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

1966 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall
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
	12	76	Bob Hall	Defensive Back	Brown	from Bears^[a]
6	3	83	Wilbur Aylor	Tackle	Southwest Texas State	from Steelers via Giants^[b]
	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 33 Billy Ray Barnes 30 Bill Brown FB 24 Phil King 21 Jim Lindsey 20 Tommy Mason 41 Dave Osborn Wide receivers 85 Paul Flatley 82 Red Phillips 19 Lance Rentzel Tight ends 40 Preston Carpenter 83 John Powers		Offensive linemen 67 Grady Alderman T 61 Larry Bowie G 64 Milt Sunde G 72 Archie Sutton T 53 Mick Tingelhoff C Defensive linemen 76 Paul Dickson DT 81 Carl Eller DE 77 Gary Larsen DT 70 Jim Marshall DE 73 Jerry Shay DT		Linebackers 55 Don Hansen 36 John Kirby 54 Bob Schmitz 51 Dave Tobey 59 Lonnie Warwick 60 Roy Winston Defensive backs 37 Mike Fitzgerald CB 49 Dale Hackbart FS 29 Karl Kassulke S 46 Earsell Mackbee CB 45 Ed Sharockman CB 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