NFL Recap (Minnesota-Chicago)
Posted: Sun September 27, 1998 at 8:55 p.m. EDT
MINNESOTA 31, CHICAGO 28
CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Randall Cunningham erased an
11-point second-half deficit with three of his four touchdown passes as the
Minnesota Vikings set
up next week's battle of undefeated Central Division teams with a 31-28
victory over the Chicago
Bears.
Chicago led 21-10 at halftime before Cunningham found tight end Andrew Glover from 19
yards out and Cris Carter
on a 35-yarder, giving the Vikings a 24-21 advantage. Cunningham's 44-yard
TD strike to rookie Randy
Moss five minutes into the fourth quarter increased the lead to 31-21.
"I knew it would be tough here today," Cunningham said. "You never go
into someone else's stadium thinking you'll score 31 points."
In his second week as starter following the injury to Brad Johnson, Cunningham
completed 16-of-27 passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns. His 67-yard
TD pass to running back Robert Smith 2:17 into the
game opened the scoring.
Minnesota (4-0) has won its first four games for the second time in
three seasons, setting up next Monday night's game with the unbeaten Green Bay Packers (4-0).
"We feel great," said Vikings coach Dennis Green. "They've all been
battles. We haven't had an easy time of it."
The Bears (0-4) led at halftime for the fourth straight game but still
fell to 0-4 for the second straight season. They have outscored opponents,
58-24 in the first half but have been outscored, 75-20 in the second,
including 44-0 in the third quarter.
Chicago answered Cunningham's 67-yard screen pass to Smith with a
seven-play, 84-yard drive, capped by Erik Kramer's 33-yard TD
pass to Bobby Engram.
While setting career highs with 372 yards passing and four TDs, Kramer
threw for the fourth highest passing total in franchise history, completing
25-of-39 passes. Engram set personal bests with 123 yards receiving and
two scores.
Kramer finished off a pair of long first-half drives with two more TD
strikes, a 23-yarder to Chris Penn and a
four-yarder to Engram, giving the Bears their biggest lead, 21-10 with 4:18
left.
Chicago dominated play in the first half, totaling 15 first downs and
257 yards of total offense, including 208 yards passing and three scores
from Kramer.
David Palmer woke
up the Vikings in the second half, setting up their first TD with a 53-yard
punt return. Cunningham capped the 34-yard drive five plays later with his
19-yard strike to Glover, cutting the deficit to 21-17.
"The field position got us," said Chicago coach Dave Wannstedt. "We've
got to find a way. They returned a punt. They returned a kickoff. The
field position killed us, particularly in the second half."
The Bears immediately embarked on a 14-play drive but Kramer's
second-down pass intended for Fabien Bownes at the
goal-line was deflected and intercepted by Corey Fuller, who returned
the ball to the Minnesota 36 yard line.
"The interception down in the red zone to take away the points was the
biggest play of the game," Green said.
"Cory made a great play, probably the biggest play on defense today,"
added Smith.
Cunningham took advantage, throwing on each down in the ensuing
four-play drive, culminated by a 35-yard TD to Carter with 1:44 left in the
third quarter, giving the Vikings a 24-21 edge.
After holding Chicago to a total of one first down on the next two
possessions, Minnesota needed just one play to grab a 10-point lead. Moss
atoned for a 15-yard clipping penalty on the Vikings' previous drive by
hauling in Cunningham's 44-yard bomb.
"Randall made a nice play," Moss said. "We had the wind in our favor
and it kind of held it up. The ball was thrown my way and I had to jump up
and get it."
The Bears got to within a field goal with 1:53 left, chewing up 82
yards in just 45 seconds. Kramer completed 5-of-6 passes on the drive,
connecting with tight end Ryan Wetnight from 19
yards out on 3rd-and-7.
"It's real simple," Wannstedt said. "They made three plays in the
second half and we didn't make any plays. Anybody who has seen Minnesota
play and, we talked about it, knows they throw the ball up and make big
plays."
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