Vikings Send Bucs to 3rd Straight Loss

M I N N E A P O L I S, Oct. 10, 2000 -- The difference was so subtle. The swing wasso great.

Though Minnesota and Tampa Bay played nearly as equals Mondaynight, the Vikings’ 30-23 victory widened the gap between them to2½ games in the NFC’s Central Division.

The Buccaneers were stalled on Minnesota’s 43 yard-line when thegame ended. They were left to ponder the two turnovers that ledVikings touchdowns, two long drives that led to field goals insteadof touchdowns and a missed opportunity on running back MikeAlstott’s overthrown pass to third-string tight end Todd Yoder.

Subtle Differences

They were the subtle differences that kept the preseasonfavorite Bucs (3-3), now losers of three in a row, from gettingback in the thick of the NFC Central.

“That’s the difference between winning and losing when you playagainst good teams,” Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy said. “The lastthree weeks we have not made them, so we are going to have to goback to work, come out of this bye and get ourselves in the mindsetthat we start to make them.”

The Vikings (5-0) have yet to beat anybody by more than eightpoints, but they keep finding new ways to win. This week theirdefense set up two touchdowns against the Bucs by strippingKeyshawn Johnson of a reception on the game’s first play and takingthe ball from Aaron Stecker on a kickoff return.

When the Vikings, trailing 23-20 in the fourth quarter, needed abig play from their biggest star, they got it from Randy Moss. Hesplit Tampa Bay defenders John Lynch and Ronde Barber and scored ona 52-yard pass from Daunte Culpepper.

Best to Come?

The Vikings insist they have yet to play their best game.

“You’d rather be 5-0 and improving,” Culpepper said, “than4-1.”

The Vikings were outgained 346-322. They allowed Jacquez Greento catch a career-high 11 passes for 131 yards. They allowed aseason-high six sacks.

They make a case for having room to improve.

“We can’t get too cocky or too confident and think that we’reunbeatable,” Moss said, “but at the same time when we come toplay we’re hard to stop.”

But if the Vikings were ordinary, they had an opportunity toprove it after Gary Anderson’s 52-yard field goal was blocked bythe Buccaneers’ Warren Sapp and turned into a 53-yard touchdownreturn by Donnie Abraham.

Instead, they came right back with the touchdown pass to Mossand held off two fourth-quarter drives by the Buccaneers, whohelped matters. On a fourth-and-1, Alstott overthrew a wide-openYoder on the halfback pass. Keyshawn Johnson, hit by OrlandoThomas, failed to come up with a reception that would havecontinued the Bucs’ final drive.

Bumpy Roads

“It is disappointing again to lose another lead in the fourthquarter,” Dungy said. “You don’t refocus your goals. You justknow it is going to be tough to win the division. We are going tohave to play perfectly and hope they hit some bumpy roads.”

The Vikings are two-thirds of the way through a six-game stretchthat includes five games against Central Division foes. TheBuccaneers’ next game is an Oct. 19 contest against Detroit.

“Every week we’re losing, it gets longer and longer,” Sappsaid. “We’ve got to handle our business. This was a tough game,but we can’t do anything about the Vikings until they come toTampa.”

That comes on Oct. 29.