NFL Recap (Chicago-Minnesota)
Posted: Mon December 7, 1998 at 1:22 a.m EST
MINNESOTA 48, CHICAGO 22
MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Randy Moss set a
single-season rookie record for touchdown catches as the Minnesota Vikings
continued their roll, racing to a 27-point halftime lead and clinching the
NFC Central Division title with a 48-22 rout of the Chicago Bears.
Moss caught three more touchdown passes from Randall Cunningham and
finished with eight receptions for 106 yards. The star wideout set the NFL
mark for first-year players with 14 TD catches, one better than John
Jefferson of the 1979 San
Diego Chargers and Billy Howton of the 1952 Green Bay Packers.
"Week in and week out, I go out there and do my job. My job is to
catch touchdowns," Moss declared. "I think that all my individual goals I
will probably sit down and look at when the season is over. But right now,
I am trying to do whatever I can to get to the Super Bowl."
Making seven catches for 72 yards and two scores, Moss helped the
Vikings build a 27-0 halftime lead en route to their fifth straight win.
Cunningham completed 18-of-22 passes for 275 yards and three of his
four touchdowns in the opening 30 minutes, during which the Vikings held
the Bears to just 10 total yards.
"I am content with what we are doing as a team, but I am not
satisfied," Cunningham said. "Maybe a Super Bowl will satisfy me."
It was the second straight week that Moss, a lock for Rookie of the
Year honors, pulled in three TD grabs. On Thanksgiving, he had three
touchdown catches -- all for more than 50 yards -- in a 46-36 win over
Dallas.
That effort came four days after Moss terrorized Green Bay for eight
catches, 153 yards and a score in a 28-14 victory. He is the first rookie
since 1960 to go over 100 yards receiving in three straight games.
"The guy is an exceptional athlete and great player," Cunningham said
of Moss. "He is getting more humble each week, but he is a confident kid.
He should be Rookie of the Year."
Cunningham was 21-of-31 for 349 yards as the Vikings clinched their
first division title since 1994, ended the three-year reign of the Packers
and remained one game in front of Atlanta for home-field advantage
throughout the postseason. Minnesota (12-1), which owns a 7-0 home record,
also clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Leroy Hoard,
starting in place of injured halfback Robert Smith, had one
touchdown rushing and another receiving as the Vikings tied a franchise
record with their 12th win of the season, a mark previously reached four
times under former coach Bud Grant. They can set the team mark next week
with a win in Baltimore.
The only bad news for the Vikings was the loss of superstar wide
receiver Cris Carter, the
mentor to Moss. Carter suffered a strained right calf in the opening
minutes and saw his streak of consecutive games with a reception end at
111, a run which started on November 3rd, 1991.
"We had Cris, we had Jake (Reed) and Robert Smith out, and that was
three key weapons out," Moss explained. "The other guys really had to step
it up today. Myself, Leroy Hoard and really everybody as a team had to step
it up because three key guys were out."
"We had hoped to win the division, but our main objective was to keep
winning," Cunningham added. "If you would have told me we would lose our
starting quarterback (Brad
Johnson), starting running back and two wide receivers, and that we
would be 12-1, I would not believe you."
Steve Stenstrom
threw for one score and ran for another as Chicago (3-10) suffered its
fifth straight defeat. The Bears, who have lost four in a row to the
Vikings, have given up 145 points during their current five-game skid.
It seemed apparent from the start that Minnesota would coast to its
eighth straight home win. On the first play from scrimmage, Cunningham
connected with Moe
Williams on a screen pass and he rumbled 64 yards to the 12. Two plays
later, Cunningham hit Moss over the middle for a six-yard score.
After the Bears went three-and-out, Minnesota drove 66 yards in nine
plays and grabbed a 14-0 lead as Hoard pulled in a 24-yard TD toss from
Cunningham. Hoard finished with 69 yards on 19 carries and another 63 on
four catches.
"I am trying to hold down the fort until Robert gets back. Nothing
more, nothing less," Hoard said. "This is just the first step. You have to
get the first step to get to the second step. A division championship is
nice, but it is only the first step."
Gary Anderson
booted field goals of 30 and 20 yards on the Vikings' next two possessions
to build a 20-0 cushion. Anderson has hit all 23 of his attempts this
season and 28 in a row overall, three shy of the all-time record set by
former Viking Fuad Reveiz from 1994-95.
Minnesota scored for the fifth time in its six possessions of the
first half as Cunningham hit Moss in the front left corner of the end zone
for a three-yard TD with 18 seconds to go before halftime.
"We have such a great group of football players," said Vikings coach
Dennis Green. "We work well together, we are very competitive, we have a
great chemistry on this football team. I think that we are very fortunate,
too."
Defensive tackle John
Randle had 1 1/2 sacks in the opening 30 minutes, increasing his
team-best season total to 8.5. His effort helped limit Chicago to two
first downs in the first half. During that same span, the Vikings had 16
first downs and controlled the clock for over 20 minutes.
"I think it was pretty obvious to everybody that you can't come up
here and fall behind a good football team and expect to overcome it," said
Bears coach Dave Waanstedt. "In the first half, we dug ourselves a hole.
They hit us on both sides of the ball and we got behind, and that was the
ballgame."
Chicago got on the board on its first drive of the second half as
Stenstrom threw a 47-yard touchdown bomb to Bobby Engram, cutting the
deficit to 27-7.
Minnesota answered just 79 seconds later as Moss outraced cornerback
Walt Harris to the end
zone, making a 34-yard TD catch with 12:14 left in the third quarter.
Harris picked off Cunningham later in the period and that led to a
five-yard touchdown run by Edgar Bennett that pulled
Chicago within 34-14.
But the Vikings responded with another 66-yard drive, capped by
Hoard's eight-yard scamper up the middle with 11:31 left in the game. The
Vikings' defense poured more salt on the wound less than six minutes later.
Stenstrom drove the Bears to the Vikings 7, but he fumbled on fourth
down and linebacker Dwayne
Rudd scooped up the loose ball and went 94 yards for the score and a
48-14 lead.
Stenstrom, who had a meaningless four-yard touchdown run with 2:38 to
play, finished 25-of-42 for 303 yards and an interception. Engram had nine
receptions for 140 yards.
"Obviously, they are very talented," Engram said of the Vikings. "They
wouldn't be 12-1 if they're not talented."
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