1995 Minnesota Vikings season

1995 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach	Dennis Green
Home field	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	4th NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Uniform

The 1995 Minnesota Vikings season was the 35th year of season play for the Minnesota Vikings and the 76th regular season of the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a record of eight wins and eight losses. The Vikings however had a chance to still make the playoffs entering Week 17 at Cincinnati. But with the Bears and the Falcons winning their games to fight for the final spot in the playoffs, it was too much to overcome for Minnesota to clinch. This was the first time the Vikings had not reached the playoffs under Green.

Orlando Thomas

Despite the team's poor play, rookie safety Orlando Thomas recorded a league-leading 9 interceptions of the season.

Offseason

1995 Expansion Draft

Main article: 1995 NFL expansion draft

Minnesota Vikings selected during the Expansion Draft
Round	Overall	Name	Position	Expansion Team
11	22	Dave Garnett	Linebacker	Carolina Panthers
26	52	William Sims	Linebacker	Carolina Panthers
32	63	Eric Guliford	Wide receiver	Carolina Panthers

1995 Draft

Main article: 1995 NFL draft

=Pro Bowler

1995 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall	Player name	Position	College	Notes
1	11	11	Derrick Alexander	Defensive end	Florida State	from Broncos via Falcons^[a]
1	24	24	Korey Stringer	Offensive tackle	Ohio State
2	10	42	Orlando Thomas	Safety	Louisiana-Lafayette	from Broncos^[b]
2	23	55	Corey Fuller	Defensive back	Florida State
3	25	89	Traded to the Houston Oilers^[c]
4	13	111	Chad May	Quarterback	Kansas State	from Broncos^[d]
4	23	121	Traded to the Denver Broncos^[d]
5	23	157	James Stewart	Running back	Miami
6	18	189	John Solomon	Defensive end	Sam Houston State	from Giants^[e]
6	25	196	Traded to the Denver Broncos^[d]
7	24	232	Jose White	Defensive tackle	Howard
7	35	243	Jason Fisk	Defensive tackle	Stanford	Compensatory pick

^{^[a]} Atlanta traded their 1994 2nd round selection (40th overall – David Palmer) and 1995 1st round selection (11th overall) to Minnesota in exchange for their 1994 2nd round selection (45th overall – Bert Emanuel) and DE Chris Doleman on April 24, 1994.

^{^[b]} Denver traded their 1994 1st round selection (18th overall – Dewayne Washington), 1994 6th round selection (179th overall – Andrew Jordan, and 1995 2nd round selection (42nd overall) to Minnesota in exchange for OT Gary Zimmerman on August 23, 1993.

^{^[c]} Houston traded their 3rd round selection (89th overall) and 1994 4th round selection (119th overall – Michael Davis) to Minnesota for QB Warren Moon.

^{^[d]} Minnesota traded their 4th round selection (121st overall) and 6th round selection (196th overall) to Denver to move up 10 spots to the 111th overall selection and make this pick.

^{^[e]} The Giants traded their 6th round selection (189th overall) and 1996 5th round selection (137th overall) to Minnesota in exchange for their 1996 6th round selection (182nd overall) and Safety Vencie Glenn.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance	TV Time
1	September 3, 1995	at Chicago Bears	L 31–14	Soldier Field	FOX 3:00CT	63,036
2	September 10, 1995	Detroit Lions	W 20–10	Metrodome	FOX 12:00CT	52,234
3	September 17, 1995	Dallas Cowboys	L 23–17 (OT)	Metrodome	TNT 7:00CT	60,088
4	September 24, 1995	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 44–24	Three Rivers Stadium	FOX 12:00CT	57,853
5	Bye
6	October 8, 1995	Houston Oilers	W 23–17 (OT)	Metrodome	NBC 12:00CT	56,430
7	October 15, 1995	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 20–17 (OT)	Tampa Stadium		55,703
8	October 22, 1995	at Green Bay Packers	L 38–21	Lambeau Field	FOX 3:00CT	60,332
9	October 30, 1995	Chicago Bears	L 14–6	Metrodome	ABC 8:00CT	61,238
10	November 5, 1995	Green Bay Packers	W 27–24	Metrodome	FOX 12:00CT	62,839
11	November 12, 1995	at Arizona Cardinals	W 30–24 (OT)	Sun Devil Stadium	FOX 3:00CT	51,342
12	November 19, 1995	New Orleans Saints	W 43–24	Metrodome	FOX 12:00CT	58,108
13	November 23, 1995	at Detroit Lions	L 44–38	Silverdome	FOX 11:30CT	74,559
14	December 3, 1995	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 31–17	Metrodome	FOX 12:00CT	52,879
15	December 9, 1995	Cleveland Browns	W 27–11	Metrodome	NBC 11:30CT	47,984
16	December 18, 1995	at San Francisco 49ers	L 37–30	Candlestick Park	ABC 8:00CT	64,975
17	December 24, 1995	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 27–24	Riverfront Stadium	FOX 12:00CT	34,568

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
⁽³⁾ Green Bay Packers	11	5	0	.688	404	314	W2
⁽⁵⁾ Detroit Lions	10	6	0	.625	436	336	W7
Chicago Bears	9	7	0	.563	392	360	W2
Minnesota Vikings	8	8	0	.500	412	385	L2
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	7	9	0	.438	238	335	L2

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing Yards	Warren Moon	4,228
Passing Touchdowns	Warren Moon	33
Rushing Yards	Robert Smith	632
Rushing Touchdowns	Robert Smith	5
Receptions	Cris Carter	122 *
Receiving Yards	Cris Carter	1,371
Receiving Touchdowns	Cris Carter	17
Points	Fuad Reveiz	122
Kickoff Return Yards	Qadry Ismail	1,037
Punt Return Yards	David Palmer	342
Tackles	Ed McDaniel	115
Sacks	John Randle	10.5
Interceptions	Orlando Thomas	9
Forced Fumbles	Ed McDaniel	6

Vikings single season record (tie).

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 30)
Passing Offense	4,205 Yards	262.8 YPG	5th
Rushing Offense	1,733 Yards	108.3 YPG	16th
Total Offense	5,938 Yards	371.1 YPG	4th
Passing Defense	4,122 Yards	257.6 YPG	28th
Rushing Defense	1,329 Yards	83.1 YPG	4th
Total Defense	5,451 Yards	340.7 YPG	20th

Personnel

Staff

1995 Minnesota Vikings staff

Front Office

Chairman of the Board – John Skoglund
President/Chief Executive Officer – Roger Headrick

Head Coaches

Head Coach – Dennis Green

Offensive Coaches

Offensive Coordinator – Brian Billick
Quarterbacks – Ray Sherman
Running backs – Carl Hargrave
Receivers – Chip Myers
Tight ends/Assistant Offensive Line – Chris Foerster
Offensive Line – Keith Rowen

Defensive Coaches

Defensive Coordinator – Tony Dungy
Defensive Line – John Levra
Inside Linebackers – Foge Fazio
Outside Linebackers – Trent Walters
Defensive backs – Richard Solomon

Special Teams Coaches

Special Teams – Gary Zauner

Strength and Conditioning

Strength and Conditioning – Steve Wetzel
Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Mark Asanovich

^[1]

Final roster

1995 Minnesota Vikings final roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

29 Chuck Evans FB
31 Scottie Graham
32 Amp Lee
30 Bobby Phillips
26 Robert Smith
28 James Stewart RB

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

7 Fuad Reveiz K
4 Mike Saxon P

Reserve lists

78 Chris Hinton T (IR)
96 Keith Washington DE (IR)

Practice squad

23 Shelly Hammonds CB
97 Jose White DT

Rookies in italics
51 Active, 2 Inactive, 2 Practice squad

Awards and records

Cris Carter, Led NFL in receiving touchdowns
Cris Carter, All-Pro selection
Cris Carter, Pro Bowl selection
Warren Moon, NFL Leader, Passing Yards, (4,228)
David Palmer, NFL Kickoff Return Leader
Orlando Thomas, NFL Leader, Interceptions (9)

Milestones

Cris Carter, 100 reception season ^[2]
Warren Moon, 4th 4,000 Yard Passing Season

References

↑ 2009 Minnesota Vikings Media Guide. p. 251. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 440

Vikings on Football Reference

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

1995 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Buffalo	Cincinnati	Denver	Arizona	Chicago	Atlanta
Indianapolis	Cleveland	Kansas City	Dallas	Detroit	Carolina
Miami	Houston	Oakland	NY Giants	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Jacksonville	San Diego	Philadelphia	Minnesota	St. Louis
NY Jets	Pittsburgh	Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay	San Francisco

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