GREEN BAY, Wis. — The improbable came to pass. So did Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper threw four touchdown passes, two to sulky superstar Randy Moss, and the Minnesota Vikings upset the Green Bay Packers 31-17 Sunday at Lambeau Field in a first-round playoff game. (Related item: Box score)
Mocked for their 8-8 record, wounded after losing four of their last five games, the Vikings could not possibly amount to more than a one-and-done appearance in the playoffs.
Given three hours, though, they erased the disappointment of another season that teased and tantalized.
"This game was huge," said Culpepper, who staked his club to an opening 17-0 lead and passed for 284 total yards. "Not only is this our biggest rival, it's a playoff game. And everybody said we couldn't do it."
Moss' antics only added to the weirdness of this win. A week ago, when he walked off the field before the end of yet another loss, even teammates expressed anger and concern about his attitude. Sunday, after catching a 34-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter that stretched the lead back to 14 points, Moss aimed his backside at the crowd and began a celebration that Fox announcer Joe Buck said was "disgusting."
He and Moss don't agree on this. "Just having fun, that's all," Moss said. "Basically, what I was doing was pretending to moon the crowd and then bump the goalpost with my butt."
Some teams would think of this stuff as a distraction. Moss said it helps. No one, he said, talked about this playoff game last week. Instead they focused on him. "All you heard was Moss. That was a good thing. I felt very comfortable about being able to take the heat."
Maybe he's right, in some wacky way. Was this really the Vikings or some wily group of impostors? They did not let a lead get away. They did not commit a raft of penalties or mental errors. They scored on the third play, staved off the offensive doldrums that beset them in the third quarter and their oft-criticized and leaky defense got four interceptions off an erratic Brett Favre, who after the game talked of the possibility of retirement. At the end, when the Packers most needed to see the football again, the Vikings held it for nearly eight minutes, bleeding the clock and the favored home team. They advance to play the Eagles (13-3), who beat them 35-17 in Philadelphia in Week 2.
Culpepper ended the regular season with club marks in passing yards (4,717) and touchdown passes (39) and completed 69% of his attempts. The only one with a higher passer rating than his 110.9? Indianapolis' Peyton Manning, an NFL record 121.1.
Yet the accolades fell short of those piled around Manning. Culpepper had numbers but not enough victories. When he led his team to late touchdowns, the defense too often allowed the opponent to sail down the field and score the tying or go-ahead points.
"He's been great all season," Vikings coach Mike Tice said. "He's tried to carry us to victory a number of times, and because we didn't give him enough support, his legs got heavy a few times before the game ended and he couldn't carry us all the way. He's just tremendous. He's got great fortitude."
And pretty good judgment. He didn't throw an interception and ran six times for 54 yards. When the Packers drew close at 24-17 and thoughts of another squandered opportunity might have surfaced, Culpepper and Moss combined on a 34-yard touchdown pass. They checked out of a run play to a little stop and go pass.
"They just played ball," Tice said.
Why they didn't play more of it sooner remains a mystery. "I don't know where it's been," Culpepper said. "In training camp, I was really excited about our team. We finished 8-8. We could easily have been better and we could easily have been worse. But we're here."
Admissions standards being what they are in the NFC, an 8-8 mark earned them the fifth seed in the field of six. They were slated for an early exit but held on to win. "It was, 'Let's go play and take it to them,' " linebacker Chris Claiborne said. "We had nothing to lose."