The 1977 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 17th in the National Football League. After starting the season 5âÂÂ3, the team's starting quarterback Fran Tarkenton broke his leg in week 9 and missed the rest of the season. Despite losing Tarkenton, the team managed to finish the season with a 9âÂÂ5 record and went to the playoffs as winners of the NFC Central division title. They beat the Los Angeles Rams 14âÂÂ7 in the Divisional Round in a game played in Los Angeles and termed the , although the Vikings had lost 35âÂÂ3 to the Rams in week 6. In the NFC Championship game played in Dallas, the Vikings lost to the Dallas Cowboys 23âÂÂ6.
Notes
Minnesota's Fran Tarkenton threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Sammy White to tie the game in the second quarter, then tossed a 6-yard scoring pass to Bob Tucker in the fourth quarter after Chuck Foreman's 51-yard run to salvage a big win for the Vikings. The Falcons took the lead early lead on a 49-yard scoring pass from Scott Hunter to Greg McCrary.