In 1977, Minnesota again won the Central with a 9–5 record, but the team was showing signs of age. Fran Tarkenton had torn his ACL in the previous season's playoff game with the Redskins and lost the ability to perform his trademark scrambling. After years of beating the Rams in frozen Metropolitan Stadium, they finally had to go to Los Angeles for the divisional round due to receiving the #3 playoff seed and being denied home advantage. Instead of bright sunshine, there were heavy rains that turned the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum into a mud bath, and the Vikings prevailed 14–7 on Monday December 26. On January 1, 1978, the Vikings played the Dallas Cowboys in their fourth NFC Championship Game in five years at Texas Stadium. Minnesota lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions, 23–6.