Alfred Anderson FB 31 Rick Fenney FB 20 Darrin Nelson KR 34 Herschel Walker Wide receivers (WR) 81 Anthony Carter 80 Cris Carter 84 Hassan Jones 87 Leo Lewis PR 89 Terry Obee Tight ends (TE) 82 Mike Jones 83 Steve Jordan 85 Brent Novoselsky

Offensive linemen (OL) 72 Scott Adams T 74 Brian Habib G/T 76 Tim Irwin T 69 Todd Kalis G 63 Kirk Lowdermilk C 64 Randall McDaniel G 60 Adam Schreiber C/G 73 Craig Wolfley G 65 Gary Zimmerman T Defensive linemen (DL) 71 Ken Clarke DT 56 Chris Doleman DE 99 Al Noga DE 93 John Randle DE 94 Thomas Strauthers DT 97 Henry Thomas DT

Linebackers (LB) 50 Ray Berry MLB 53 Ivan Caesar OLB 91 Greg Manusky MLB 57 Mike Merriweather OLB 58 Jimmy Williams OLB Defensive backs (DB) 47 Joey Browner SS 24 Pat Eilers FS 23 Michael Mayes CB 26 Audray McMillian CB 48 Reggie Rutland CB 38 Todd Scott SS 41 Solomon Wilcots SS 22 Felix Wright FS Special teams 68 Mike Morris LS 18 Harry Newsome P  7 Fuad Reveiz K

Practice squad —- Scotty Reagan DE Reserve 59 Mark Dusbabek LB (IR) 62 Chris Foote C (IR) 51 Carlos Jenkins LB (IR) 39 Carl Lee CB (IR) 75 Keith Millard DT (IR) 86 Jake Reed WR (IR) 67 Mike Teeter DT (IR) Rookies in italics 47 active, 7 reserve, 1 practice squad

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 3	at New Orleans Saints	L 21–24	0–1	Louisiana Superdome	58,953
2	August 10	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 34–24	1–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	44,959
3	August 17	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–27 (OT)	1–2	Riverfront Stadium	56,358
4	August 23	Cleveland Browns	W 31–7	2–2	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	45,925

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 1	at Chicago Bears	L 6–10	0–1	Soldier Field	64,112
2	September 8	at Atlanta Falcons	W 20–19	1–1	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	50,936
3	September 15	San Francisco 49ers	W 17–14	2–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	59,148
4	September 22	at New Orleans Saints	L 0–26	2–2	Louisiana Superdome	68,591
5	September 29	Denver Broncos	L 6–13	2–3	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	55,031
6	October 6	at Detroit Lions	L 20–24	2–4	Pontiac Silverdome	63,423
7	October 13	Phoenix Cardinals	W 34–7	3–4	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	51,209
8	October 20	at New England Patriots	L 23–26 (OT)	3–5	Foxboro Stadium	45,367
9	October 27	at Phoenix Cardinals	W 28–0	4–5	Sun Devil Stadium	45,447
10	November 3	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 28–13	5–5	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	35,737
11	November 11	Chicago Bears	L 17–34	5–6	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	59,001
12	November 17	at Green Bay Packers	W 35–21	6–6	Lambeau Field	57,614
13	November 24	Detroit Lions	L 14–34	6–7	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	51,644
14	Bye
15	December 8	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 26–24	7–7	Tampa Stadium	41,091
16	December 15	Los Angeles Rams	W 20–14	8–7	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	61,518
17	December 21	Green Bay Packers	L 7–27	8–8	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	52,860
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: at Chicago Bears

Week 1: Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	3	0	3	0	6
Bears	0	7	0	3	10

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

• Date: September 1
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. CST
• Game weather: Mostly sunny, 68 °F (20 °C)
• Game attendance: 64,112
• Referee: Tom Dooley (6)
• Box score, Game Book

Game information

First quarter MIN – Fuad Reveiz 26-yard field goal, 5:50. Vikings 3–0. Drive: 13 plays, 72 yards, 5:50. Second quarter CHI – Tom Waddle 37-yard pass from Jim Harbaugh (Kevin Butler kick), 14:05. Bears 7–3. Drive: 10 plays, 98 yards, 5:38. Third quarter MIN – Fuad Reveiz 24-yard field goal, 9:31. Bears 7–6. Drive: 11 plays, 60 yards, 5:20. Fourth quarter CHI – Kevin Butler 22-yard field goal, 9:06. Bears 10–6. Drive: 10 plays, 45 yards, 5:58. Top passers MIN – Wade Wilson – 21/36, 248 yards, 3 INT CHI – Jim Harbaugh – 17/24, 186 yards, TD Top rushers MIN – Herschel Walker – 20 rushes, 86 yards CHI – Neal Anderson – 23 rushes, 58 yards Top receivers MIN – Steve Jordan – 8 receptions, 89 yards CHI – Tom Waddle – 2 receptions, 48 yards, TD

Week 6: at Detroit Lions

Week 6: Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings	7	7	3	3	20
Lions	0	3	0	21	24

at Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan

• Date: October 6
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT/12:00 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: None (indoor stadium)
• Game attendance: 63,423
• Referee: Dick Hantak (105)
• Box score, Game Book

Game information

First quarter MIN – Darrin Nelson 11-yard run (Fuad Reveiz kick), 9:41. Vikings 7–0. Drive: 4 plays, 24 yards. Second quarter MIN – Steve Jordan 2-yard pass from Rich Gannon (Fuad Reveiz kick), 11:08. Vikings 14–0. Drive: 3 plays, 16 yards. DET – Eddie Murray 47-yard field goal, 0:00. Vikings 14–3. Drive: 5 plays, 13 yards. Third quarter MIN – Fuad Reveiz 42-yard field goal, 2:50. Vikings 17–3. Drive: 11 plays, 46 yards. Fourth quarter MIN – Fuad Reveiz 25-yard field goal, 8:38. Vikings 20–3. Drive: 12 plays, 60 yards. DET – Robert Clark 68-yard pass from Rodney Peete (Eddie Murray kick), 6:50. Vikings 20–10. Drive: 4 plays, 80 yards. DET – Willie Green 16-yard pass from Rodney Peete (Eddie Murray kick), 4:22. Vikings 20–17. Drive: 8 plays, 57 yards. DET – Barry Sanders 15-yard run (Eddie Murray kick), 0:36. Lions 24–20. Drive: 10 plays, 72 yards. Top passers MIN – Rich Gannon – 10/23, 105 yards, TD DET – Rodney Peete – 24/38, 281 yards, 2 TD, INT Top rushers MIN – Terry Allen – 15 rushes, 41 yards DET – Barry Sanders – 25 rushes, 116 yards, TD Top receivers MIN – Steve Jordan – 4 receptions, 44 yards, TD DET – Robert Clark – 2 receptions, 83 yards, TD

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(2) Detroit Lions	12	4	0	.750	6–2	8–4	339	295	W6
(4) Chicago Bears	11	5	0	.688	7–1	9–3	299	269	L1
Minnesota Vikings	8	8	0	.500	3–5	8–6	301	306	L1
Green Bay Packers	4	12	0	.250	3–5	3–9	273	313	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3	13	0	.188	1–7	2–10	199	365	W1

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing yards	Rich Gannon	2,166
Passing touchdowns	Rich Gannon	12
Rushing yards	Herschel Walker	825
Rushing touchdowns	Herschel Walker	10
Receiving yards	Cris Carter	962
Receiving touchdowns	Anthony Carter Cris Carter	5
Points	Fuad Reveiz	85
Kickoff return yards	Darrin Nelson	682
Punt return yards	Leo Lewis	225
Tackles	Chris Doleman	101
Sacks	John Randle	9.5
Interceptions	Joey Browner	5
Forced fumbles	John Randle	2

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 28)
Passing offense	2,883	180.2	21st
Rushing offense	2,201	137.6	4th
Total offense	5,084	317.8	10th
Passing defense	3,179	198.7	13th
Rushing defense	1,837	114.8	20th
Total defense	5,016	313.5	14th

External links

• 1991 Minnesota Vikings Statistics & Players on Pro-Football-Reference