Allen Helps Vikings Run Over Buccaneers, 28-13

MINNEAPOLIS —  The Minnesota Vikings turned to their running game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it was Terry Allen, not Herschel Walker, who made that decision a good one.

Allen, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, gained 127 yards in 14 carries and scored his first two NFL touchdowns Sunday to help the Vikings beat the Buccaneers, 28-13.

“Sometimes you’ve got a feeling that a back’s hot,” Viking Coach Jerry Burns said. “One week, you feel the flow and tempo of a game might suit Herschel.

“Today, we were running weak-side sweeps and Terry had a hot hand.”

Walker rushed six times for 12 yards before Allen entered the game after Steve Christie’s 40-yard field goal gave the Buccaneers a 6-0 lead midway through the third quarter.

Allen gained 14 and eight yards on his first two carries before weaving through defenders for a 15-yard scoring run. He also had a 55-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

“It was really tough last year,” Allen said. “It’s real boring to just go in each day and lift weights.”

When Walker returned to gain one yard on a fourth-quarter carry, he was booed by the crowd of 35,737 at the Metrodome, the Vikings’ smallest non-strike crowd since 1964.

Allen provided the only real excitement as both teams performed sluggishly.

“We were lulling everybody to sleep,” said Viking quarterback Rich Gannon, who completed 19 of 28 passes for 160 yards. “The first half was pretty bad.”

The Vikings (5-5) trailed, 6-0, with five minutes left in the third quarter until the Buccaneers (1-8) fell apart.

Vinny Testaverde, who completed 10 of 22 passes for 124 yards, had three passes intercepted and the Buccaneers were called for several costly penalties.

Just 58 seconds after Allen’s 15-yard run put Minnesota ahead for good with 4:40 left in the third quarter, Mike Merriweather intercepted a pass by Testaverde and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown that made it 14-6.

Allen’s 55-yard scoring run gave the Vikings a 21-6 lead 5:01 into the fourth quarter.

Gary Anderson fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Pat Eilers recovered for the Vikings on the six to set up Gannon’s two-yard touchdown pass to Steve Jordan.