His Year: Daunte Culpepper 2004

In the shadow of 2004 Peyton Manning, there was another QB having an all time great season. Allow me to remind you of 2004 Daunte Culpepper.

Does anybody remember the Madden curse?

You know, the one where Michael Vick made the cover of the game and immediately broke his leg? Or the one where Marshall Faulk made the cover and never had another thousand yard season? That Madden curse? It's been dead for years (largely since they keep putting Patrick Mahomes on the cover), but it used to be a real thing.

Do you remember where it started?

Daunte Culpepper was a first round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 1999. Though he was brought in to provide insurance for the 36 year old Randall Cunningham, it was Jeff George who had his year (article forthcoming) in saving the Vikings' 1999 season.

After the 1999 season, both were gone, and for 2000 the Vikings still had the offence that made Randall Cunningham and Jeff George look like elite QBs. It was Daunte's time to shine. He put up 0.199 EPA/Play and a 7.28 ANY/A that year. These are exceptional numbers for a first year starter. This first year has been eclipsed only five times in the years since, by 2002 Chad Pennington (read more here); 2006 Tony Romo; 2012 RGIII (I'll get to it. I promise); 2016 Dak Prescott, and 2018 Patrick Mahomes, even as the league got more and more pass friendly. This performance landed Daunte the cover of Madden NFL 2001.

This is where the Madden curse begins.

After being only the second player ever to go solo on a madden cover (Eddie George was the first, and played fine in the aftermath), Culpepper wasn't the same over the ensuing two years. The same Daunte who'd gotten off to such a hot start in 2000 could barely generate positive value (0.062 EPA/Play) over the 2001 and 2002 seasons. He battled knee injuries during this time, and missed the playoffs both years. These were the Vikings' first times missing the playoffs since 1995.

In 2003, things were turning back around for Daunte. He'd generate 0.131 EPA/Play in leading the Vikings back to a winning record, but still missing the playoffs again.

So here we are. We're coming into 2004, and Daunte and the Vikings haven't been in the playoffs since 2000. The core of that great 1998 team was gone. This is now a team that has not made a playoff appearance in three seasons. Put this in perspective. Three full seasons ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were in the playoffs quarterbacked by Josh McCown. Josh Allen was still a very bad player. Think back to that time. Think back to whoever your team's QB was then. That's how far back the Vikings fans were looking at Daunte Culpepper in 2004.

The Vikings' over/under for this year is 8.5. Not terrible, but this indicates there's little belief in this squad. This largely stems from their perpetually horrendous defence, which over the prior four seasons has ranked 29th, 26th, 30th and 22nd in EPA/Play allowed. The Vikings have a great offence. Nobody is disputing that, but it is a monumental task to carry a defence this bad into the playoffs. For reference, even in our current hyper offensive era, this hasn't been done since the 2016 Lions carried a 31st ranked defence to a playoff spot. Daunte Culpepper was looking ahead at a mountain, and he was prepared to climb it.

After leading the Vikings to a win in week one over the Cowboys (despite the defence giving up 0.27 EPA/Play to a Vinny Testaverde long past his expiration date), it was time for a true test of mettle. The Vikings' week two matchup is a road game against Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles.

After leading the Vikings to field goals on each of their first two drives, yet still trailing 10-6 due to the wonders of Minnesota defence. It was time for Daunte to step up. McNabb has just fumbled the ball, and the Vikings have the ball on the Philly 44. After leading the Vikings to the Philadelphia two yard line, he lives up to his nickname.

Daunte Culpepper is the fumble king. Seriously. After recent improvements from Daniel Jones, Daunte is back to being the most fumble prone player in NFL history. For his career, Daunte averaged 0.97 fumbles per game. Essentially, if you watched a Vikings game, you were going to see a Daunte fumble. Keep this in mind for the rest of this piece.

Daunte is stripped on his quarterback sneak attempt. The Vikings get no points out of a goal line drive, and go into the half still down 10-6. After a Philadelphia touchdown coming out of half, the 17-6 deficit is insurmountable for the Vikings, as their defence can only manage to stop the Eagles once in the whole of this 27-16 loss.

This is not Daunte's best showcase, but he was still able to generate 0.24 EPA/Play. Without the goal line fumble, that number would be closer to 0.30. I bring this game up because it showcases a theme we're going to have to get used to. In 2004, Daunte was consistently put in the position of having to play from behind knowing that the opposing team is likely to score even more points. This is an extremely high pressure environment.

This is demonstrated in week three against Chicago. Minnesota came into this game as prohibitive 13 point home favourites, yet still still required every bit of Daunte's 0.47 EPA/Play to scrape out a 27-22 win, aided by a Rex Grossman injury. This team gave up two fourth quarter touchdown drives to a Chicago offence that would go on to rank (wait for it) 32nd in the league. This does not bode well for the future. Good luck Daunte.

I promise I won't stop at every game, but the Vikings' week four game against Houston is also too ridiculous not to elaborate on. As fairly hefty four point road favourites against an okay Texans team, Daunte and the Vikings were expected to destroy the Texans' okay defence, and they did. Daunte threw for 396 yards, five touchdowns against no interceptions and generated 0.406 EPA/Play this game. He didn't even fumble. This had to have been a blowout win right?

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Vikings had a 21-7 lead. This is probably even narrower than it should've been, due to first half Viking punts from the Houston 46, and Houston 38. You would never see either of those today, but nonetheless. It's a 14 point lead over David Carr. It's not like they have Matt Schaub yet. This is no problem, right?

If you still think that this far into the piece, you're kidding yourself.

Of course it's a problem. The Vikings immediately surrender a touchdown to narrow the lead to 21-14. After another Minnesota punt from Houston territory, the Vikings are able to hold the Texans to a three and out. Daunte responds with a three play touchdown drive capped by a fifty yard pass to Randy Moss. The lead is now 28-14. There's seven minutes left in this game. It's David Carr. The Vikings' Win Probability is 97 percent. How can they possibly screw this up?

Welcome to Daunte Culpepper's year. These Vikings can screw anything up.

After a four minute Houston touchdown drive, one Minnesota drive consisting of three runs and a punt, and a three play touchdown drive, this game is tied 28-28. We're not even at the two minute warning yet. Thankfully, Minnesota uses up the whole clock on their final drive, but they're unable to score. This game is going to overtime.

It's academic. After the defence finally stops David Carr, Daunte leads the Vikings to the game winning touchdown in a 34-28 win.

I cannot describe to you what just happened. The Vikings took an electrifying Daunte performance and came this close to wasting every bit of it. They allowed David Carr to generate 0.33 EPA/Play. You didn't even remember Derek had a brother until you read this did you? This guy is killing the Vikings. Imagine what the real QBs can do.

Somehow, Daunte has guided this perpetually sinking ship to a 3-1 record so far. After finally getting two relatively (by 2004 Vikings standards) comfortable wins against New Orleans and Tennessee, buoyed by a casual 0.382 EPA/Play out of Daunte, the record stands at 5-1. Unfortunately, we're about to see what happens when Daunte isn't prepared to carry this team.

In week eight against the Giants, the whole team hit the wall. Against the Giants' below average (21st) defence, Daunte just couldn't get anything going. He would throw two interceptions and generate -0.05 EPA/Play this game. The Vikings were down 34-0 before they could score any points. Against the Giants' unexceptional (16th) offence, the Vikings allowed 0.11 EPA/Play and 34 points in three quarters before the Giants called off the dogs.

This was bad. Almost comically bad. I've never seen a 6-1 team get outplayed by an average one quite this badly in my whole football life. This is what the Vikings are. Without a great Daunte performance, they can't compete. Not even against the lowly New York Giants.

In most seasons, Daunte would be the obvious MVP frontrunner right now. In this one, he has no chance. Why is that? On the other side of the league, the (in my opinion) best QB season of all time was happening. Keep in mind as I tell you these stats that the league leader in EPA/Play in 2022 was Patrick Mahomes, with 0.302.

Through eight weeks of the 2004 season, Daunte Culpepper is generating 0.318 EPA/Play. This figure would've led the league in 2002. It would've led the league in 2003. Heck, it would've led the league in 2022. In 2004, it ranked second. Unfortunately for Daunte, Peyton Manning in the first eight weeks of 2004 generated an absolutely ludicrous 0.474 EPA/Play. A season that would've won Daunte MVP in much better offensive eras than his own is already completely stonewalled. It's week eight, and the award is completely locked up for Peyton.

This is such poor luck for Daunte that it can almost be considered unreasonable. What's worse? Daunte now has to go on the road to Peyton's house, with his horrendous defence in tow, to somehow try to best the Indianapolis Colts. This should be a fun one.

True to form, after two drives, the Vikings are down 14-0. They've allowed the Colts to hold the ball for ten minutes. It's the second quarter already, and Daunte has had one pass attempt so far. This is not the formula for success. After a big kickoff return, the Vikings do manage a field goal, but still have yet to get a first down this whole game. Now Peyton has the ball again. Before you know it the Colts are already at the Minnesota 24. This game is turning into a disaster. This is just like last week.

Then, the unthinkable happens.

After a holding penalty, a sack, and a false start penalty, the Colts are pushed all the way out of field goal range. This is exactly the breather the Vikings need, and they take advantage. Daunte overcomes two third downs inside his own 20 to drive the Vikings all the way to the Indianapolis five yard line, where they run out of time and have to settle for a field goal. Remember this, it's important later.

The Vikings are going into half down 14-6, but disaster has been averted. I'm sure after the 14-0 start most fans would've given anything to go into half down only one possession, and here they are. There's just one problem. Minnesota's win probability is nine percent. The Colts get the ball to start the next half, and this is liable to be just like the Philadelphia game from earlier in the year. No stops makes any deficit insurmountable. Do we really think this Viking defence can stop (again, my opinion) the greatest QB of all time twice in a row?

Football is a weird sport sometimes.

After again allowing Peyton straight back into their territory, it's again penalties that kill another Colts drive. They're forced to punt. On the ensuing punt return, Nate Burleson scores. One two point conversion later and this game is 14-14. This is not a miracle, but it certainly feels like one. You know what is a miracle? The teams trade three and outs in their next two possessions.

This is where the fun has to end. The Colts have the ball again, and Peyton remembers he's 2004 Peyton Manning. The Colts go right down the field, making it look so easy that they only see second down twice. 21-14. Quite frankly, Daunte can't do that, but what he can do is demonstrate the benefits of his riskier, more rewarding style by converting two third and longs on Minnesota's next drive and tying the game. After another easy Colts touchdown, there's another Viking touchdown right behind it.

Unfortunately, this means Peyton has the ball with three minutes left. You can guess what happens next. It takes the Colts two plays to get into field goal range. The Vikings defence can't stop the Colts from running the clock to zeroes as the Colts kick the game winning field goal to take the game 31-28.

If you like offence that makes football look really easy, this is the game for you. This game gets overlooked in the annals of NFL history, but I don't think it should. I won't overlook it. For all those out there who forget how great Daunte Culpepper is, watch this game. He proved he belongs on the field with 2004 Peyton Manning, and he did it with only 23 touches because his defence couldn't get the Colts off the field. Following with this game, the 2004 Colts went on a stretch lasting until week 16 of exclusively winning by double digits, but they couldn't pull away from Minnesota.

Daunte may never win MVP, but today he proved he could have.

The Colts game was great for Daunte, but the Minnesota Vikings have now lost two games in a row and fallen to 5-3. This is not great. It's always good to have a winning record at the halfway mark, but the Vikings have fallen back into the clutches of their biggest enemies. The division rival Green Bay Packers, led by a resurgent Brett Favre, are 4-4, and their week ten matchup at Lambeau will give the victor the NFC North lead.

Once again, all the pressure is on Daunte. For the second week in a row, he will have to try to find a way to steal a win from an all time great QB in their house. This time, it's for more than nerds like me to write about 20 years later. This time the division lead is on the line.

After opening drive touchdowns for both teams, Minnesota falls into another rut. Their next drive gets them all the way to the Green Bay three, but they have to settle for a field goal. This is an odd trend with the 2004 Vikings. They get into big spots, such as this one, first and ten on the eleven, and give Daunte no touches. I understand the philosophy was different in 2004 than it is in 2022, but why have an MVP level QB and not use him? It seems odd to me.

Shocking nobody, Minnesota can only stop the Packers once in the whole first half and enter halftime down 24-10. Their win probability is six percent. For the third week in a row, the Vikings enter the locker room with almost no chance to win.

In a minor miracle, ten minutes into the second half there's been no scoring. With five minutes left in the third, the score is still 24-10 Packers. This is a full crisis for the Vikings. Recall all that's on the line in this game. This is where the greats have to come alive. For the second week in a row, Daunte answers the bell.

After an easy touchdown drive followed by the Packers doing the same, there's nine minutes left. The score is 31-17. These are dire straits for the Vikings, especially when the drive goes backwards in its first two plays. Third and fifteen is a bad spot, but the Vikings need it. Luckily for them, they have Daunte Culpepper, who completes a 24 yard pass to keep the drive going. In addition to the above, this drive would feature a third and 13, a fourth and two, a third and ten, and a third and goal. Daunte would convert them all on his way to a Vikings touchdown. 31-24.

The problem with all these conversions is that they take lots of plays, which take lots of time. This touchdown drive took six minutes. After three runs and a punt by Green Bay, the Vikings have 2:24 to score yet another fourth quarter touchdown and pull even in this crucial game.

It doesn't even take them half that long.

It takes three plays and 55 seconds for the Vikings to find the end zone for the game tying touchdown. Daunte has done it again. He's given his team a chance to win out of a situation that was almost impossible to win from, for the second week in a row. However, the defence flounders that chance yet again by allowing the Packers a game winning field goal. This time the final drive took only one play to get into field goal range.

The Vikings lose in heartbreaking fashion for the second week in a row, 34-31. Over this two week stretch, Daunte has completed 43 passes on 63 attempts for 532 yards. He's thrown five touchdowns, no interceptions, and generated 0.412 EPA/Play. Not even any fumbles to put the defence in a bad position. No bones about it, he's played great football. He just hasn't been rewarded for it. Nor have the Vikings, who now sit at 5-4, and are now second place in the division.

After another fourth quarter comeback over Detroit (this time it sticks), the Vikings finally get a comfortable win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. This leaves the Vikings at 7-4. Good, but still behind the Packers. The Vikings need something good to happen. However, week 13 set them up for none of that.

For people who want to tear down Daunte's 2004, this week 13 game against Chicago is the one they point to. Undoubtedly, it is his worst game of the year. He generates -0.06 EPA/Play, throws three interceptions, and turns several chances at another fourth quarter comeback into nothing.

I admit that this was a bad game for Daunte, but I think the standards are unfairly high when going back and judging this game. Yes he had several chances and blew them all, but the early 2000s Bears were an elite defence. The core that will carry the 2006 team to the Super Bowl is already there in 2004. The Bears will go on to finish this season ranked 5th in EPA/Play allowed. Additionally, this would've been Daunte Culpepper's fourth fourth quarter comeback out of five weeks. No quarterback can sustain that. Anyone will crack eventually under the pressure of constantly being the only reason their team can win. I've taken enough shots at the Vikings defence in this article to last a lifetime, but perhaps not allowing an offence run by Chad Hutchinson (anybody remember that guy?) to run 70 plays might've helped. Just a thought.

After another very good Daunte performance went to waste as the Vikings lost as seven point favourites for the second week in a row, this time to the Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota is 7-6. Luckily for Minnesota, due to the NFC in 2004 being perhaps the worst conference of all time (seriously, the Eagles are the only good team in the whole conference), their playoff sport is not under any real risk, and hasn't been this whole time. If you wonder why I haven't been discussing it, there's your answer. In order to secure their playoff spot, the Vikings need only win one of their final three games

By this point, the oddsmakers have caught on. There will be no more seven point spreads. When Minnesota travels to 5-8 Detroit for their week 15 matchup, they do so as scant three point favourites.

Put this into perspective. One team is quarterbacked by Daunte Culpepper. The other by Joey Harrington. In 2022 terms, that is roughly equivalent to a team with Patrick Mahomes at QB squaring off with a team starting Carson Wentz. The Vikings are three point favourites. If that's not the worst indictment of the roster surrounding Daunte, then I don't know what to tell you.

Ultimately, the game on the field proves Vegas correct. Despite Daunte throwing for 404 yards, three touchdowns, and generating 0.43 EPA/Play, Minnesota cannot pull away and barely get out of Detroit with a 28-27 win on a botched extra point following a Lions game tying touchdown drive. It's hard to play any better than Daunte did here, yet it's still just barely enough to get by Joey Harrington and the Detroit Lions. This does not bode well for the Vikings' playoff chances.

No matter. In all honesty, you don't have to be a great team to win this NFC. Daunte will be the better QB in any possible matchup (other than potentially Peyton Manning again), which means the Vikings, despite all their flaws, have as good a chance as anybody to win the NFC this year.

In week 16, 8-6 Green Bay are coming to 8-6 Minnesota for a matchup with the NFC North and a home playoff game on the line. Both teams have clinched playoff spots, so not everything is on the line, but who doesn't want to be a division champion?

I'll tell you who. The Viking defence.

In another utterly baffling performance, the Vikings take another last second field goal loss to lose to Green Bay by the exact same 34-31 score. This comes in spite of Daunte's 283 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers. He generates 0.59 EPA/Play in a loss, and he does it all with just 23 pass attempts because Minnesota can only manage to run 49 plays this game to Green Bay's 77. It's hard to lose in the play economy much worse than that.

I'll repeat. These 2004 Vikings can mess up anything.

After another loss in an unimportant game against Washington, the regular season is over. Daunte Culpepper has finished the season having broken Dan Marino's record for total yards in a season, passing for 4717 and rushing for 406 for a total of 5123. To be clear, this is a bit hollow since Peyton would've broken this easily had be not had the luxury of sitting out several fourth quarters.

Daunte didn't get to sit out any fourth quarters. He played each and every one of the Vikings' 985 offensive snaps, with him personally accounting for 702 touches. Over these 702 plays, he generated 0.283 EPA/Play (3rd). He threw only 11 interceptions all year, and even limited himself to nine fumbles (only two lost), his best year on that front.

CPOE wasn't tracked until 2006, but I'm willing to bet that a 69.2 completion percentage in 2004 would put him somewhere between seven and nine, a mark that nobody in the NFL has achieved since 2020 Aaron Rodgers. Daunte's 8.02 ANY/A would've led the NFL in 2003, or 2005, or 2006, but that pesky 2004 Peyton Manning gets in the way again, and so Daunte finishes second in that metric too.

Let me repeat myself again. Daunte Culpepper was extremely unlucky to have his career year at the time that he did. In 2004, the Vikings' defence ranked 31st in EPA/Play. The very next year they ranked 17th. The year after they ranked 3rd. Had Daunte just waited a few more years, he could've won 13 games easily with this performance level, and he would've got his MVP award.

I know what you're probably saying. Absolutely no way that can be true. The 2004 Minnesota Vikings finished 8-8. Are these not just empty numbers for a bad team? Not at all. The Vikings did lose seven out of ten games after a 5-1 start. That is true. At the time this was called a "worrying trend," but let me show you something. I've never heard this brought up about Daunte's 2004 before, yet I think it's extremely important to the narrative.

In the first seven weeks of 2004, Daunte generated 0.40 EPA/Play. In the last nine, he generated 0.207. A slight downturn yes, but 0.207 EPA/Play still would've ranked Daunte eighth that year, so we know the downturn wasn't his fault. What happened then?

Here is a list of the opposing QBs for the Vikings' eight wins in order: 2004 version of Vinny Testaverde, Rex Grossman, David Carr, Aaron Brooks, Billy Volek, Joey Harrington 2x, and Byron Leftwich. Make no mistake. There are some good names in here. Aaron Brooks and David Carr both had career years in 2004, but this is undoubtedly a cast of characters that Daunte could beat singlehandedly.

Here is a list of the opposing QBs for the Vikings' eight losses: Chad Hutchinson, Patrick Ramsey (even Superman has to take days off), Donovan McNabb, Kurt Warner, Matt Hasselbeck, Brett Favre 2x, and Peyton Manning.

You see the difference?

I view Daunte Culpepper's 2004 season as the ultimate test of how far one man can carry a very bad football team. I have 2004 Daunte Culpepper as the sixth best QB since the play tracking era began in 1999, trailing only 2004 Peyton Manning (you again!), 2007 Tom Brady, 2011 Aaron Rodgers, 2013 Peyton Manning, and 2018 Patrick Mahomes. Those seasons led their teams to 12-4, 16-0, 15-1, 13-3, and 12-4 records respectively, and yet here's our boy Daunte at 8-8.

Nonetheless, Daunte has dragged this awful Minnesota team to a playoff spot, despite their bottom three defence. He is one of only five QBs to ever do this. The others are Daunte Culpepper again (2000), Peyton Manning (2006), Philip Rivers (2013), and Matthew Stafford (2016). This is some pretty elite company to be in. Evidenced by the fact that all except one (Stafford) actually win their first playoff game despite the terrible team behind them. Peyton Manning actually carries that 2006 team all the way to the Super Bowl (a season I will be writing about eventually).

Now it's 2004 Daunte's turn. This is his chance to prove that this really was one of the best QB seasons of all time, not just some big empty numbers. To do this he'll have to join the others in carrying his bad football team to a playoff win. To get this done, Daunte will have to go back to Lambeau for his third crack at Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers.

Now, I know that I just gave this game a big buildup, but there just isn't much to say about it. Going into Green Bay as six point road underdogs, Minnesota really stink up the show in this one. For just this one week, they show what they could've been.

After not allowing an opening drive score for once, the Vikings are the ones to pull out a quick 14-0 lead. From here, it's essentially over. There is no catching Daunte Culpepper with a 14 point lead. The Vikings are up 24-10 by half, and at no point does their win probability fall below 75 percent in the second half of this 31-17 win on the road in Green Bay.

The mystique of Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers had been hurt really bad by Michael Vick in 2002, but this game right here is what killed it for good. Green Bay got killed on their home field again, and would go on to draft Aaron Rodgers next offseason. Meanwhile, Daunte and his Vikings are on to another rematch, in Philadelphia against the Eagles.

In a game that was not as lopsided as it looks, the Vikings would lose 27-14 to the Eagles in the next round of the playoffs. That was it for the sixth best QB season since 1999. I wish it could've been more exciting for Daunte's sake but the Vikings were just overmatched and lost. The 2004 Eagles were a juggernaut that couldn't be stopped. The next week they'd beat Michael Vick and the second seeded Falcons even worse than this. I don't think there's anything Daunte could've done.

So what more is there to say about Daunte Culpepper? I can again remark on his bad luck of having his best year at the same time 2004 Peyton Manning was happening. I can list off his ridiculous stats again. I can make yet another comment about how awful the 2004 Vikings were. I suspect without Daunte they would've been a four win team or worse.

A lot of people like to sum up the career of Daunte Culpepper in an unfairly succinct way. Normally it goes like this: "hot start. Madden curse. Great 2004. Knee injuries." While it is true that he got off to a great start in 2000, then fell victim to the Madden curse, to brush off this 2004 in two words is dramatically unfair.

In our modern discourse, people speak of 2019 Lamar Jackson, a season much worse than this that got lucky and won MVP, as if it was the best thing since sliced bread and singlehandedly makes it valid that he's the highest paid player in the league right now (click here for an explanation of why I find that sentiment egregiously untrue). Where was the same love for Daunte? He did not win the MVP award, but that's in no way his fault. I don't see an appropriate amount of love for Daunte in modern Minnesota fandom.

Tell me this Minnesota fans. Do you love Daunte Culpepper as much as Jets fans love Chad Pennington? Chad was a great QB who had a case for MVP in 2002, but never had a season near as good as this one. If the answer is no, then you guys are slacking and I need to see more Daunte Culpepper love.

In the wake of this 2004 season, Daunte was never the same. He would be quite bad for the first third of 2005 before getting his knee torn apart. After this, he would show flashes of the man he once was, including being respectably okay for an extremely bad 2007 Raiders team, but he never could get it back. 2004 Daunte was gone forever.

What if 2004 Daunte could've held on for a little bit longer? Imagine what could've happened for the Vikings as their defence turned around in 2006 and 2007. What about a Daunte Culpepper Adrian Peterson pairing? Would Daunte have worked in the 2009 Brett Favre spot? Daunte was been 32 years old in 2009 (unbelievably, he's younger than Tom Brady). It's hardly even a stretch.

Instead, Daunte retired at the close of the 2009 season. Never again to carry the weight of greatness on his shoulders the way he did in 2004, but I hope he remembers this season fondly. He deserves to.

2004 will forever be remembered as Peyton Manning's year, but now we all know he wasn't the only QB having an all time great season. Spare a thought for Daunte Culpepper. The man without a year.