EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- A dark mood is permeating the Minnesota Vikings' headquarters after their sorrowful start has saddled them in the NFC Central cellar.

	Randy Moss has grown very frustrated by the Vikings' 2-3 start.

"My spirit is crushed," said Jimmy Hitchcock, speaking for plenty of his teammates who chose not to dwell on the team's troubles Monday.

And you can imagine how fellow cornerback Ramos McDonald feels. He was benched midway through the Vikings' 24-22 loss to Chicago after repeatedly getting burned by the Bears.

The Vikings (2-3) still can't believe they lost Sunday.

Kicker Gary Anderson went 5-for-5, Robert Smith had his first 100-yard rushing game and Randall Cunningham threw for 320 yards. The Bears missed three field goals, their starting quarterback left with a pulled hamstring and their best running back was limited to 2.4 yards per carry.

But the Bears turned five turnovers, including two fumbles by rookie tight end Jim Kleinsasser, into three touchdowns. And it wasn't until their eighth trip inside the Chicago 25 that the Vikings finally reached the end zone.

The loss left the Vikings with their worst record after five weeks in coach Dennis Green's eight seasons.

Fans are calling for Cunningham's head. After throwing 10 interceptions all of last year, he has been picked off eight times. Plus, he's playing on a hip that was injured in Week 1.

"Right now is not a time to lose confidence," Cunningham said.

	Randall Cunningham Quarterback Minnesota Vikings Profile
	1999 SEASON STATISTICS COMP ATT YDS TD INT RAT 114 185 1397 8 8 81.3

That's precisely Green's philosophy.

If there's any urge at all to replace Cunningham with backup Jeff George, Green is resisting it.

"If we replace a guy, we replace a guy because he couldn't carry his own water, his own load, and couldn't uphold his end of the bargain," Green said. "I don't think we have any guys like that on our offense."

The Vikings' mantra all season has been that last year's 15-1 joyride is history, but they never figured they'd start out like this.

"I never thought we'd be in this situation," Hitchcock said. "I know a lot of people are going to be picking us apart this week. What we're going to do in here is pull closer together, come out and work harder."

Chris Walsh, who scored Minnesota's only touchdown with just two seconds left, said the Vikings aren't in panic mode yet.

"As much as we'd like to be playing better, we're only five games into the season," he reasoned. "We're a family here. We're very close. We'll put things together, and we'll be all right."

Last season, the Vikings never scored fewer than 24 points, a total they haven't managed to even reach this year.

"We need somebody to step up," said Randy Moss, who hollered on the sideline for more passes. "We need something to happen to get us back on track."

As if there weren't enough disorder for the Vikings and their fans to worry about, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said Moss's agent has contacted him about the star receiver trying his hand in the NBA sometime.

Moss, who declined to comment on the matter Monday, sprained an ankle playing basketball last year, and according to Green, it hampered his play throughout his stellar rookie season.