moves. At first, the move looked like a blunder. The Vikings started off by losing their first two games to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (24–13) and the Cincinnati Bengals (37–8). They won in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints (33–16), but then they went on to lose their next two road games to the Atlanta Falcons (30–10) and the division rival Chicago Bears (28–3). The Vikings won at home against fellow division rival Green Bay 23–20 by winning the same way the Packers did last season, which was a last-second field goal. However, the Vikings had little to celebrate the next week; not only did they lose to the Carolina Panthers 38–13 on the road, but they also lost star quarterback Daunte Culpepper for the season with a knee injury. Culpepper had thrown twice as many interceptions as touchdowns up to that point. At this point, the Vikings were 2–5. Taking Culpepper's place was Brad Johnson (Vikings from 1992 to 1998 and quarterback of the Super Bowl XXXVII champion Tampa Bay 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 third-best passer rating in the NFC. The winning streak ended with an 18–3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the eventual Super Bowl champions. Christmas Day 2005 will go down as a day Vikings fans would much rather forget. After having their chances of winning the NFC North extinguished when the Bears defeated the Packers 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 one win away from the playoffs. 2006–2010: Brad Childress era Prior to the 2006 season, the Vikings hired Brad Childress as the 7th head coach in Vikings history. The Vikings started their season with two narrow victories. They edged the