The 1989 season was the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

' 29th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). They finished with a 10–6 record to win the NFC Central Division. This title was secured during one of what is considered by many to be among the most exciting ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

'' contests ever: a

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

victory over the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

at home, at the

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League ...

, which was the ''de facto'' first playoff game of the year. This season was also notable by how many sacks the defense produced, with 39 coming from only two players (

Chris Doleman Christopher John Doleman (October 16, 1961 – January 28, 2020) was an American professional American football, football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He spent the majority of his career with the Minnesot ...

and

Keith Millard Keith Joseph Millard (born March 18, 1962) is an American former professional football player who played as a defensive tackle for nine seasons for the Minnesota Vikings, the Green Bay Packers, the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles f ...

) and 71 overall. Millard would later receive Defensive Player of the Year honors after putting up record numbers by a defensive tackle. The Vikings were once again embarrassed by the eventual Super Bowl champion

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the divisional round, losing 41–13.

Offseason

1989 Draft

: The Vikings traded their first-round selection (24th overall) to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in exchange for LB

Mike Merriweather Mike Merriweather (born November 26, 1960) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. He played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, and Green Bay Packers during the 1980s and 1990s. E ...

. : The Vikings forfeited their fifth-round selection (136th overall) after selecting

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

Ryan Bethea in the fifth round of the 1988 NFL Supplemental Draft. : The Vikings traded their ninth-round selection (247th overall) to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in exchange for New England's

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

11th-round selection (296th overall). : The Vikings traded their 10th-round selection (275th overall) to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in exchange for OL

Greg Koch Greg Koch (born June 14, 1955) is a former American football tackle and guard who played eleven seasons in the National Football League, mainly with the Green Bay Packers. In 2010, Koch was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. Koc ...

. : The Vikings traded their

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

11th-round selection to the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

in exchange for the 12th-round selection the Raiders received from the San Francisco 49ers.

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Regular season

The defensive line of Chris Doleman, Keith Millard, Al Noga and Henry Thomas were key contributors in helping the Vikings rank number one in the NFL in total defense. In addition, the Vikings set a franchise record with 71 sacks in one season. Chris Doleman had 21 sacks and was one shy of tying the NFL record.

Schedule

Standings

Postseason

Schedule

Herschel Walker

In 1989, at the height of his NFL career, the Cowboys traded Herschel Walker to the

for a total of five players (LB

Jesse Solomon Jesse William Solomon (born November 4, 1963) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, and Miami Dolphins. He played college f ...

, DB

Issiac Holt Issiac Holt III (born October 4, 1962) is a former professional American football cornerback in the National Football League for the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Alcorn State University. With the Cowboys, he ...

, RB

Darrin Nelson Darrin Milo Nelson (born January 2, 1959) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers. He played college football at Stanford University. Early years Nelson att ...

, LB David Howard, DE Alex Stewart) and six draft picks (which led to

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Among other accolades, he is the lea ...

Russell Maryland Russell James Maryland (born March 22, 1969) is a former professional American football player. He played defensive tackle for ten seasons for the Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He w ...

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film ''Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co ...

, and

Darren Woodson Darren Ray Woodson (born April 25, 1969) is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career for the Dallas Cowboys from 1992 to 2003. He was drafted by the Cowboys in the second round (37th o ...

). This was judged to be one of the turning points in the rise of the Cowboys to the top echelon of the NFL. Walker's trade was widely perceived as an exceptionally poor move considering what the Vikings had to give up in order to get him, and remains one of the most frequently vilified roster moves of the team's history. The Vikings coaches reluctantly accepted Walker after the trade and never totally used the tool they had been given. Scout.com says, "Walker was never used properly by the coaching brain trust (a total oxymoron in this case)".

Statistics

Team leaders

League rankings

Awards and records

–

NFL Defensive Player of the Year Several organizations give out NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards that are listed in the ''NFL Record and Fact Book'' and ''Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League''. The Associated Press (AP) has been givi ...

( AP,

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

PFWA The Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), sometimes known as Pro Football Writers Association, is an organization that purports to be " heofficial voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve ...

) *

– NFL sacks leader (21.0) *

Randall McDaniel Randall Cornell McDaniel (born December 19, 1964) is an American former football player who played as a guard in the National Football League (NFL). Early career McDaniel played high school football and ran track at Agua Fria High School in Av ...

– NFC Pro Bowl selection

Milestones

, third player in NFL history to reach 20 sacks in a season *Chris Doleman, franchise record, 21 sacks

References

External links

Vikings on Pro-Football-Reference.com
{{1989 NFL season by team 1989

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

NFC Central championship seasons