Vikings finally get off the boat and win one.

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 10/16/2005

Trailing 17-0 with 30 minutes to play in a must-win game at home between two 1-4 teams, the Vikings finally played like the preseason favorite to win the Super Bowl. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper was brilliant out-dueling Brett Favre on a day when both players were sharp.

 

Favre completed 28 of 36 for 315 yards and two touchdowns; his QB rating was 121.6. But Culpepper maintained his poise, completing 23 of 31 for 280 yards and two second-half touchdowns while running for 41 yards.

 

Despite getting sacked five times, it was Culpepper’s will and his ability to use his feet that broke the backs of the Packers. Culpepper’s QB rating was just a bit better than Favre’s, 123.1.

 

Culpepper led the Vikings to scores on five straight possessions in the second half, including the game-winning drive when kicker Paul Edinger booted a 56-yard field goal as time expired.

 

Edinger’s kick was the second longest game-winning field goal in NFL history. After the Packers tied the game 20-20 on Ryan Longwell’s 39-yard field goal with 24 seconds left, the Vikings used a good kick return by Koren Robinson of 25 yards.

 

Culpepper and the Vikings had 17 seconds starting at their own 36 yard line. From shotgun formation, Culpepper hit running back Mewelde Moore for 14 yards, and the Vikings called time out. With eight seconds left, Culpepper hit Marcus Robinson at the Green Bay 38 for 12 yards as he hustled out of bounds to stop the clock with just two seconds left. After a Green Bay time out to freeze Edinger, he kicked it right down the middle to win the game.

 

Head Coach Mike Tice and his staff should be given much credit. His words of support or wisdom worked; his team did not quit on him. They played inspired football in the second half. Defensively, they stuffed the Packers’ running game, holding Arman Green and the Packers to only 45 yards rushing. The Vikings ran for 108 yards; the balanced attack made a difference.

 

Robinson’s 147 yards in kick returns provided good field position. He had a 72-yard return that was wasted in the first half after Moore’s costly fumble.

 

The Vikings are not out of the woods yet — they are only 2-4. The investigation into the sex scandal on Lake Minnetonka cruise boats is ongoing. Several players have retained attorneys, and this controversy won’t go away.

 

In the Arctic Blast sexual misconduct incident two years ago in the off season, when then-owner Red McCombs traded backup quarterback Todd Bowman to New Orleans and later dismissed Senior Vice President Mike Kelly, both accused of misconduct, the accused Vikings were White just like the victims. In this cruise scandal, the accused are Black and it’s during the season.

 

Furthermore, the team travels to Carolina next Sunday where the Vikings have lost four straight on the road, 0-3 this year plus last year’s playoff loss at Philadelphia.

 

The last two years, after six games the Vikings were 6-0 and 5-1 and then lost 14 of their next 20 games, finishing 3-7 in both 2003, when they missed the playoffs, and last year, when they made it with an 8-8 record.