PRO FOOTBALL : 49ers Find the Ball, Vikings Too Much to Handle

MINNEAPOLIS —  Bud Grant is back, and he brought the old Minnesota Vikings with him--in body and spirit.

Grant, who led the Vikings to four Super Bowls, retired last year and Minnesota suffered through a 3-13 season under Les Steckel.

Grant came back this season and, as Minnesota celebrated its 25-year anniversary by bringing back members of their all-time team, the Vikings emulated their famed predecessors by upsetting the Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers, 28-21, Sunday.

“If you want to beat the best, there’s no better place to start than by playing the best,” said Viking quarterback Tommy Kramer, who rebounded from a shaky first half to complete 12 of 25 passes for 191 yards.

Minnesota tied the score, 21-21, with 3:27 left on Alfred Anderson’s one-yard dive after Doug Martin returned Wendell Tyler’s third fumble to the one.

San Francisco’s Derrick Harmon fumbled on the ensuing kickoff, and Joey Browner turned it into San Francisco’s seventh turnover of the game with his third recovery of the game.

Moments later, Ted Brown ran 10 yards for Minnesota’s winning touchdown with 1:49 left.

In the last two meetings between the teams, the 49ers outscored the Vikings 99-24, including a 51-7 drubbing last year.

Grant said the 49ers seemed demoralized because they led only 7-0 late in the third quarter.

“Excellent teams get frustrated if they don’t do well,” Grant said after his 152nd career victory launched his 18th NFL season. “Excellent teams play hard for two to three quarters in a game, while poor teams have to play hard the whole game.”

The defeat spoiled a brilliant day by San Francisco’s Roger Craig, who caught 7 passes for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns, and ran for 78 more yards and the other 49er touchdown. Tyler added 125 rushing yards for San Francisco, which lost for just the second time in its last 20 regular-season games.

Joe Montana hit Craig on a 19-yard scoring play to give the 49ers a 21-14 lead with 6:06 to play. Montana completed 24 of 39 passes for 265 yards.

“I think it was just an odd Sunday that we gave up the ball so much,” Montana said. “We gave the ball away seven times. You can’t expect to win. There are 15 more games ahead of us.”

The Vikings, playing catch-up the entire day, tied the game, 14-14, on a 44-yard touchdown pass play from Kramer to Mike Jones with 10:20 left. San Francisco had taken a 14-7 lead just 1:29 earlier on Montana’s 18-yard scoring toss to Craig.

San Francisco led, 7-0, at halftime on Craig’s 10-yard scoring run, and the Vikings finally got on the board with 1:01 left in the third quarter on Allen Rice’s one-yard run after Kramer connected with Anderson on a 44-yard play and a 24-yarder to Leo Lewis.

“It was an inspired Minnesota team that thought they could win and a San Francisco team that gave it away,” 49er Coach Bill Walsh said.