St. Paul, Minn. ? The Minnesota Vikings are now in a holding pattern until 2006.

That’s when they’ll have a new set of coaches. That’s when they’ll know Daunte Culpepper’s true status. That’s when they’ll have someone in place to oversee talent evaluation and personnel decisions. That’s when they’ll know the direction they want to take.

The remaining nine games of the 2005 season amount to an exercise in killing time.

The final blow to this stillborn season was the Culpepper injury. Daunte Culpepper is the Vikings. He has become their identity.

The team hadn’t been doing well, but as long as Culpepper was on the field, it had hope. There always was a chance he would do something superhuman. And that’s what it takes for the Vikings to win this season, something superhuman.

Culpepper also was a critical factor in the locker room. It’s obvious that not all the Vikings buy into what Mike Tice and his assistant coaches have to say. Tice has his share of detractors among the players. Culpepper was not among them. That went a long way toward keeping the peace.

Expect more sniping and more public questioning of strategy from this point forward. The 2005 Vikings never got off the launching pad. Perhaps they’ll defeat Detroit this Sunday. Maybe they’ll beat Cleveland down the road. Other than that, it looks pretty grim.

These Vikings are mentally weak. It is their overriding characteristic. And it has everybody baffled, including the coach. The offseason acquisitions were supposed to toughen everybody up.

Culpepper, however, was mentally and physically tough. He always appeared personally insulted after a defeat. Unfortunately, he was getting a lot of criticism because the team wasn’t winning. But he’s had to be a one-man show, carrying the Vikings on his back to their two victories.

The line leaks. The running game hasn’t materialized. The receivers can’t get open.

“Boooo, Daunte.”

One theory is that Culpepper and the Vikings wouldn’t be struggling if Randy Moss were still in town. The problem was that Moss wanted out. He wanted to be traded. He had had enough of the Minnesota Vikings and made that clear to management.

Moss was disruptive when he was agreeable to being in Minnesota. Can you imagine what he’d be like if he were held here against his will? The Vikings didn’t have to trade him. But it was an even greater risk keeping him here in the wrong frame of mind.

Nine games left. It’s going to seem like 20. There are going to be a lot of red-faced, buggy-eyed, migraine-suffering fans before those nine games have passed. It’s better they come to grips with reality. Everyone is killing time before starting over in 2006.

Clearly this is a lame-duck coaching staff. Tice and company likely will not be here in 2006. However, I don’t think their Vikings experience will taint any of them as far as future employment. Hanging in and working hard to the bitter end, knowing their days probably are numbered, should earn them a great deal of respect around the league.

Meanwhile, many of the players probably couldn’t care less whether the coaches come or go. As long as the checks keep coming, they’ll be happy. Maybe the next regime won’t be so hung up on that mental toughness thing.

This team used to belong to Cris Carter and Robert Smith. Then it belonged to Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper. Now, with Culpepper out, it has no identity. No public face. Maybe it doesn’t deserve one.