Vikings Win Battle of Quarterbacks, 38-35 : Interconference: Moon throws for three touchdowns, outdueling Miami’s Marino, who leads team back from 28-point deficit.

Enough. Warren Moon had seen enough. Enough Dan Marino. Enough record-setting comebacks against his team. Enough runs off tackle and short passes. Enough protecting the football.

So after watching his Minnesota Vikings blow a 28-0 lead to Marino and the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Moon told offensive coordinator Brian Billick, “Let me do what I do best. Let me throw the ball down the field. If I screw it up, I screw it up.”

He didn’t screw it up. Moon led Minnesota on a 70-yard touchdown drive that was capped by Scottie Graham’s three-yard run with 7:25 to play and the Vikings held on for a 38-35 victory.

Moon, in his first season with the Vikings (3-1), helped the Houston Oilers take a 35-3 lead over the Buffalo Bills in the 1992 postseason. But Moon and the Oilers did nothing the rest of the game and Buffalo rallied for a 41-38 victory.

Sunday, Marino completed 29 of 54 passes for 431 yards--the fifth-best total of his career--and threatened to put Moon and the Vikings in the regular-season record book alongside the New Orleans Saints, who blew a 28-point lead in losing, 38-35, to San Francisco in 1980.

But after the Dolphins (3-1) made it 28-28 on Bernie Parmalee’s 10-yard run with 10:34 left, Moon completed passes of 13 and 22 yards to Jake Reed, and Terry Allen had a 30-yard run before Graham scored the winner.

Asked if he thought about the Buffalo collapse as he watched Miami rally, Moon said: “You’re darn tootin’. But I also thought that this is where I have to rise and make a play and I went over to Brian and said, ‘Let’s just throw it down the field and let me be the guy to either make or break this thing.’

“I just knew I had to raise my level. I put it more in my hands to throw the ball down the field and get something going. That’s what I thought they brought me here for, to make big plays when it’s time to make big plays,” he said.

Moon had his best game as a Viking--26 of 37 for 326 yards, including three touchdown passes to Cris Carter.

The Dolphins still had a chance to win, but Parmalee failed to handle the ensuing kickoff and Fuad Reveiz kicked a 38-yard field goal to make it 38-28.

Miami got the ball back once again and Keith Byars scored on a one-yard run with 1:04 remaining, but Chris Walsh recovered the onside kick to wrap up the victory.

Air Marino

Dan Marino has passed for 400 or more yards 11 times in his career, the most in NFL history. Joe Montana is second on the list, with seven.

Date Com Att Yds TD Opp. Sept. 25, 1994 29 54 431 3 Minnesota Sept. 24, 1989 33 55 427 3 NY Jets Dec. 12, 1988 30 50 404 4 Cleveland Oct. 23, 1988 35 60 521 3 NY Jets Dec. 14, 1986 29 46 403 5 Rams (OT) Nov. 16, 1986 39 54 404 4 Buffalo Sept. 21, 1986 30 50 448 6 NY Jets (OT) Dec. 9, 1984 29 41 404 4 Indianapolis Dec. 2, 1984 35 57 470 4 Raiders Nov. 4, 1984 23 42 422 2 NY Jets Sept. 30, 1984 24 36 429 3 St. Louis