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FrozenToews · 03-30-2010, 10:10 PM

The Day That Changed Viking History

The date was February 25th, 2005. Everyone in Winter Park, Minnesota knew the franchise would never be the same. A few minutes ago, Rick Spielman got off the phone with Al Davis, making the trade official. Randy Moss to Oakland for the 7th pick in the draft and Napoleon Harris. They all knew the fans would not be happy about this; Moss has been loved since the day he started catching deep balls in 1998. However, everyone from Owner Zygi Wilf to the water boy knew that Moss had to go before he did something detrimental to the franchise's good name.

They had their franchise player in quarterback Daunte Culpepper and a core of defensive players centering around the newly formed "Williams Wall." They had a rare chance to refocus their franchise without losing too much talent. When the draft came, they took a young man named Troy Williamson with their pick from the Moss trade. All the fans knew that they took him to replace the hole left by Moss. Williamson was a burner from South Carolina who is being asked to fill the hardest receiver hole since Jerry Rice left San Francisco.

As history can tell, the chances the owners took on most of the players from the 2005 team failed, which kept the Vikings in a rebuilding phase until they came along a guy named Peterson. This is my chance to fix the careers of mostly Culpepper and Williamson, along with building a contending team for years to come.

System: PS2
Difficulty: All-Pro
Game: Madden 06
Quarters: 7 minutes

FrozenToews · 03-30-2010, 10:41 PM

Training Camp Battles

As the dawn cracks on a new NFL season, there are a few battles that Vikings fans will be paying attention to during training camp.

1- WR Marcus Robinson 82 OVR, Travis Taylor 81 OVR, Kelly Campbell 81 OVR, Troy Williamson 80 OVR.

After Nate Burleson, there is no clear #2 and beyond season. Rookie Troy Williamson will be given every chance possible to win the starting job, while one of the aforementioned names might be trading by season start.

2- RB Michael Bennet 82 OVR, Moe Williams 82 OVR, Mewelde Moore 78 OVR, Ciatrick Fason 74 OVR

Since Onterrio Smith's departure due to the infamous "Whizzinator," there has been an absence in a third down back, but all spots are wide open at RB.

FrozenToews · 03-30-2010, 11:23 PM

Preseason and the Final Battles

Head Coach Mike Tice believed that training camp was not enough to determine the starting jobs for several positions, leaving them open to performance in preseason.

Preseason Results

Game 1 Vikings 23 Chiefs 10
Game 2 Vikings 21 Jets 35
Game 3 Vikings 6 Chargers 21
Game 4 Vikings 7 Seahawks 17

The results were not there in preseason, but Tice was happy with what he saw from his starters. " I really like the way guys like Kelly Campbell, Mewelde Moore, and Troy Williamson played. Hell, even though we finished 1-3, I feel like everyone played well with their situation. I am really dissapointed however, in Anthony's (Herrera) injury. I wish him god speed in his injury and he will be with us next year."

Herrara is out for the season with a foot fracture. He is, however, expected to make a full recovery for next season.

FrozenToews · 03-30-2010, 11:40 PM

Depth Chart

Bold= Starter
Italics= Out for Year

OFFENSE

QB - Daunte Culpepper, Brad Johnson, Shaun Hill
RB - Michael Bennett, Moe Williams, Mewelde Moore, Ciatrick Fason
FB - Jim Kleinnsasser
WR - Nate Burleson, Troy Williamson, Kelly Campbell, Marcus Robinson, Keenan Howry
TE - Jermaine Wiggins, Jeff Dugan
LT - Bryant McKinnie, Nat Dorsey
LG - Adam Goldberg, Marcus Johnson
C - Matt Birk, Corey Withrow
RG - Chris Liewenski, Anothy Herrara
RT - Mike Rosenthal, Shannon Snell

DEFENSE

LE - Kenechi Udeze, Lance Johnstone
RE - Erasmus James, Darion Scott
DT - Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, Steve Martin, Spencer Johnson
LOLB - Napoleon Harris, Keith Newman
MLB - Sam Cowart, E.J. Henderson, Rod Davis
ROLB - Dontarrious Thomas, Raonall Smith
CB - Antoine Winfield, Fred Smoot, Brian Williams, Ken Irvin, Ralph Brown
FS - Darren Sharper, Dustin Fox
SS - Corey Chavous, Willie Offord

SPECIAL TEAMS

K - Paul Edinger, Aaron Elling
P - Darren Bennet
KR - Kelly Campbell, Mewelde Moore
PR - Kelly Campbell

FrozenToews · 03-31-2010, 01:41 AM

Vikings Win Wild One

Minnesota

The Vikings overcame 6 turnovers to beat the Buccaneers on Sunday, but with a little help from a wily veterans.

The game began with the Vikings taking control with an early 13-0 lead. With the ball again, Daunte Culpepper took an unnecessary risk and threw a pick six from his own 5 yard line. Minnesota answered with a 44 yard TD from Culpepper to Michael Bennett. Bennett would go on to rush for 121 yards and another 64 through the air. Griese would then find Joey Galloway for a 78 yard bomb with 1:07 left in the half. The Bucs D quickly stopped the Vikings with 2 of their 4 sacks on the day and quickly added another field goal before half.

The second half would start by the two teams trading 4 yard touchdown runs from their fullbacks, Alstott and Kleinsasser respectively. Neither team would not be heard from again until the 4th quarter, which began with a Bryant field goal with 5:51 remaining. Then, chaos ensued.

Seeming to be losing hope, the Vikings failed on a third down conversion with 2:30 left from midfield. With the Vikings electing to punt, the Buccaneers sent back seasoned veteran Joey Galloway back to return the kick. Darren Bennet kicked the ball to around the 15 yard line, with several Vikings running down the field to down the ball in hopes of bad field position. However, the confident Galloway chose to field the punt, getting crushed, and fumbling the ball around the 14. The Vikings immediately capitalized on the miscue with Culpepper finding Troy Williamson for his first NFL touchdown. The Bucs were determined to not let this slip away, with Griese finding Clayton on a 43 yard touchdown pass with 1:42.

Entering the field with 4 INT's already before the drive, Culpepper pulled a Favre-esque performance, leading the Vikings down the field to eventually connect with Williamson again on a 28 yard touchdown with 0:48 seconds left on the clock. Very few of the sold-out 64,000 people believed Griese could drive down the field, to score again, and they were right. Sharper intercepted the veteran on the 4th play of the drive at the Vikings 33 yard line.

Statistics

Passing
MIN - Culpepper 21/45 270 yards 3 TDs 4 INTs 67.8 rating

TB - Griese 11/26 233 yards 2 TDs 3 INTs 60.7 rating

Rushing
MIN - Bennet 25 attempts 121 yards 0 TDs 1 fumble 1 lost
Culpepper 7 attempts 33 yards 2 fumbles 1 lost
Kleinsasser 1 attempt 4 yards 1 TD
Moore 2 attempts -1 yards
Williams 1 attempt -3 yards

TB - Williams 20 attempts 57 yards
Alstott 1 attempt 4 yards
Pittman 2 attempts 0 yards
Griese 1 attempt -5 yards

Receiving

MIN - Williamson 7 catches 75 yards 2 TDs
Bennett 3 catches 64 yards 1 TD
Wiggins 3 catches 50 yards
Robinson 4 catches 47 yards
Campbell 3 catches 27 yards
Moore 1 catch 7 yards

TB - Clayton 2 catches 80 yards 1 TD
Galloway 2 catches 79 yards 1 TD
Becht 2 catches 53 yards
Hilliard 3 catches 16 yards
Alstott 1 catch 5 yards

Interceptions

MIN - Sharper (2), Harris

TB - Phillips, Barber, Cox

Player of the Game

Michael Bennet

FrozenToews · 03-31-2010, 05:20 AM

Turnovers the Key to Vikings Win

Cincinnati

Daunte Culpepper still had some miscues in his second game of the season, but overall he looked much more confident in the pocket as the Vikings were able to defeat the Bengals 38-26.

Culpepper finished with 259 yards passing and 4 touchdowns, including two to Jermaine Wiggins as the Vikings stayed conservative as they watched the Bengals shoot themselves in foot. Carson Palmer threw 1 interception, but the Bengals team fumbeled three times, including one on an interception return. Rudi Johnson was the highlight for Cincinnati fans as he ran for 155 yards and an 81 touchdown scamper.

The game began with a deep ball to new deep threat Troy Williamson, setting up a 5 yard touchdown to Troy three plays later. Culpepper is beginning to get comfortable with the new receiver, as he said after the game "Troy and I, are hitting it off both on and off the field, he is a great guy and things are working perfectly. We also have sex with a set of sisters after the game, so everything works out alright." (Culpepper has been fined 50k for the comments). After a Cincinnati field goal, Culpepper drove his team down the field once again to set up the 1 yard toss to Wiggins. The Bengals then countered with a field goal and the long run by Johnson, but failed on the two point conversion, putting the Bengals down two. After a Minnesota punt, Rudi Johnson put the ball on the ground after a bone jarring hit by Antoine Winfield. Corey Chavous picked it up and ran 38 yards for an untouched touchdown right before half.

The third quarter scoring was brief, only a 41 yarder from Edinger, the two teams trading punts until Culpepper was able to connect with Marcus Robinson for a 32 yard touchdown, with several Bengals executing poor tackling. Cinncinati sacked Culpepper minutes later, which caused a fumble returned for a touchdown by Thornton. Minnesota put together one last scoring drive, which ended in an 18 yarder for Wiggins' second on the day. In a last ditch effort, Carson Palmer found a mismatch on Peter Warrick for a 77 yard touchdown with under two minutes to go, but the deficit was too great.

Nate Burleson missed his second game in a row with an undisclosed injury, he hopes to play next week.

With the win, the Vikings move to 2-0 while the Bengals stay winless to 0-2.

Statistics

Passing

MIN - Daunte Culpepper 22/36 259 yards 4 TDs 2 INTs
Brad Johnson 0/1 0 yards

CIN - Carson Palmer 9/27 152 yards 1 TD 1 INT

Rushing

MIN - Michael Bennett 29 attempts 87 yards
Daunte Culpepper 4 attempts 3 yards
Moe Williams 1 attempt 9 yards
Mewelde Moore 1 attempt 5 yards
Jim Kleinsasser 1 attempt 3 yards

CIN - Rudi Johnson 24 attempts 155 yards 1 TD

Receiving

MIN - Troy Williamson 5 catches 92 yards 1 TD
Marcus Robinson 5 catches 60 yards 1 TD
Kelly Campbell 5 catches 45 yards
Jermaine Wiggins 3 catches 31 yards 2 TDs
Jim Kleinsasser 1 catch 15 yards
Michael Bennett 2 catches 12 yards
Moe Williams 1 catch 4 yards

CIN - Peter Warrick 1 catch 77 yards 1 TD
Reggie Kelly 1 catch 28 yards
T.J. Whosyourmamma 2 catches 20 yards
Chad Johnson 3 catches 11 yards
Jeremi Johnson 1 catch 9 yards
Rudi Johnson 1 catch 7 yards

Interceptions

MIN - Napoleon Harris

CIN - Tory James, Nate Webster,

Forced Fumbles

MIN - Antoine Winfield, Adam Goldberg, Marcus Robinson, Dontarrious Thomas

CIN - Bryan Robinson

Fumble Recoveries

MIN - Dontarrious Thomas, Corey Chavous, Marcus Robinson

CIN - John Thornton

Player of the Game

03-30-2010, 10:10 PM	#1
FrozenToews Rookie OVR: 2 Join Date: Jan 2010	Rebuilding Careers - The 2005 Minnesota Vikings The Day That Changed Viking History The date was February 25th, 2005. Everyone in Winter Park, Minnesota knew the franchise would never be the same. A few minutes ago, Rick Spielman got off the phone with Al Davis, making the trade official. Randy Moss to Oakland for the 7th pick in the draft and Napoleon Harris. They all knew the fans would not be happy about this; Moss has been loved since the day he started catching deep balls in 1998. However, everyone from Owner Zygi Wilf to the water boy knew that Moss had to go before he did something detrimental to the franchise's good name. They had their franchise player in quarterback Daunte Culpepper and a core of defensive players centering around the newly formed "Williams Wall." They had a rare chance to refocus their franchise without losing too much talent. When the draft came, they took a young man named Troy Williamson with their pick from the Moss trade. All the fans knew that they took him to replace the hole left by Moss. Williamson was a burner from South Carolina who is being asked to fill the hardest receiver hole since Jerry Rice left San Francisco. As history can tell, the chances the owners took on most of the players from the 2005 team failed, which kept the Vikings in a rebuilding phase until they came along a guy named Peterson. This is my chance to fix the careers of mostly Culpepper and Williamson, along with building a contending team for years to come. System: PS2 Difficulty: All-Pro Game: Madden 06 Quarters: 7 minutes __________________ Chicago Cubs Minnesota Vikings Chicago Blackhawks Missouri Tigers With Reed, We Will Succeed. Last edited by FrozenToews; 03-31-2010 at 01:42 AM.

03-30-2010, 11:23 PM	#3
FrozenToews Rookie OVR: 2 Join Date: Jan 2010	Re: Rebuilding Careers - The 2005 Minnesota Vikings Preseason and the Final Battles Head Coach Mike Tice believed that training camp was not enough to determine the starting jobs for several positions, leaving them open to performance in preseason. Preseason Results Game 1 Vikings 23 Chiefs 10 Game 2 Vikings 21 Jets 35 Game 3 Vikings 6 Chargers 21 Game 4 Vikings 7 Seahawks 17 The results were not there in preseason, but Tice was happy with what he saw from his starters. " I really like the way guys like Kelly Campbell, Mewelde Moore, and Troy Williamson played. Hell, even though we finished 1-3, I feel like everyone played well with their situation. I am really dissapointed however, in Anthony's (Herrera) injury. I wish him god speed in his injury and he will be with us next year." Herrara is out for the season with a foot fracture. He is, however, expected to make a full recovery for next season. __________________ Chicago Cubs Minnesota Vikings Chicago Blackhawks Missouri Tigers With Reed, We Will Succeed.

03-30-2010, 11:40 PM	#4
FrozenToews Rookie OVR: 2 Join Date: Jan 2010	Re: Rebuilding Careers - The 2005 Minnesota Vikings Depth Chart Bold= Starter Italics= Out for Year OFFENSE QB - Daunte Culpepper, Brad Johnson, Shaun Hill RB - Michael Bennett, Moe Williams, Mewelde Moore, Ciatrick Fason FB - Jim Kleinnsasser WR - Nate Burleson, Troy Williamson, Kelly Campbell, Marcus Robinson, Keenan Howry TE - Jermaine Wiggins, Jeff Dugan LT - Bryant McKinnie, Nat Dorsey LG - Adam Goldberg, Marcus Johnson C - Matt Birk, Corey Withrow RG - Chris Liewenski, Anothy Herrara RT - Mike Rosenthal, Shannon Snell DEFENSE LE - Kenechi Udeze, Lance Johnstone RE - Erasmus James, Darion Scott DT - Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, Steve Martin, Spencer Johnson LOLB - Napoleon Harris, Keith Newman MLB - Sam Cowart, E.J. Henderson, Rod Davis ROLB - Dontarrious Thomas, Raonall Smith CB - Antoine Winfield, Fred Smoot, Brian Williams, Ken Irvin, Ralph Brown FS - Darren Sharper, Dustin Fox SS - Corey Chavous, Willie Offord SPECIAL TEAMS K - Paul Edinger, Aaron Elling P - Darren Bennet KR - Kelly Campbell, Mewelde Moore PR - Kelly Campbell __________________ Chicago Cubs Minnesota Vikings Chicago Blackhawks Missouri Tigers With Reed, We Will Succeed. Last edited by FrozenToews; 03-31-2010 at 01:42 AM.

03-31-2010, 01:41 AM	#5
FrozenToews Rookie OVR: 2 Join Date: Jan 2010	Re: Rebuilding Careers - The 2005 Minnesota Vikings Vikings Win Wild One Minnesota The Vikings overcame 6 turnovers to beat the Buccaneers on Sunday, but with a little help from a wily veterans. The game began with the Vikings taking control with an early 13-0 lead. With the ball again, Daunte Culpepper took an unnecessary risk and threw a pick six from his own 5 yard line. Minnesota answered with a 44 yard TD from Culpepper to Michael Bennett. Bennett would go on to rush for 121 yards and another 64 through the air. Griese would then find Joey Galloway for a 78 yard bomb with 1:07 left in the half. The Bucs D quickly stopped the Vikings with 2 of their 4 sacks on the day and quickly added another field goal before half. The second half would start by the two teams trading 4 yard touchdown runs from their fullbacks, Alstott and Kleinsasser respectively. Neither team would not be heard from again until the 4th quarter, which began with a Bryant field goal with 5:51 remaining. Then, chaos ensued. Seeming to be losing hope, the Vikings failed on a third down conversion with 2:30 left from midfield. With the Vikings electing to punt, the Buccaneers sent back seasoned veteran Joey Galloway back to return the kick. Darren Bennet kicked the ball to around the 15 yard line, with several Vikings running down the field to down the ball in hopes of bad field position. However, the confident Galloway chose to field the punt, getting crushed, and fumbling the ball around the 14. The Vikings immediately capitalized on the miscue with Culpepper finding Troy Williamson for his first NFL touchdown. The Bucs were determined to not let this slip away, with Griese finding Clayton on a 43 yard touchdown pass with 1:42. Entering the field with 4 INT's already before the drive, Culpepper pulled a Favre-esque performance, leading the Vikings down the field to eventually connect with Williamson again on a 28 yard touchdown with 0:48 seconds left on the clock. Very few of the sold-out 64,000 people believed Griese could drive down the field, to score again, and they were right. Sharper intercepted the veteran on the 4th play of the drive at the Vikings 33 yard line. Statistics Passing MIN - Culpepper 21/45 270 yards 3 TDs 4 INTs 67.8 rating TB - Griese 11/26 233 yards 2 TDs 3 INTs 60.7 rating Rushing MIN - Bennet 25 attempts 121 yards 0 TDs 1 fumble 1 lost Culpepper 7 attempts 33 yards 2 fumbles 1 lost Kleinsasser 1 attempt 4 yards 1 TD Moore 2 attempts -1 yards Williams 1 attempt -3 yards TB - Williams 20 attempts 57 yards Alstott 1 attempt 4 yards Pittman 2 attempts 0 yards Griese 1 attempt -5 yards Receiving MIN - Williamson 7 catches 75 yards 2 TDs Bennett 3 catches 64 yards 1 TD Wiggins 3 catches 50 yards Robinson 4 catches 47 yards Campbell 3 catches 27 yards Moore 1 catch 7 yards TB - Clayton 2 catches 80 yards 1 TD Galloway 2 catches 79 yards 1 TD Becht 2 catches 53 yards Hilliard 3 catches 16 yards Alstott 1 catch 5 yards Interceptions MIN - Sharper (2), Harris TB - Phillips, Barber, Cox Player of the Game Michael Bennet __________________ Chicago Cubs Minnesota Vikings Chicago Blackhawks Missouri Tigers With Reed, We Will Succeed. Last edited by FrozenToews; 03-31-2010 at 01:45 AM.

03-31-2010, 05:20 AM	#6
FrozenToews Rookie OVR: 2 Join Date: Jan 2010	Re: Rebuilding Careers - The 2005 Minnesota Vikings Turnovers the Key to Vikings Win Cincinnati Daunte Culpepper still had some miscues in his second game of the season, but overall he looked much more confident in the pocket as the Vikings were able to defeat the Bengals 38-26. Culpepper finished with 259 yards passing and 4 touchdowns, including two to Jermaine Wiggins as the Vikings stayed conservative as they watched the Bengals shoot themselves in foot. Carson Palmer threw 1 interception, but the Bengals team fumbeled three times, including one on an interception return. Rudi Johnson was the highlight for Cincinnati fans as he ran for 155 yards and an 81 touchdown scamper. The game began with a deep ball to new deep threat Troy Williamson, setting up a 5 yard touchdown to Troy three plays later. Culpepper is beginning to get comfortable with the new receiver, as he said after the game "Troy and I, are hitting it off both on and off the field, he is a great guy and things are working perfectly. We also have sex with a set of sisters after the game, so everything works out alright." (Culpepper has been fined 50k for the comments). After a Cincinnati field goal, Culpepper drove his team down the field once again to set up the 1 yard toss to Wiggins. The Bengals then countered with a field goal and the long run by Johnson, but failed on the two point conversion, putting the Bengals down two. After a Minnesota punt, Rudi Johnson put the ball on the ground after a bone jarring hit by Antoine Winfield. Corey Chavous picked it up and ran 38 yards for an untouched touchdown right before half. The third quarter scoring was brief, only a 41 yarder from Edinger, the two teams trading punts until Culpepper was able to connect with Marcus Robinson for a 32 yard touchdown, with several Bengals executing poor tackling. Cinncinati sacked Culpepper minutes later, which caused a fumble returned for a touchdown by Thornton. Minnesota put together one last scoring drive, which ended in an 18 yarder for Wiggins' second on the day. In a last ditch effort, Carson Palmer found a mismatch on Peter Warrick for a 77 yard touchdown with under two minutes to go, but the deficit was too great. Nate Burleson missed his second game in a row with an undisclosed injury, he hopes to play next week. With the win, the Vikings move to 2-0 while the Bengals stay winless to 0-2. Statistics Passing MIN - Daunte Culpepper 22/36 259 yards 4 TDs 2 INTs Brad Johnson 0/1 0 yards CIN - Carson Palmer 9/27 152 yards 1 TD 1 INT Rushing MIN - Michael Bennett 29 attempts 87 yards Daunte Culpepper 4 attempts 3 yards Moe Williams 1 attempt 9 yards Mewelde Moore 1 attempt 5 yards Jim Kleinsasser 1 attempt 3 yards CIN - Rudi Johnson 24 attempts 155 yards 1 TD Receiving MIN - Troy Williamson 5 catches 92 yards 1 TD Marcus Robinson 5 catches 60 yards 1 TD Kelly Campbell 5 catches 45 yards Jermaine Wiggins 3 catches 31 yards 2 TDs Jim Kleinsasser 1 catch 15 yards Michael Bennett 2 catches 12 yards Moe Williams 1 catch 4 yards CIN - Peter Warrick 1 catch 77 yards 1 TD Reggie Kelly 1 catch 28 yards T.J. Whosyourmamma 2 catches 20 yards Chad Johnson 3 catches 11 yards Jeremi Johnson 1 catch 9 yards Rudi Johnson 1 catch 7 yards Interceptions MIN - Napoleon Harris CIN - Tory James, Nate Webster, Forced Fumbles MIN - Antoine Winfield, Adam Goldberg, Marcus Robinson, Dontarrious Thomas CIN - Bryan Robinson Fumble Recoveries MIN - Dontarrious Thomas, Corey Chavous, Marcus Robinson CIN - John Thornton Player of the Game __________________ Chicago Cubs Minnesota Vikings Chicago Blackhawks Missouri Tigers With Reed, We Will Succeed.

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03-30-2010, 10:41 PM	#2
FrozenToews Rookie OVR: 2 Join Date: Jan 2010	Re: Rebuilding Careers - The 2005 Minnesota Vikings Training Camp Battles As the dawn cracks on a new NFL season, there are a few battles that Vikings fans will be paying attention to during training camp. 1- WR Marcus Robinson 82 OVR, Travis Taylor 81 OVR, Kelly Campbell 81 OVR, Troy Williamson 80 OVR. After Nate Burleson, there is no clear #2 and beyond season. Rookie Troy Williamson will be given every chance possible to win the starting job, while one of the aforementioned names might be trading by season start. 2- RB Michael Bennet 82 OVR, Moe Williams 82 OVR, Mewelde Moore 78 OVR, Ciatrick Fason 74 OVR Since Onterrio Smith's departure due to the infamous "Whizzinator," there has been an absence in a third down back, but all spots are wide open at RB. __________________ Chicago Cubs Minnesota Vikings Chicago Blackhawks Missouri Tigers With Reed, We Will Succeed.

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Rebuilding Careers - The 2005 Minnesota Vikings