The 2005 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 45th in the National Football League (NFL), and Mike Tice's fourth and final season as head coach. The Vikings finished the season with a 9–7 record and missed the playoffs despite going 8–3 over the final 11 weeks. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper was injured after seven games, resulting in Brad Johnson taking over as starter. The loss of Culpepper and the departure of Randy Moss to the Oakland Raiders resulted in the Vikings dropping from 2nd in passing offense in 2004 to 20th in 2005.
During the team's bye week in week 5, a scandal arose surrounding an alleged sex party aboard a pair of boats on Lake Minnetonka.
Offseason In February 2005, Vikings owner Red McCombs agreed to sell the team to Arizona-based entrepreneur Reggie Fowler; however, Fowler was unable to prove his finances sound enough to complete the purchase and his application to buy the team was rejected by the league. He brought in various partners, including New York-based real estate developer Zygi Wilf, who took over as the lead owner, with Fowler as one of the minor partners. The deal to install Wilf as owner was concluded in May 2005.
Acquisitions +AdditionsPlayerPositionStatus (previous team)Darren SharperSFree agent (GB)Pat WilliamsDTFree agent (BUF)Fred SmootCBFree agent (WAS)Brad JohnsonQBFree agent (TB)Travis TaylorWRFree agent (BAL)Koren RobinsonWRFree agent (SEA)
Departures +AdditionsPlayerPositionStatus (new team)Brian RussellSFree agent (CLE)Chris HovanDTFree agent (TB)
Trades Date Trade partner From Vikings To Vikings March 2, 2005 Oakland Raiders WR Randy Moss LB Napoleon Harris2005 1st round pick2005 7th round pick March 19, 2005 New York Jets 2005 7th round pick LB Sam Cowart
2005 draft
2005 Minnesota Vikings Draft Draft order Player name Position College Notes Round Selection 1 7 Troy Williamson Wide receiver South Carolina From Raiders 18 Erasmus James Defensive end Wisconsin 2 49 Marcus Johnson Offensive tackle Ole Miss 3 80Dustin Fox Cornerback Ohio State 4 112 Ciatrick Fason Running back Florida From Redskins 120 Traded to the Washington Redskins 5 154 Traded to the Washington Redskins 6 191 C. J. Mosley Defensive tackle Missouri 7 219 Adrian Ward Cornerback UTEP From Raiders 230 Traded to the New York Jets Notes:
Staff
Final roster
Preseason Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance NFL.comrecap 1 August 12 Kansas City Chiefs W 27–16 1–0 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 63,621 Recap 2 August 19 at New York Jets L 21–28 1–1 Giants Stadium 76,441 Recap 3 August 26 San Diego Chargers W 19–16 2–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 64,172 Recap 4 September 2 at Seattle Seahawks W 23–21 3–1 Qwest Field 63,746 Recap
Game summaries Week 1: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Week 2: at New York Jets
Week 3: vs. San Diego Chargers
Week 4: at Seattle Seahawks
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance NFL.comrecap 1 September 11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 13–24 0–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 63,939 Recap 2 September 18 at Cincinnati Bengals L 8–37 0–2 Paul Brown Stadium 65,763 Recap 3 September 25 New Orleans Saints W 33–16 1–2 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 63,952 Recap 4 October 2 at Atlanta Falcons L 10–30 1–3 Georgia Dome 69,552 Recap 5 Bye 6 October 16 at Chicago Bears L 3–28 1–4 Soldier Field 62,143 Recap 7 October 23 Green Bay Packers W 23–20 2–4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 64,278 Recap 8 October 30 at Carolina Panthers L 13–38 2–5 Bank of America Stadium 73,502 Recap 9 November 6 Detroit Lions W 27–14 3–5 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 63,813 Recap 10 November 13 at New York Giants W 24–21 4–5 Giants Stadium 78,637 Recap 11 at Green Bay Packers W 20–17 5–5 Lambeau Field 70,610 Recap 12 November 27 Cleveland Browns W 24–12 6–5 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 63,814 Recap 13 December 4 at Detroit Lions W 21–16 7–5 Ford Field 61,375 Recap 14 December 11 St. Louis Rams W 27–13 8–5 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 64,005 Recap 15 December 18 Pittsburgh Steelers L 3–18 8–6 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 64,136 Recap 16 December 25 at Baltimore Ravens L 23–30 8–7 M&T Bank Stadium 70,246 Recap 17 January 1 Chicago Bears W 34–10 9–7 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 64,023 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Vikings opened the season with five turnovers on the way to their first opening-day loss since 2002. Free agent signing Darren Sharper started off the scoring for the Vikings by returning an interception 88 yards for a touchdown, but the Buccaneers defense was able to limit the Vikings to 26 yards rushing and intercepted reigning Pro Bowl quarterback Daunte Culpepper three times, including two for cornerback Brian Kelly. By contrast, the Buccaneers' rookie running back Cadillac Williams managed 148 yards rushing in his first NFL game, capped off with a 71-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes left to seal the game for Tampa Bay.
Week 2: at Cincinnati Bengals
The Vikings' misfortunes continued in Week 2, losing 37–8 to the Cincinnati Bengals. Cornerback Fred Smoot was beaten by Chad Johnson on a 70-yard touchdown in the first minute of the game, with Carson Palmer adding two more touchdown passes in the first half to give the Bengals a 27–0 lead at halftime. The Bengals piled on 167 yards rushing, with wide receiver T. J. Houshmandzadeh adding a 16-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Daunte Culpepper continued his early season struggles, throwing five interceptions, bringing his total to eight in the first two weeks. Culpepper did ensure the Vikings avoided the shutout by scoring on a five-yard touchdown run. The Vikings were again hampered by their rushing attack, being held to 77 yards rushing.
Week 3: vs. New Orleans Saints
In Week 3, the Vikings looked to turn their season around at home to the New Orleans Saints, who were suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which had devastated their city only a few weeks earlier. The Vikings started positively, forcing a fumble from the Saints' return man Aaron Stecker on the opening kickoff. On the first play from scrimmage, Daunte Culpepper found Travis Taylor for a 24-yard touchdown, and the Vikings did not look back. Culpepper threw two more first-half touchdown passes, and stayed mistake free. The Vikings also found a running game, going for 146 yards, led by Mewelde Moore's 101 yards. Defensively, the Vikings held Aaron Brooks to just 12 completions on 32 pass attempts, intercepting him twice (Antoine Winfield and Keith Newman). Paul Edinger added four field goals for the Vikings in the victory.
Week 4: at Atlanta Falcons
After notching their first win of the season the week before, the Vikings returned to form in Atlanta the following week, losing 30–10 to the Falcons. The visitors sacked Daunte Culpepper nine times, and added two more interceptions to bring his total for the season to 10 through four games. The Falcons' rushing offense was almost unstoppable, going for 285 yards, with almost half of that total provided by Warrick Dunn (126 yards). For the second time in the season, the Vikings' only points of the game came in the fourth quarter, via a 16-yard pass from Culpepper to Troy Williamson.
Week 6: at Chicago Bears
Following a bye week marred by the "love boat" scandal, the Vikings returned to action with a trip to face the 1–3 Chicago Bears. The Vikings marched down the field on their opening drive, only to botch a fake field goal attempt from the 18-yard line. After trading several punts, the Vikings put together a 13-play drive that resulted in a 23-yard field goal by Paul Edinger, who was making his first return to Chicago, for whom he had played for the last five years. However, those were to be the Vikings' only points of the game as they failed to get any further than the Bears' 30-yard line, while Daunte Culpepper added another two interceptions to his total for the season. The Bears' offense was limited by rookie quarterback Kyle Orton, who threw for 117 yards, but did find Desmond Clark for two touchdowns. The Bears were also held to 95 yards, led by 89 yards by Thomas Jones, who did find the end zone twice in the fourth quarter to close out the game.
Week 7: vs. Green Bay Packers
The Vikings hosted the Packers in Week 7 with the two teams propping up the NFC North with 1–4 records. After a scoreless first quarter, Brett Favre started to find success against the Vikings defense, leading the Packers on two-second-quarter touchdown drives in a row, culminating in touchdown passes to Donald Driver and Antonio Chatman. After the Chatman touchdown, Koren Robinson returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards to the Packers' 30-yard line, only for Mewelde Moore to fumble on the Vikings' first play from scrimmage. Favre then led the Packers downfield, and set up a 53-yard Ryan Longwell field goal as time expired in the first half, giving the Packers a 17–0 lead. The Vikings mounted a comeback in the second half; starting with a field goal on their opening drive, the Vikings defense then forced a three-and-out, before Daunte Culpepper capped the next drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Robinson. After a missed field goal by Longwell, Paul Edinger made a field goal of his own before Culpepper again led the Vikings down the field, finding Mewelde Moore for a 14-yard touchdown to give the Vikings a 20–17 lead with three minutes left. Favre then led the Packers down the field, resulting in a 39-yard Ryan Longwell field goal, to tie the game with 28 seconds left. Daunte Culpepper then completed back-to-back passes to Mewelde Moore and Marcus Robinson to set up a game-winning 56-yard field goal by Edinger as time expired.
Week 8: at Carolina Panthers
The Vikings failed to build on their come-from-behind win, falling to a 38–13 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 8. The Panthers received the opening kickoff and mounted a 10-play drive, resulting in a 7-yard touchdown run by Stephen Davis. On the final play of the first quarter, Daunte Culpepper tore his ACL, MCL and PCL in a low tackle by Panthers cornerback Chris Gamble following an 18-yard run. Brad Johnson replaced Culpepper at quarterback, but he was unable to prevent the Panthers from increasing their lead in the first half, going into the halftime interval with the score at 24–0. The Vikings did find the end zone twice in the second half, first with a Mewelde Moore touchdown to bring the score to 24–7, then a five-yard touchdown reception by Marcus Robinson with two minutes to go; however, the Panthers scored twice themselves to nullify the Vikings' attempted comeback. Panthers receiver Steve Smith finished the day with 11 catches for 201 yards.
Week 9: vs. Detroit Lions
With Culpepper out for the rest of the season, Brad Johnson made his first start for the Vikings since week 2 of the 1998 season. After a defensively dominated first quarter resulting in only a Vikings field goal, Johnson found Michael Bennett for a five-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Joey Harrington then fumbled on a Brian Williams sack, leading to a touchdown run by Ciatrick Fason. Harrington then compounded the Lions' problems, throwing an interception to Antoine Winfield three plays later, leading to a 15-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Nate Burleson, giving the Vikings a 24–0 lead. The Lions added a touchdown before halftime on an Artose Pinner run. After a scoreless third quarter, Harrington found Marcus Pollard for a 23-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, cutting the Vikings lead to 10. In an attempt to wind down the clock, the Vikings leant on their running game, rushing for 164 yards, including 106 yards by Michael Bennett. Darren Sharper sealed the victory for the Vikings, intercepting Harrington with 18 seconds left to give the Vikings their third victory of the season.
Week 10: at New York Giants