Falcons 22, Chargers 16
SAN DIEGO — Matt Ryan, Michael Turner and the rest of the Atlanta Falcons are very much alive in the playoff picture.
The San Diego Chargers, once thought to be Super Bowl worthy, are on life support.
Ryan, the rookie from Boston College, threw two touchdown passes and Turner, LaDainian Tomlinson’s former understudy, ran for 120 yards against his former team to lead the Falcons over the reeling Chargers.
The Falcons (8-4 ), one of the NFL’s most surprising teams behind rookie Coach Mike Smith, remained a game behind Tampa Bay and Carolina in the NFC South.
San Diego (4-8 ) lost for the fifth time in six games. They came into the day two games behind Denver in the anemic AFC West. Many fans had cleared out by the final gun, and those who remained booed as Ryan took a knee to end the game.
Ryan completed 17 of 23 passes for 207 yards. Turner carried 31 times in his sixth 100-yard game of the season. He was allowed to leave San Diego as an unrestricted free agent after last season.
Tomlinson, the two-time defending NFL rushing champion, was held to 24 yards on 14 carries.
Atlanta lost three fumbles, leading to all of San Diego’s points.
San Diego had only 100 yards at halftime, then had one just possession in the third quarter for 23 more yards.
The Chargers did score a touchdown in the third quarter, thanks to the defense.
With the Falcons trying to add to a 15-7 lead, rookie quarterback Matt Ryan completed a pass to Brian Finneran, who turned upfield and was hit by Quentin Jammer and fumbled.
Safety Eric Weddle, who’d been called for a big pass interference penalty on the drive, scooped up the ball and raced 86 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown. Ryan shoved referee Mike Carey out of the way as he chased Weddle.
Atlanta challenged, but the play was upheld after replay. Philip Rivers’ 2-point conversion pass to Malcom Floyd failed.
Ryan threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide-open Harry Douglas in the left corner of the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 22-13 lead.
Jamaal Anderson (Little Rock Parkview, Arkansas Razorbacks ) blocked a 43-yard field-goal attempt by Nate Kaeding early in the fourth quarter. After the Chargers got the ball back on Turner’s fumble, Kaeding kicked a 28-yarder to pull the Chargers to 22-16.
The Chargers got a gift late in the first quarter when Douglas muffed a punt and Anthony Waters recovered at the 20-yard line. Three plays later, Tomlinson scored from the 3-yard line for a 7-3 lead, then tossed the ball high into the air in celebration.
Jason Elam kicked his second field goal, from 40 yards, before the Falcons went ahead 13-7 on an 18-yard TD catch by tight end Justin Peelle, who played with the Chargers from 2002-2005.
San Diego started its next drive on the 8, and a false start and a 3-yard loss by Tomlinson put the ball on the 1. Rivers dropped back to pass under heavy pressure and was whistled for intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety, giving Atlanta a 15-7 lead. Atlanta................... 6 9 0 7 — 22 San Diego.............. 7 0 6 3 — 16 First Quarter Atl—FG Elam 35, 5: 56. SD—Tomlinson 3 run (Kaeding kick ), 1: 41. Atl—FG Elam 40,: 00. Second Quarter Atl—Peelle 18 pass from Ryan (Elam kick ), 9: 24. Atl—Abraham safety, 7: 54. Third Quarter SD—Weddle 86 fumble return (pass failed ), 12: 08. Fourth Quarter Atl—Douglas 5 pass from Ryan (Elam kick ), 14: 56. SD—FG Kaeding 28, 5: 15. Attendance—67, 200.
Atl SD First downs................................. 20 13 Total Net Yards........................... 348 201 Rushes-yards.......................... 43-141 19-70 Passing....................................... 207 131 Punt Returns............................. 2-32 1-12 Kickoff Returns......................... 5-87 4-75 Interceptions Ret......................... 0-0 0-0 Comp-Att-Int........................... 17-23-0 17-30-0 Sacked-Yards Lost...................... 0-0 3-18 Punts........................................ 2-53. 0 4-43. 5 Fumbles-Lost.............................. 3-3 1-0 Penalties-Yards......................... 3-20 9-84 Time of Possession.................. 34: 58 25: 02 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Atlanta, Turner 31-120, Norwood 4-18, Mughelli 3-5, Snelling 1-1, Ryan 4- (minus 3 ). San Diego, Hester 1-28, Tomlinson 14-24, Rivers 4-18. PASSING—Atlanta, Ryan 17-23-0-207. San Diego, Rivers 17-30-0-149. RECEIVING—Atlanta, White 6-112, Peelle 3-38, Douglas 3-13, Finneran 2-14, Norwood 2-8, Jenkins 1-22. San Diego, Floyd 5-59, Tomlinson 5-42, Gates 3-27, Hester 3-19, Chambers 1-2. MISSED FIELD GOAL—San Diego, Kaeding 43 (BK ). Steelers 33, Patriots 10
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Pittsburgh’s NFL-best defense stopped Matt Cassel’s two-game offensive surge and pushed New England closer to strange territory: a sideline seat for the playoffs.
The Steelers held the Patriots to 267 yards, got two touchdown passes from Ben Roethlisberger and four field goals from Jeff Reed and beat the Patriots on a cold, rainy Sunday.
Cassel lost two fumbles and two interceptions in the second half and was sacked five times after throwing for at least 400 yards in his past two contests. He was 19 for 39 for © yards and no touchdowns against Pittsburgh, which has held all 12 opponents under 300 yards.
In the second half, the Steelers outscored the Patriots 23-0 and gave up just 81 yards.
Pittsburgh (9-3 ) stayed a game ahead of second-place Baltimore in the AFC North. New England (7-5 ) dropped into a second-place tie in the AFC East with Miami and fell a game behind the Ravens and Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card race. Pittsburgh............... 3 7 13 10 — 33 New England........... 7 3 0 0 — 10 First Quarter NE—Morris 2 run (Gostkowski kick ), 12: 01. Pit—FG Reed 20, 2: 51. Second Quarter NE—FG Gostkowski 29, 6: 48. Pit—Holmes 19 pass from Roethlisberger (Reed kick ), 1: 55. Third Quarter Pit—FG Reed 25, 5: 39. Pit—Ward 11 pass from Roethlisberger (Reed kick ), 5: 04. Pit—FG Reed 20, 2: 50. Fourth Quarter Pit—FG Reed 45, 5: 43. Pit—Russell 1 run (Reed kick ), 2: 44. Attendance—68, 756.
Pit NE First downs................................. 19 19 Total Net Yards........................... 333 267 Rushes-yards.......................... 34-161 20-122 Passing....................................... 172 145 Punt Returns............................. 2-29 2-0 Kickoff Returns......................... 3-65 8-157 Interceptions Ret...................... 2-112 1-5 Comp-Att-Int........................... 17-33-1 19-39-2 Sacked-Yards Lost...................... 1-7 5-24 Punts........................................ 3-38. 3 4-43. 3 Fumbles-Lost.............................. 2-0 3-3 Penalties-Yards......................... 8-88 6-45 Time of Possession.................. 35: 05 24: 55 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Pittsburgh, Parker 16-87, Moore 12-67, Roethlisberger 3-6, Russell 3-1. New England, Faulk 6-73, Morris 10-45, Green-Ellis 2-3, Cassel 2-1. PASSING—Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger 17-33-1-179. New England, Cassel 19-39-2-©. RECEIVING—Pittsburgh, Ward 5-37, Miller 4-60, Washington 3-41, Holmes 2-28, Moore 2-9, Spaeth 1-4. New England, Faulk 7-48, Moss 4-45, Welker 4-30, Green-Ellis 1-20, Morris 1-12, Watson 1-12, Gaffney 1-2. MISSED FIELD GOALS—Pittsburgh, Reed 40 (WL ). New England, Gostkowski 27 (WR ). Chiefs 20, Raiders 13
OAKLAND, Calif. — Tyler Thigpen put together one effective drive for Kansas City to beat Oakland in a matchup between two of the NFL’s worst teams.
Thigpen engineered a 91-yard drive that was capped by Larry Johnson’s 2-yard tiebreaking touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to lead the Chiefs to their second victory in their past 21 games.
Kansas City (2-10 ) scored its first touchdown on Maurice Leggett’s 67-yard fumble return on a botched fake field goal by Oakland (3-9 ).
With the Chiefs locked in a 10-all tie and backed up to their own 9 following a punt, Thigpen got the offense moving to earn his first victory in seven career NFL starts. He got Kansas City started with a 23-yard pass to Tony Gonzalez and threw to the tight end twice more for 28 yards on the drive.
Thigpen also ran for 24 yards on scrambles and designed draws to set up Johnson’s run that made it 17-10.
After a fumble by Justin Fargas on Oakland’s next drive, Thigpen ran it 25 yards to set up Connor Barth’s second field goal.
Thigpen finished 15 for 22 for 162 yards and ran for 48 more. After Sebastian Janikowski’s 51-yard field goal cut the lead to 20-13 with 2: 55 remaining, Thigpen connected on a 12-yard pass to Dwayne Bowe for a first down that helped Kansas City run out the clock.
Gonzalez added eight catches for 110 yards, and Larry Johnson ran for 92 yards on 24 carries.
After allowing a franchise-worst 54 points in a loss to Buffalo last week, the Chiefs managed to shut down a Raiders team that scored 31 to beat Denver a week ago. Oakland’s only touchdown came on a 1-yard drive following Chris Johnson’s 44-yard interception return.
The Raiders managed just three points on three trips inside the Kansas City 30, as the offense reverted to its form before the Denver game. Oakland had gone 15 quarters without an offensive touchdown.
JaMarcus Russell went 10 for 28 for 132 yards.
The loss assured the Raiders of their sixth consecutive losing record since going to the Super Bowl following the 2002 season and was the sixth loss in eight games under interim coach Tom Cable.
It was a decision by Cable that put the Raiders in an early hole, as he called for a fake field goal on fourth-and-10 early in the second quarter. Holder Shane Lechler took the snap and threw an errant pitch to kicker Sebastian Janikowski. Leggett scooped up the loose ball and ran 67 yards for the score to give Kansas City a 10-3 lead. That helped the Chiefs win for the sixth consecutive time in Oakland. Kansas City had won just one game since beating the Raiders 12-10 at the Coliseum on Oct. 21, 2007. The Chiefs’ only other victory since then came at home against Denver in September. The Raiders used many different looks on offense, with Darren McFadden (Pulaski Oak Grove, Razorbacks ) lining up at receiver and quarterback and even taking a pitch from Ronald Curry after a short pass for a hook-and-lateral to set up a field goal on Oakland’s first possession. But the Raiders couldn’t manage much else on offense. Kansas City............. 3 7 0 10 — 20 Oakland................. 3 0 7 3 — 13 First Quarter Oak—FG Janikowski 25, 7: 52. KC—FG Barth 38, 1: 07. Second Quarter KC—Leggett 67 fumble return (Barth kick ), 11: 57. Third Quarter Oak—Fargas 1 run (Janikowski kick ), 11: 13. Fourth Quarter KC—L. Johnson 2 run (Barth kick ), 13: 43. KC—FG Barth 27, 8: 54. Oak—FG Janikowski 51, 2: 55. Attendance—61, 379.
KC Oak First downs................................. 17 14 Total Net Yards........................... 301 271 Rushes-yards.......................... 37-145 29-139 Passing....................................... 156 132 Punt Returns............................... 1-2 1-0 Kickoff Returns......................... 2-39 5-103 Interceptions Ret......................... 0-0 1-44 Comp-Att-Int........................... 15-22-1 10-28-0 Sacked-Yards Lost...................... 1-6 0-0 Punts........................................ 5-40. 4 4-43. 3 Fumbles-Lost.............................. 1-0 3-2 Penalties-Yards......................... 6-57 5-39 Time of Possession.................. 35: 11 24: 49 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Kansas City, L. Johnson 24-92, Thigpen 11-48, Charles 2-5. Oakland, Fargas 18-82, Russell 2-37, McFadden 7-13, Higgins 1-7, Lechler 1-0. PASSING—Kansas City, Thigpen 15-22-1-162. Oakland, Russell 10-28-0-132. RECEIVING—Kansas City, Gonzalez 8-110, Bowe 2-27, Charles 1-15, Franklin 1-4, Cottam 1-2, Cox 1-2, Darling 1-2. Oakland, Z. Miller 5-79, McFadden 3-50, Fargas 1-3, Curry 1-0. Colts 10, Browns 6
CLEVELAND — Defensive end Robert Mathis scooped up Derek Anderson’s fumble and rumbled 39 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Colts stayed in the thick of the AFC playoff chase by winning their fifth consecutive.
Mathis’ big play helped bail out Peyton Manning and Indy’s highoctane offense, which never got humming with its usual efficiency.
Still, the Colts (8-4 ) got a 30-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri and improved to 5-0 in November, a monthlong run that has allowed them to recover from a 3-4 start.
The Browns (4-8 ) lost their fourth consecutive at home and might have lost quarterback Derek Anderson and tight end Kellen Winslow for an extended period.
Anderson, starting in place of the injured Brady Quinn, hurt his left leg in the final two minutes. He was dropping back to pass when offensive tackle Kevin Shaffer fell on him while being knocked backward by a charging Mathis. Anderson tried to get up, but couldn’t and had to be helped to the sideline.
Winslow went out on the first play of the third quarter with an ankle injury and didn’t return. Indianapolis............ 3 0 0 7 — 10 Cleveland............... 3 3 0 0 — 6 First Quarter Cle—FG Dawson 34, 9: 04. Ind—FG Vinatieri 30, 1: 58. Second Quarter Cle—FG Dawson 25, 7: 35. Fourth Quarter Ind—Mathis 37 fumble return (Vinatieri kick ), 9: 45. Attendance—72, 411.
Ind Cle First downs................................. 14 13 Total Net Yards........................... 215 193 Rushes-yards........................... 29-90 32-101 Passing....................................... 125 92 Punt Returns............................... 2-0 0-0 Kickoff Returns......................... 3-73 3-61 Interceptions Ret......................... 1-0 2-4 Comp-Att-Int........................... 15-21-2 16-29-1 Sacked-Yards Lost...................... 0-0 3-18 Punts........................................ 2-38. 0 4-50. 5 Fumbles-Lost.............................. 3-1 1-1 Penalties-Yards......................... 2-10 4-25 Time of Possession.................. 27: 46 32: 14 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Indianapolis, Addai 15-57, Rhodes 11-35, Manning 3- (minus 2 ). Cleveland, Lewis 24-77, J. Wright 2-11, Harrison 2-6, Anderson 2-5, Vickers 1-2, Cribbs 1-0. PASSING—Indianapolis, Manning 15-21-2-125. Cleveland, Anderson 16-26-0-110, Dorsey 0-3-1-0. RECEIVING—Indianapolis, Wayne 4-46, Harrison 3-27, Clark 2-24, Gonzalez 2-13, Rhodes 2-6, Addai 1-6, Robinson 1-3. Cleveland, J. Wright 3-18, Heiden 3-15, Winslow 3-15, Edwards 2-36, Rucker 1-9, Lewis 1-7, Stallworth 1-4, Steptoe 1-3, Vickers 1-3. MISSED FIELD GOALS—Indianapolis, Vinatieri 46 (WL ). Cleveland, Dawson 34 (WR ). 49 ers 10, Bills 3
ORCHARD PARK, N. Y. — Linebacker Patrick Willis and a suddenly sturdy San Francisco defense certainly did their job as spoilers. Willis had 14 tackles and a forced fumble in a victory that all but ended the Bills’ dwindling playoff hopes. The 49 ers’ victory also prevented the Arizona Cardinals from clinching the NFC West and their first playoff berth in 10 years — the longest active playoff drought in the NFL.
Isaac Bruce scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass — the 90 th of his career — and Joe Nedney hit a 50-yard field goal as the 49 ers never trailed. San Francisco (4-8 ) won for the second time in three games and second time for interim coach Mike Singletary.
The Bills (6-6 ) lost for the fifth time in six games and looked nothing like a team coming off a 54-31 victory at Kansas City, or the team that got off to a 4-0 start.
Buffalo came away with no points on four trips inside the red zone, and also got nothing on two extended drives of 15 plays or longer. San Francisco.......... 7 3 0 0 — 10 Buffalo................... 0 0 3 0 — 3 First Quarter SF—Bruce 12 pass from S. Hill (Nedney kick ), 6: 51. Second Quarter SF—FG Nedney 50,: 11. Third Quarter Buf—FG Lindell 22, 8: 54. Attendance—70, 988.
SF Buf First downs................................. 12 18 Total Net Yards........................... 195 350 Rushes-yards........................... 29-62 25-156 Passing....................................... 133 194 Punt Returns............................... 1-3 4-49 Kickoff Returns......................... 2-38 3-55 Interceptions Ret......................... 0-0 0-0 Comp-Att-Int........................... 14-23-0 21-38-0 Sacked-Yards Lost.................... 3-28 3-11 Punts........................................ 6-47. 3 3-26. 0 Fumbles-Lost.............................. 4-1 2-1 Penalties-Yards......................... 4-35 6-43 Time of Possession.................. 29: 30 30: 30 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—San Francisco, Gore 24-66, S. Hill 4-0, J. Hill 1- (minus 4 ). Buffalo, Lynch 16-134, Parrish 1-9, Jackson 5-8, Edwards 3-5. PASSING—San Francisco, S. Hill 14-23-0-161. Buffalo, Edwards 10-21-0-112, Losman 11-17-0-93. RECEIVING—San Francisco, Bruce 5-67, J. Hill 5-55, Gore 3-23, Johnson 1-16. Buffalo, Evans 7-80, Reed 5-58, Schouman 4-44, Jackson 2-13, Parrish 2-9, Lynch 1-1. MISSED FIELD GOALS—Buffalo, Lindell 20 (WL ), 40 (WL ). Ravens 34, Bengals 3
CINCINNATI — Mark Clayton put a little sizzle into Baltimore’s steadily evolving offense.
The fourth-year receiver threw a touchdown pass on a reverse, then made a spectacular one-handed catch for a 70-yard score.
The Ravens (8-4 ) have won six of their past seven games with a renowned defense and an offense coming into its own behind rookie quarterback Joe Flacco. Each week, the Ravens give him a little more freedom and a little more of the playbook.
Against the Bengals (1-10-1 ), they added a page for Clayton, a firstround draft pick who emerged as a dual scoring threat on a cold, rainy afternoon.
On Baltimore’s second possession of the third quarter, Clayton lined up to the left, took a handoff from Flacco and headed for the right sideline, selling the play as a reverse. Cornerback Leon Hall fell for it, letting Derrick Mason run free down the right sideline. Clayton’s 32-yard touchdown pass — the first of his career — was as easy as they come.
His next catch was as tough as it gets.
Clayton ran past the stumbling Hall, stretched out his right hand and grabbed Flacco’s pass at the 30-yard line, then went the rest of the way with no one near him, setting the Bengals on course for their most lopsided loss since the 2000 season. Baltimore............... 3 10 14 7 — 34 Cincinnati............... 0 3 0 0 — 3 First Quarter Bal—FG Stover 27, 6: 06. Second Quarter Bal—FG Stover 21, 12: 52. Bal—Heap 4 pass from Flacco (Stover kick ), 3: 06. Cin—FG Graham 21,: 00. Third Quarter Bal—Mason 32 pass from Clayton (Stover kick ), 8: 12. Bal—Clayton 70 pass from Flacco (Stover kick ), 5: 53. Fourth Quarter Bal—Leonhard 35 interception return (Stover kick ), 2: 28. Attendance—63, 871.
Bal Cin First downs................................. 20 6 Total Net Yards........................... 451 155 Rushes-yards.......................... 43-147 16-57 Passing....................................... 304 98 Punt Returns............................... 3-5 2-17 Kickoff Returns......................... 1-21 7-156 Interceptions Ret....................... 1-35 0-0 Comp-Att-Int........................... 20-30-0 12-33-1 Sacked-Yards Lost...................... 2-8 4-26 Punts........................................ 7-47. 3 11-43. 5 Fumbles-Lost.............................. 2-0 2-0 Penalties-Yards......................... 3-30 3-15 Time of Possession.................. 38: 58 21: 02 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Baltimore, L. McClain 25-86, Rice 11-41, Flacco 3-15, T. Smith 3-4, Neal 1-1. Cincinnati, Fitzpatrick 3-29, Benson 10-17, Perry 3-11. PASSING—Baltimore, Flacco 19-29-0-280, Clayton 1-1-0-32. Cincinnati, Fitzpatrick 12-31-0-124, J. Palmer 0-2-1-0. RECEIVING—Baltimore, Mason 6-91, Clayton 5-164, Heap 4-39, Rice 4-14, Neal 1-4. Cincinnati, Houshmandzadeh 4-64, C. Johnson 4-45, Benson 2-1, Kelly 1-8, Perry 1-6. Dolphins 16, Rams 12
ST. LOUIS — The Dolphins (7-5 ) made it into the end zone only once, but relied on stingy play from a defense that got routed last week by the Patriots to secure their fifth victory in six games.
Miami and St. Louis had the top two picks of the draft and the Rams (2-10 ) are likely to get another real early pick next April after losing their sixth in a row. They ended a string of blowout losses the previous four games behind Steven Jackson, who had 94 yards on 21 carries, but were undone by mistakes in the second half against a franchise that’s quickly become competitive after going 1-15 last season.
Marc Bulger, sidelined by a concussion last week against the Bears, threw three interceptions in the second half — the clincher by Andre’ Goodman at the Dolphins 5 with 35 seconds to go. Renaldo Hill’s second interception of the season, and second in two games, set up Dan Carpenter’s third field goal for the final score with 6: 39 to go.
Against a team that has scored one touchdown the past four games, that was plenty of cushion.
The Rams got a perfect day from kicker Josh Brown, who matched his season best with four field goals in four attempts. Miami................... 0 10 3 3 — 16 St. Louis................ 6 3 0 3 — 12 First Quarter StL—FG J. Brown 23, 10: 49. StL—FG J. Brown 51, 1: 45. Second Quarter Mia—Brown 3 run (Carpenter kick ), 10: 59. StL—FG J. Brown 33, 1: 51. Mia—FG Carpenter 37,: 00. Third Quarter Mia—FG Carpenter 47, 6: 10. Fourth Quarter StL—FG J. Brown 38, 12: 14. Mia—FG Carpenter 42, 6: 39. Attendance—61, 046.
Mia StL First downs................................. 16 19 Total Net Yards........................... 327 278 Rushes-yards.......................... 35-149 30-129 Passing....................................... 178 149 Punt Returns............................. 1-17 4-18 Kickoff Returns......................... 5-99 4-94 Interceptions Ret....................... 3-13 0-0 Comp-Att-Int........................... 14-24-0 16-35-3 Sacked-Yards Lost...................... 0-0 0-0 Punts........................................ 5-41. 6 3-52. 0 Fumbles-Lost.............................. 3-1 0-0 Penalties-Yards........................ 10-94 5-30 Time of Possession.................. 28: 13 31: 47 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Miami, Williams 12-54, Brown 15-48, Polite 3-20, Pennington 3-15, Cobbs 2-12. St. Louis, Jackson 21-94, Pittman 6-25, Darby 2-8, Avery 1-2. PASSING—Miami, Pennington 13-23-0-166, Brown 1-1-0-12. St. Louis, Bulger 16-35-3-149. RECEIVING—Miami, Bess 6-84, Ginn Jr. 4-55, London 1-14, Martin 1-12, Fasano 1-7, Polite 1-6. St. Louis, Looker 6-52, Holt 3-30, Fells 3-18, Burton 1-23, Jackson 1-16, Becht 1-5, Darby 1-5. Vikings 34, Bears 14
MINNEAPOLIS — With a gutsy goal-line stand and one big heave by Gus Frerotte, the Minnesota Vikings grabbed control of the NFC North and sent Kyle Orton and the Chicago Bears home with a humbling defeat.
Seconds after the Bears were stopped four times at the 1, Bernard Berrian pulled in a 99-yard touchdown pass from Frerotte that sent the Vikings to a victory and sole possession of the division lead.
Orton’s team-record streak of 206 attempts without an interception ended with a thud, and Minnesota (7-5 ) turned three turnovers into 17 second-half points. Orton finished 11 for 29 for ™ yards and 2 touchdowns.
Adrian Peterson had 100 yards by halftime and finished with 131 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings, who enjoyed their most lopsided victory of the season.
When the afternoon scores were given over the loudspeaker before the game, Green Bay’s 35-31 loss to Carolina got a hearty cheer. The Packers (5-7 ) fell two games behind after a brutal November, and the Vikings (7-5 ) sailed into the fourth quarter of the season with a critical lead over the Bears (6-6 ).
The possibility of four-game suspensions for star defensive tackles Kevin Williams (Fordyce ) and Pat Williams looms for Minnesota, and Chicago plays three consecutive weeks at home. Clearly, this was one the Vikings just had to have. Chicago................. 7 0 7 0 — 14 Minnesota.............. 0 17 7 10 — 34 First Quarter Chi—Hester 65 pass from Orton (Gould kick ), 8: 04. Second Quarter Min—FG Longwell 23, 12: 45. Min—Berrian 99 pass from Frerotte (Longwell kick ), 4: 48. Min—Frerotte 1 run (Longwell kick ),: 48. Third Quarter Chi—Forte 2 pass from Orton (Gould kick ), 8: 53. Min—Taylor 21 run (Longwell kick ), 4: 27. Fourth Quarter Min—A. Peterson 1 run (Longwell kick ), 8: 25. Min—FG Longwell 27, 4: 18. Attendance—63, 722.
Chi Min First downs................................. 10 17 Total Net Yards........................... 228 378 Rushes-yards.......................... 26-103 39-178 Passing....................................... 125 200 Punt Returns............................. 4-29 2- (-3 ) Kickoff Returns........................ 7-186 2-62 Interceptions Ret....................... 1-36 3-54 Comp-Att-Int........................... 11-29-3 16-25-1 Sacked-Yards Lost.................... 3-28 2-10 Punts........................................ 9-40. 0 9-47. 4 Fumbles-Lost.............................. 0-0 1-0 Penalties-Yards......................... 5-50 4-30 Time of Possession.................. 26: 15 33: 45 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Chicago, Forte 22-96, A. Peterson 1-5, Hester 1-3, J. Davis 1-0, Wolfe 1- (minus 1 ). Minnesota, A. Peterson 28-131, Taylor 10-46, Frerotte 1-1. PASSING—Chicago, Orton 11-29-3-™. Minnesota, Frerotte 16-25-1-210. RECEIVING—Chicago, Forte 4-29, Hester 3-67, Lloyd 1-24, R. Davis 1-17, Clark 1-9, Olsen 1-7. Minnesota, Berrian 4-122, Taylor 4-19, A. Peterson 2- (minus 1 ), Kleinsasser 1-20, Shiancoe 1-20, Wade 1-15, Rice 1-8, Tahi 1-4, Dugan 1-3.
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