2005 Minnesota Vikings season

2005 Minnesota Vikings season
Head coach	Mike Tice
Home field	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	2nd NFC North
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 2005 season was the 45th year of season play for the Minnesota Vikings and the 86th regular season of the National Football League.

Offseason

Red McCombs sold the Minnesota Vikings to a group led by Zygi Wilf in May 2005. Wilf was originally going to be a limited partner to Reggie Fowler. However Fowler was not able to purchase the team. Wilf then became the lead owner and Fowler is one of a group of ownership partners.

2005 Draft

Main article: 2005 NFL draft

2005 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall
1	7	7	Troy Williamson	Wide Receiver	South Carolina	from Raiders
	18	18	Erasmus James	Defensive End	Wisconsin
2	17	49	Marcus Johnson	Tackle	Mississippi
3	16	80	Dustin Fox	Cornerback	Ohio State
4	11	112	Ciatrick Fason	Running Back	Florida	from Redskins
	19	120	Traded to the Washington Redskins
5	18	154	Traded to the Washington Redskins
6	17	191	C.J. Mosley	Defensive Tackle	Missouri
7	5	219	Adrian Ward	Cornerback	Texas-El Paso	from Raiders
	16	230	Traded to the New York Jets

^{^[a]} Oakland traded their 1st round selection (7th overall), 7th round selection (219th overall), and LB Napoleon Harris to Minnesota in exchange for WR Randy Moss.

^{^[b]} Minnesota traded their 4th round selection (120th overall) and 5th round selection (154th overall) to Washington to move up 8 spots to the 112th overall selection and make this pick.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 7th round selection (230th overall) to the Jets for LB Sam Cowart.

Regular season

The Vikings started off by losing their first two games to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (24–13) and the Cincinnati Bengals (37–8). They would win in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints (33–16), but then they would go on to lose their next two road games to the Atlanta Falcons (30–10) and their division rival Chicago Bears (28–3). The Vikings would win at home against fellow division rival Green Bay Packers 23–20 by winning the same way the Packers did last season, which was a last second field goal. However, the Vikes had little to celebrate when in the next week- not only did they lose to the Carolina Panthers 38–13 on the road, but they also lost their star QB Daunte Culpepper for the season with a knee injury. Culpepper had thrown twice as many interceptions as touchdowns up at that point. At this point the Vikings were 2–5.

Taking Culpepper's place would be Brad Johnson (Viking from 1992–98 and quarterback of the Super Bowl XXXVII champion Buccaneers) and, upon taking over, led the Vikings to a six-game winning streak, including victories over the Detroit Lions at home (27–14), the New York Giants (24–21), the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field (20–17, once again on a last second field goal), the Cleveland Browns (24–12), the Detroit Lions at Ford Field (21–16), and a 27–13 home victory over the St. Louis Rams. Johnson ended up with the lowest interception to attempt ratio in Vikings history and the 3rd best passer rating in the NFC. The streak ended with an 18–3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the eventual Super Bowl champions. After having their chances of winning the NFC North extinguished when the Bears defeated the Packers 24–17 in Lambeau Field earlier in the day, the Vikings were officially eliminated from NFC playoff contention with a 30–23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The Vikings won their last game of the 2005 season against the Bears, with a 34–10 victory. However, the Vikings fired head coach Mike Tice immediately following the game. They ended up with a 9–7 record and 1 win away from the playoffs.

The season is also remembered for the Love Boat scandal.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 11	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 13–24	0–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	63,939
2	September 18	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 8–37	0–2	Paul Brown Stadium	65,763
3	September 25	New Orleans Saints	W 33–16	1–2	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	63,952
4	October 2	at Atlanta Falcons	L 10–30	1–3	Georgia Dome	69,552
5	Bye
6	October 16	at Chicago Bears	L 3–28	1–4	Soldier Field	62,143
7	October 23	Green Bay Packers	W 23–20	2–4	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	64,278
8	October 30	at Carolina Panthers	L 13–38	2–5	Bank of America Stadium	73,502
9	November 6	Detroit Lions	W 27–14	3–5	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	63,813
10	November 13	at New York Giants	W 24–21	4–5	Giants Stadium	78,637
11	November 21	at Green Bay Packers	W 20–17	5–5	Lambeau Field	70,610
12	November 27	Cleveland Browns	W 24–12	6–5	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	63,814
13	December 4	at Detroit Lions	W 21–16	7–5	Ford Field	61,375
14	December 11	St. Louis Rams	W 27–13	8–5	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	64,005
15	December 18	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–18	8–6	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	64,136
16	December 25	at Baltimore Ravens	L 23–30	8–7	M&T Bank Stadium	70,246
17	January 1	Chicago Bears	W 34–10	9–7	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	64,023

Standings

NFC North
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(2) Chicago Bears	11	5	0	.688	5–1	10–2	260	202	L1
Minnesota Vikings	9	7	0	.563	5–1	8–4	306	344	W1
Detroit Lions	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	254	345	L1
Green Bay Packers	4	12	0	.250	1–5	4–8	298	344	W1

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing Yards	Brad Johnson	1,885
Passing Touchdowns	Brad Johnson	12
Rushing Yards	Mewelde Moore	662
Rushing Touchdowns	Ciatrick Fason	4
Receiving Yards	Travis Taylor	604
Receiving Touchdowns	Marcus Robinson	5
Points	Paul Edinger	106
Kickoff Return Yards	Koren Robinson	1221
Punt Return Yards	Mewelde Moore	245
Tackles	Antoine Winfield	98
Sacks	Lance Johnstone	7.5
Interceptions	Darren Sharper	9
Forced Fumbles	Brian Williams Richard Owens	2

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 32)
Passing Offense	3,146 Yards	196.6 YPG	20th
Rushing Offense	1,467 Yards	91.7 YPG	27th
Total Offense	4,613 Yards	288.3 YPG	25th
Passing Defense	3,332 Yards	208.2 YPG	22nd
Rushing Defense	1,841 Yards	115.1 YPG	19th
Total Defense	5,173 Yards	323.3 YPG	21st

Personnel

Staff

2005 Minnesota Vikings staff
Front Office Owner/Chairman – Zygi Wilf Owner/President – Mark Wilf Vice President of Football Operations – Rob Brzezinski Head Coaches Head Coach – Mike Tice Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator – Ted Cottrell Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line – Steve Loney Quarterbacks – Rich Olson Running Backs – Dean Dalton Wide Receivers – Wes Chandler Tight Ends/Assistant Offensive Line – John Tice Offensive Assistant/Assistant Quarterbacks – Randy Hanson			Defensive Coaches Defensive Line – Brian Baker Assistant Defensive Line – Jim Panagos Linebackers – Pete Bercich Coverage Coordinator – Chuck Knox, Jr. Assistant Secondary – Kevin Ross Special Teams Coaches Special Teams Coordinator – Rusty Tillman Assistant Special Teams – Jim Panagos Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Kurtis Shultz Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Mark Ellis

Final roster

2005 Minnesota Vikings final roster
	Quarterbacks 14 Brad Johnson 13 Shaun Hill Running backs 23 Michael Bennett 39 Adimchinobi Echemandu 35 Ciatrick Fason 30 Mewelde Moore Wide receivers 81 Nate Burleson 18 Koren Robinson 87 Marcus Robinson 89 Travis Taylor 19 Troy Williamson Tight ends 86 Richard Angulo 83 Jeff Dugan FB 40 Jim Kleinsasser 49 Richard Owens 85 Jermaine Wiggins		Offensive linemen 67 Melvin Fowler C 73 Adam Goldberg G 64 Anthony Herrera G 76 Chris Liwienski G 72 Marcus Johnson G/T 74 Bryant McKinnie T 75 Mike Rosenthal T 60 Cory Withrow C Defensive linemen 99 Erasmus James DE 97 Spencer Johnson DT 51 Lance Johnstone DE 96 C. J. Mosley DT 98 Darrion Scott DE 93 Kevin Williams DT 94 Pat Williams DT		Linebackers 55 Sam Cowart MLB 50 Rod Davis 59 Heath Farwell OLB 58 Napoleon Harris MLB 56 E. J. Henderson OLB 57 Raonall Smith OLB 54 Dontarrious Thomas OLB Defensive backs 33 Ralph Brown CB 21 Corey Chavous SS 36 Dovonte Edwards CB 25 Will Hunter SS 42 Darren Sharper FS 27 Fred Smoot CB 29 Brian Williams CB 26 Antoine Winfield CB Special teams  5 Chris Kluwe P 46 Cullen Loeffler LS  1 Paul Edinger K		Reserve lists 78 Matt Birk C (IR) 10px 11 Daunte Culpepper QB (IR) 10px 79 Toniu Fonoti OG (IR) 10px 28 Laroni Gallishaw CB (IR) 10px 90 Steve Martin DT (IR) 10px 52 Keith Newman OLB (IR) 10px 24 Willie Offord SS (IR) 10px 95 Kenechi Udeze DE (IR) 10px 20 Moe Williams RB (IR) 10px Practice squad 90 Eric Taylor DT 34 Butchie Wallace RB Rookies in italics 49 Active, 9 Inactive, 2 Practice squad

See also

• 2005 Minnesota Vikings boat cruise scandal