Vikings Advance to NFC Championship
Jan. 6, 2001 -- The Minnesota-New Orleans NFC divisional playoff game was billed as a battle between an offensive powerhouse and shrewd defense, but it was the Vikings that controlled both sides of the ball in their 34-16 win.
The Vikings showed why they are the NFC’s second-highest scoring team today as Randy Moss caught two touchdown passes and Daunte Culpepper threw for 302 yards and three scores.
The much-maligned Vikings defense, ranked 28th in the league, also outplayed the New Orleans defensive squad today. Minnesota intercepted Aaron Brooks twice despite finishing last in the NFL with just 8 picks all season. Brooks finished 30-for-48 and 286 yards.
The win before a home crowd of 63,881 at the Metrodome earns the Vikings a berth in the NFC Championship game next weekend against the winner of the Philadelphia Eagles-New York Giants game on Sunday.
Saints Can’t Stop Moss, Carter
Minnesota never trailed today, scoring on the third play of their opening drive on a 53-yard strike to Moss. Moss later ran 68 yards on a pass from Culpepper on the Vikings’ first drive of the second half, blazing by a handful of defenders downfield.
Cris Carter also scored, on a 17-yard touchdown pass that was set up by Culpepper’s 30-yard run. Carter finished the day with eight receptions for 120 yards, one yard shy of Moss’ gain on two catches.
Robert Smith — the NFC’s leading rusher who was held to 16 yards in the first half — added a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Vikings a 34-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
Willie Jackson scored on a 48-yard touchdown pass for New Orleans to bring the score to 34-16. The Saints failed in their two-point conversion attempt.
The Saints first put points on the board with a 33-yard field goal midway through the first quarter, which brought the score to 7-3. Minnesota’s Gary Anderson added a 44-yard field goal for the Vikings.
Minnesota D Outshines Saints’
Despite leading the league with 66 sacks in the regular season, New Orleans never got a hand on Culpepper, who played with a high ankle sprain yet rushed for 51 yards on four carries and shredded the Saints’ defense with his mobility and pinpoint passing.
Culpepper also denied the Saints an interception after New Orleans piled up 40 forced turnovers in the regular season.
The Saints’ one moment of defensive brilliance was in the first quarter, when they forced the Vikings to settle for a field goal after driving all the way to the Saints’ 1-yard line on a 34-yard pass to Carter.
The injured Saints running back Ricky Williams saw limited playing time today in his first game since breaking his ankle on Nov. 12. He finished the game with 14 yards on six carries.
The Vikings have the NFL’s longest active streak in the playoffs with five consecutive postseason appearances, but the Saints were the toast of the league this year. New Orleans went from a 3-13 record in 1999 to clinch the NFC West with an 11-5 record in the 2000 regular season.
The Saints won their first playoff game last week against the defending champion St. Louis Rams, marking the first time the franchise had won in the postseason in five tries. But their inexperience showed today.