The 1998 Season

Note: 1998 was the second season that I wrote down thoughts the entire year. Therefore, the 1998 season summary will come in multiple additions to my blog. Unfortunately, my hard drive crashed after 1998 and with no backups, some of the 1998 season is basically recaps. Today's 1998 entry will be Week 5, at Green Bay thoughts.

Week Five: at Green Bay; Vikes 37, Packers 24

Rookie Randy Moss terrorized the Packers' secondary for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Minnesota Vikings obliterated Green Bay's 25-game home winning streak with a convincing 37-24 victory.

It was a breakout game for Moss, the 21st overall pick in this year's draft. The embattled 21-year-old, who scared away 19 teams due to off-the-field problems, caught 5 passes and had little trouble getting open. He leads the league with 6 receiving TDs and 463 yards.

"I think I showed tonight that I could play at this level of competition," Moss said. "I'm not surprised at the success I've had so far."

Unaffected by a game-long downpour, Randall Cunningham threw for 4 touchdowns — 3 in the second quarter — and the Vikings' defense stifled Brett Favre in a battle of NFC Central unbeatens.

Cunningham threw scoring strikes to Moss, Jake Reed and running back Robert Smith as the high-octane Vikings (5-0) amassed 265 yards in the second quarter en route to a 24-10 halftime lead. Cunningham completed 19 of 30 passes for 442 yards, the most ever against the Packers (4-1). He surpassed the old mark of 411 yards, set in 1990 by Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers.

"This was the greatest night of my career," said Cunningham. "To come in here and win at Lambeau, where no one ever wins, and to do what we did against the No. 1 defense in the league was amazing."

Cris Carter had 8 catches for 119 yards and Reed grabbed 4 for 89.

"It was a great game by Randall, but our offensive line did a great job and our receivers made some great plays on balls he threw downfield," Carter said.

The offensive line held the Packers without a sack and bottled up All-Pro defensive end Reggie White, who was held without a solo tackle.

"We couldn't stop them," confessed Packers coach Mike Holmgren. “They had 450 yards passing, that's an incredible number."

Favre's worst game in recent memory came on the heels of one of his best. He completed just 13 of 23 passes for 114 yards and 3 interceptions, 2 by safety Robert Griffith. Eight days ago, Favre tied his own team record with 5 touchdowns in a blowout victory over Carolina.

Against Minnesota, he passed for only 26 yards in the second half before being yanked midway through the final quarter for Doug Pederson, who threw 2 meaningless TD passes after the Vikings had things well in hand.

"We could sit here and blame it on a lot of things — the conditions were terrible and all that stuff — but they handled them well, that's what's kind of frustrating," Favre said.

The 35-year-old Cunningham, who was out of football two years ago, has thrown for a league-leading 13 touchdowns since taking over for injured starter Brad Johnson in the season's second game.

The Packers also had their 18-game home winning streak against NFC Central foes snapped with their first setback at Lambeau Field since Sept. 3, 1995, against the St. Louis Rams.

Griffith led the defensive charge for the Vikings, who had surrendered a combined 59 points in road wins at Chicago and St. Louis.

Minnesota gave the Packers a taste of what was to come on its first possession, when Cunningham and Moss provided some short-lived excitement with an 85-yard touchdown that was nullified by a holding penalty.

The Vikings settled for a 33-yard field goal by Gary Anderson.

Seven seconds into the second quarter, Ryan Longwell countered with a 40-yard field goal, the only points the Green Bay offense scored until the final period.

But with 12:09 left, Cunningham underthrew a pass of some 30 yards on the right sideline. Reed slowed to make the catch, then shook off cornerback Craig Newsome's attempted tackle and jogged the last 20 yards into the end zone for a 56-yard score. It was his 27th career TD catch and first this season.

The seven-point lead lasted exactly 17 seconds, which was how long it took Roell Preston to pick up a wall of blockers and dash down the left sideline for a 101-yard kickoff return that made it 10-10.

The quarter belonged to Cunningham and Minnesota thereafter.

Another designed underthrow netted the Vikings a 17-10 lead 5:04 into the second. This time, Cunningham thew down the left sideline, where Moss outjumped cornerback Tyrone Williams and avoided safety Darren Sharper en route to 52-yard touchdown.

After the Vikes' defense stuffed Green Bay's William Henderson on fourth-and-1 at the 35, Minnesota got on the board again. A 41-yard catch by Moss highlighted the 65-yard drive, which culminated when Smith took a screen pass 24 yards for a TD and a 24-10 advantage.

Smith caught 2 passes in addition to rushing for 78 yards on 25 carries.

Minnesota dominated in all aspects in the first half. The Vikings totaled 330 yards — 282 through the air — while holding Green Bay to only 119.Cunningham was 13-of-19.

Trailing 27-10 early in the third quarter, the Packers looked to be making a move. But on third down from the Vikings 20, their drive came to an abrupt halt when a strong wind allowed Griffith to intercept Favre's fluttery pass to a wide-open Antonio Freeman in the end zone.

"We really played well tonight, especially our defensive line," said Griffith, who leads the NFL with 5 interceptions. "They really took it to Favre and took away his reads."

Moss and Cunningham capped the Vikes' scoring with a 44-yard connection 4:44 into the final quarter.

Pederson threw scoring passes of 11 and 16 yards to Tyrone Davis and Bill Schroeder, respectively.

Posted by maasx003 at November 18, 2004 8:09 AM