PRO FOOTBALL : Vikings Deliver Old-Fashioned Whipping : NFC: Minnesota puts together a complete game and leaves the Bears embarrassed, 42-14.
The Minnesota Vikings celebrated the NFL’s “Throwbacks Weekend” with a dominant performance Sunday, delivering an old-fashioned beating to the Chicago Bears.
“I don’t think it’s the uniforms, it’s the players,” said Coach Dennis Green, reflecting on the 42-14 victory.
The Vikings played basic football behind the passing of Warren Moon, the running of Terry Allen, the receiving of Cris Carter and an 81-yard interception return for a touchdown by DeWayne Washington.
“I thought it was a complete game,” Green said. “The special teams caused turnovers. We played good run defense and running was our No. 1 option. It was a good, solid, complete game for us.”
Said Bear Coach Dave Wannstedt: “We got whipped in all areas. I am embarrassed. We’ve got to regroup and somehow get this thing back on track. It wasn’t any one person, it wasn’t any one phase.”
Chicago (1-2) had trouble bringing down Allen and containing Carter.
Allen, who had two touchdown runs, gained 159 yards in 22 carries. Carter had eight catches for 79 yards in the first half, when the Vikings took a 10-0 lead.
“We are on our way,” Carter said. “We have a lot of talent. This is the best team since I’ve been here.”
Moon completed 22 of 29 passes for 236 yards as the Viking offense, which had only one touchdown entering the game, got untracked.
“It was a good day for everybody, the offensive line, the running backs,” Moon said.
Bear linebacker Joe Cain, who started in the middle in place of an injured Dante Jones, said, “It wasn’t just the quarterback. It was everyone else. It was ugly.”
Allen had a 44-yard run on the first scrimmage play of the second half and the Vikings (2-1) reached Chicago’s nine before settling for Fuad Reveiz’s 22-yard field goal for a 13-0 lead.
Curtis Conway fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Minnesota’s Dave Garnett recovered at the Bear 18. Moon wasted little time, hitting Jake Reed over the middle on the first play for a 20-0 lead.
Washington, a rookie from North Carolina State, stepped in front of Conway, the second-year receiver from USC, and raced down the sideline on his 81-yard return with 6:25 left in the quarter. Carter caught a two-point pass for a 28-0 lead.
“I knew I was running for a while,” Washington said. “I didn’t know how long it was. I thought it was maybe 60 yards.”
Allen tacked on a one-yard touchdown run before Chicago scored on Tim Worley’s one-yard run with 9:18 to play.
The Vikings’ Robert Smith had a 14-yard touchdown run to make it 42-6.
The Bears’ Tom Waddle caught an eight-yard pass from Erik Kramer for the final score.
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