The Chicago Bears were headed to the playoffs and put little effort into a 34-10 loss to the Vikings on Jan. 1, 2006, in the Metrodome. This put the Vikings at 9-7, their best record since the 2000 season, but it did not save Mike Tice's job.
Tice finished his postgame media session and was fired within moments by owner Zygi Wilf. Five days later, the Vikings held a news conference to introduce Brad Childress as the team's eighth head coach (counting Bud Grant twice).
Childress talked that day about the Vikings offering a unique opportunity, since he would be taking over a "winning" team. It couldn't have taken long for Childress to realize that winning record was a mirage and he had a roster that required much rebuilding.
This wasn't the fault of Tice, but former owner Red McCombs. Once Mr. Purple Pride figured out he wasn't going to get a new stadium, he proved green was his favorite color and became the NFL's cheapest owner.
Team statistics are an important barometer in the NFL and those numbers were not kind to the 9-7 Vikings. They were outgained 5,173 yards to 4,613 by opponents. They rated 25th in total offense and 21st in total defense.
Soon, there was a greater complication for the new coach: quarterback Daunte Culpepper, coming off an ineffective start and an injured conclusion to 2005, was only interested in talking money and not about the new playbook with Childress.
Culpepper was traded. Childress' insistence on strict adherence to his play calls didn't sit well with veteran quarterback Brad Johnson. And the conservative nature of those calls became a source of ridicule with the local media and the fans.
The 2006 Vikings went 6-10. The bottom line was tossed at Childress continually: He had turned a nine-win team into a six-win team.
