Record
10-6-0
Head Coach
Dennis Green
Minnesota Vikings
Offense Rank (Pts)
7th
Defense Rank (Pts)
13th
Point Diff
+42
Turnover Diff
00
Vikings 1994 DNA
Offense - Focus: Pass First
Defense
Season Review
Minnesota Vikings 1994
The 1994 Minnesota Vikings campaign was a high-wire act defined by explosive aerial passing and thrilling down-to-the-wire finishes. Head coach Dennis Green steered the squad to a 10-6 record, claiming first place in the competitive NFC Central division. The headlining offseason move was the arrival of 38-year-old quarterback Warren Moon via trade, who provided an instant jolt of veteran savvy to the passing attack. Draft night added core foundation pieces like offensive lineman Todd Steussie and cornerback Dewayne Washington. Despite high expectations and a division title, the season ended in frustration during the opening round of the postseason.
Dennis Green unleashed a high-volume passing offense that ranked 3rd in total passing yards with 4,324 and 7th in overall scoring with 356 points at an average of 22.3 per contest. Warren Moon took complete control of the air attack, racking up 4,264 passing yards and 18 touchdown passes over 15 starts. His primary weapon was Pro Bowl wide receiver Cris Carter, who delivered a historic individual year with a league-leading 122 receptions for 1,256 yards and 7 touchdowns. Complementing Carter, wideout Jake Reed posted 1,175 receiving yards. On the ground, running back Terry Allen spearheaded the rushing attack, grinding out 1,031 yards and 8 touchdowns.
On the defensive side of the ball, Minnesota fielded a fierce unit that ranked 1st in the NFL against the run, surrendering just 1,090 rushing yards all season. Defensive tackle John Randle was a game-disrupting force up front, anchoring the pass rush with 13.5 sacks and earning First-Team All-Pro honors. Behind him, middle linebacker Jack Del Rio led the tackling efforts with 129 combined tackles while adding two sacks. Defensive back Anthony Parker and rookie Dewayne Washington anchored the secondary, each recording three defensive touchdowns off turnovers during the regular season.
Drama was a constant theme for the 1994 Vikings, as four of their regular season games required overtime. Key moments included a thrilling 38-35 home win against Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins in Week 4, followed by a dramatic 13-10 division victory over the Green Bay Packers in Week 8. A late-season three-game losing streak in November threatened to derail their momentum, but Minnesota responded by winning three of their final four games. The dramatic push culminated in a tight 21-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 17 to clinch the division title.
However, the division-champion Vikings suffered a sudden, disappointing exit in the Wild Card round, losing 35-18 at home to their rival Chicago Bears. Despite the playoff heartbreak, the 1994 season remains a memorable chapter in franchise history. It showcased one of the most prolific passing seasons up to that point in team history, powered by the incredible connection between Warren Moon and Cris Carter. Additionally, kicker Fuad Reveiz delivered a stellar campaign, converting 34 of 39 field goal attempts to earn a Pro Bowl nod alongside Moon, Carter, Randle, Del Rio, and guard Randall McDaniel.
Season Snapshot
Minnesota Vikings 1994
Explore where the 1994 Vikings ranked across key offensive and defensive categories, with detailed stats and a visual comparison of team performance.
Division
1st in NFC Central
Playoffs
Lost Wild Card
Passing Leader
Warren Moon4264 Yds, 18 TD / 19 Int
Rushing Leader
Terry Allen255 Att, 1031 Yds, 8 TD
Receiving Leader
Cris CarterRec 122, 1256 Yds, 7 TD
Defense Leader
Jack Del Rio129 Tackles
Offense
Passing (Off)
Rushing (Off)
Defense
Passing (Def)
Rushing (Def)
Season Momentum
Minnesota Vikings 1994
1994 NFC Central Race
Key Performance Differentials
This chart tracks game-by-game and cumulative points, yards, and turnover differential for the 1994 Minnesota Vikings season.
Playmakers
Minnesota Vikings 1994
Explore game-by-game stats for the 1994 Vikings, including performances from Warren Moon, Terry Allen and Cris Carter, with detailed passing, rushing, and receiving metrics.
Passing Contributors
Warren Moon contributed 74% of the 1994 Vikings total offensive yardage.
Rushing Contributors
Terry Allen contributed 20% of the 1994 Vikings total offensive yardage.
Receiving Contributors
Cris Carter contributed 21% of the 1994 Vikings total offensive yardage.
Offensive Yardage Totals
Total rushing and receiving yards contributed by each player for the 1994 season. Scrimmage yards displayed, passing yards excluded.
Vikings Season Stats
| Player | Att | Cmp | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Lng | Rate | Sk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Moon | 601 | 371 | 61.7 | 4264 | 18 | 19 | 65 | 79.9 | 29 |
| Brad Johnson | 37 | 22 | 59.5 | 150 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 68.5 | 1 |
| Sean Salisbury | 34 | 16 | 47.1 | 156 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 48.2 | 1 |
| Mike Saxon | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 673 | 409 | 60.8 | 4324 | 18 | 20 | 65 | 76.0 | 31 |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | Y/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Allen | 255 | 1031 | 8 | 4.0 | 64.4 |
| Scottie Graham | 64 | 207 | 2 | 3.2 | 12.9 |
| Robert Smith | 31 | 106 | 1 | 3.4 | 7.6 |
| Amp Lee | 29 | 104 | 0 | 3.6 | 8.0 |
| Warren Moon | 27 | 55 | 0 | 2.0 | 3.7 |
| Charles Evans | 6 | 20 | 0 | 3.3 | 1.4 |
| Sean Salisbury | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| Brad Johnson | 2 | -2 | 0 | -1.0 | -0.5 |
| David Palmer | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.1 |
| Mike Saxon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Team Totals | 419 | 1524 | 11 | 3.6 | 95.3 |
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cris Carter | 188 | 122 | 1256 | 10.3 | 7 | 65 |
| Jake Reed | 161 | 85 | 1175 | 13.8 | 4 | 59 |
| Qadry Ismail | 82 | 45 | 696 | 15.5 | 5 | 65 |
| Amp Lee | 55 | 45 | 368 | 8.2 | 2 | 35 |
| Andrew Jordan | 53 | 35 | 336 | 9.6 | 0 | 25 |
| Adrian Cooper | 44 | 32 | 363 | 11.3 | 0 | 34 |
| Terry Allen | 30 | 17 | 148 | 8.7 | 0 | 31 |
| Robert Smith | 19 | 15 | 105 | 7.0 | 0 | 15 |
| David Palmer | 10 | 6 | 90 | 15.0 | 0 | 39 |
| Steve Jordan | 8 | 3 | 23 | 7.7 | 0 | 10 |
| Brent Novoselsky | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 4 |
| Scottie Graham | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Charles Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Team Totals | 659 | 409 | 4570 | 11.2 | 18 | 65 |
| Player | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sk | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Del Rio | 129 | 86 | 43 | 2 | 3 |
| Ed McDaniel | 119 | 89 | 30 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Carlos Jenkins | 85 | 56 | 29 | 1 | 0 |
| Vencie Glenn | 81 | 58 | 23 | 1 | 4 |
| Anthony Parker | 76 | 61 | 15 | 0 | 4 |
| Dewayne Washington | 75 | 68 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| Todd Scott | 60 | 44 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| Henry Thomas | 55 | 41 | 14 | 7 | 0 |
| John Randle | 42 | 30 | 12 | 13.5 | 0 |
| Roy Barker | 42 | 30 | 12 | 3.5 | 0 |
| James Harris | 36 | 28 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
| Malik Boyd | 35 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Brian Davis | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Griffith | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Esera Tuaolo | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Harris | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Lamar McGriggs | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Dave Garnett | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ashley Sheppard | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Fernando Smith | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Martin Harrison | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Abrams | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 904 | 667 | 237 | 35 | 18 |
| Player | PRet | PYds | PTD | KRet | KYds | KTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qadry Ismail | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 807 | 0 |
| Robert Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 419 | 0 |
| David Palmer | 30 | 193 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Amp Lee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 0 |
| Anthony Parker | 4 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eric Guliford | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brent Novoselsky | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| Andrew Jordan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Chris Walsh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Charles Evans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Dave Garnett | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 39 | 238 | 0 | 60 | 1296 | 0 |
| Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | Lng | XPA | XPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuad Reveiz | 39 | 34 | 87.2 | 51 | 30 | 30 |
| Team Totals | 39 | 34 | 87.2 | 51 | 30 | 30 |
| Player | Pnt | Yds | Lng | Blk | Y/P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Saxon | 77 | 3301 | 67 | 42.9 | |
| Team Totals | 77 | 3301 | 67 | 0 | 42.9 |
| Player | Att | Cmp | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Lng | Rate | Sk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Moon | 52 | 29 | 55.8 | 292 | 2 | 2 | 38 | 68.7 | 2 |
| Sean Salisbury | 9 | 4 | 44.4 | 59 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 66.4 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 61 | 33 | 54.1 | 340 | 2 | 2 | 38 | 67.7 | 2 |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | Y/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Allen | 12 | 27 | 0 | 2.3 | 27.0 |
| Scottie Graham | 4 | 13 | 0 | 3.3 | 13.0 |
| Warren Moon | 2 | 9 | 0 | 4.5 | 9.0 |
| Robert Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Team Totals | 19 | 49 | 0 | 2.6 | 49.0 |
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amp Lee | 13 | 11 | 159 | 14.5 | 1 | 38 |
| Cris Carter | 16 | 8 | 61 | 7.6 | 1 | 19 |
| Andrew Jordan | 5 | 4 | 35 | 8.8 | 0 | 16 |
| Jake Reed | 12 | 3 | 39 | 13.0 | 0 | 18 |
| Qadry Ismail | 9 | 3 | 29 | 9.7 | 0 | 20 |
| Steve Jordan | 3 | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 | 11 |
| Terry Allen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
| David Palmer | 2 | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 0 | 11 |
| Team Totals | 61 | 33 | 351 | 10.6 | 2 | 38 |
| Player | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sk | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Del Rio | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed McDaniel | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Todd Scott | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Vencie Glenn | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Carlos Jenkins | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Anthony Parker | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| James Harris | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Harris | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Henry Thomas | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ashley Sheppard | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Randle | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dewayne Washington | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Roy Barker | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Martin Harrison | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lamar McGriggs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 53 | 38 | 15 | 1 | 1 |
| Player | PRet | PYds | PTD | KRet | KYds | KTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 132 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 132 | 0 |
| Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | Lng | XPA | XPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuad Reveiz | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 48 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 48 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | Pnt | Yds | Lng | Blk | Y/P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Saxon | 4 | 131 | 34 | 32.8 | |
| Team Totals | 4 | 131 | 34 | 0 | 32.8 |
Season Schedule