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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) -- Daunte Culpepper confused New England's
defense and left Drew Bledsoe searching for his comeback touch.
|  | | The elusive Daunte Culpepper threw for 177 yards and two TDs and ran for 59 yards Sunday to lead Minnesota over New England. |
Culpepper threw for two first-half touchdowns against a game
plan devised by defensive mastermind Bill Belichick, and the
Minnesota Vikings held off the Patriots for a 21-13 victory Sunday.
"They were trying to contain me. And when they blitzed outside,
I was able to stay in the pocket," said Culpepper, a running and
passing threat in his first full season as quarterback of the
Vikings (3-0).
He completed 19 of 28 passes, seven to Cris Carter, who moved
from fourth to second place with 942 career catches. He passed Art
Monk (940) and Andre Reed (941) and trails only Jerry Rice (1,217).
Culpepper "outran us a couple of times," Belichick said,
"and, a couple of times, we probably could have been in a little
better defensive call. We didn't do a very good job in the first
half."
The Patriots (0-3) lost their third straight close game. In each
one, they had the ball in the last two minutes with a chance to win
or tie, but Bledsoe fell short. On Sunday, he had the ball at the
Minnesota 14 but was sacked on fourth down by Bryce Paup with 54
seconds left.
"It's something I look forward to, coming back at the end of
the game," Bledsoe said. "Coming up short at the end of the game,
emotionally, it's tough to take."
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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What's striking about the Vikings the last two weeks is that everyone talks about their offense, but their defense has really stepped up and put together two strong performances.
Minnesota defensive coordinator Emmitt Thomas is an outstanding coach and has utilized his personnel well, probably blitzing to cover up some of the deficiencies they may have. The Vikings defense held the Patriots to 267 yards and they withstood a late charge by New England.
Daunte Culpepper was good if not spectacular this week, but this is his first road victory against a very good defensive football team. He's not making the critical mistakes and he's also continuing to assert himself as a rusher (59 yards this week on 12 carries).
Culpepper doesn't seem fazed. Some of that fear may be allayed because of the type of people that are around him, including Robert Smith, Cris Carter and Randy Moss. This is a significant road win for Culpepper and the Vikings.
The Patriots, on the other hand, slip to 0-3, but appear to be a better team than their record. They've been in every game, and every game has come down to the wire. But they just haven't been able to find a way to pull games out at the end.
The Patriots now have an uphill climb to the playoffs -- they're in a tough division. Buffalo looks good, then you've got the Jets, the Colts and the Dolphins.
But Bill Belichick is an outstanding coach. It's not that they're getting blown out, it's that they're not getting the key play when they need it. So they need to correct that and they need some people to step up at crunch time.
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In 1994, Bledsoe rallied the Patriots from a 20-0 deficit
against the Vikings late in the first half to a 26-20 overtime win
in Foxboro. He went 37-for-53 with three touchdown passes after
halftime and finished with 45 completions and 70 attempts, both NFL
records. That win began a season-ending seven-game winning streak.
On Sunday with the Patriots behind 21-7, Bledsoe was 10-of-14
for 112 yards in the fourth quarter with an 8-yard touchdown pass
to Terry Glenn, but the Vikings stopped him when it counted most.
"In the last two minutes, New England had to go for that
touchdown and we had to stop them, plain and simple," Minnesota
defensive tackle Chris Hovan said.
In Culpepper's first game this season, he ran for three
touchdowns. In his second, he threw for 355 yards and his first pro
touchdown. On Sunday, the Patriots stopped him for most of the
second half, but he still finished with 177 yards passing and
touchdowns throws of 1 yard to Johnny McWilliams and 39 yards to
Matthew Hatchette.
The 6-foot-4, 266-pound quarterback ran 12 times for 59 yards.
"Daunte bailed us out," Vikings coach Dennis Green said. "In
the second half, we played better defense."
Minnesota scored on its first three possessions but didn't score
again. Its combined victory margin is 17 points.
"To come out 3-0 the way we've played in the first three weeks,
we have to feel pretty good," said Robert Smith, who scored the
game's first touchdown on a 4-yard run.
Kevin Faulk tied it on a 2-yard run with 4:15 left in the first
quarter.
"I haven't lost any confidence in this football team,"
Belichick said. "It's just unfortunate that we're not able to play
more consistently."
One small consolation: the Patriots held Randy Moss to two
catches.
Belichick hasn't won since succeeding the fired Pete Carroll
after last season. The Patriots opened that season at 4-0 but lost
six of their last eight games.
The Vikings' first two possessions Sunday lasted 8:54 and 9:22.
The first went 17 plays for 73 yards and ended in Smith's touchdown
after Culpepper completed four of five passes and ran for 33 yards.
The second lasted 16 plays, covering 80 yards and ended in
Culpepper's pass to McWilliams.
Game notes
Hovan, a former teammate of Patriots center Damien Woody,
had one of Minnesota's three sacks. ... The Patriots went to the
Super Bowl the last time they opened the season at 0-2 in 1996. The
last time they were 0-3, they ended at 5-11. ... Faulk led the
Patriots with 83 yards rushing as the Vikings didn't allow a
100-yard rusher for the 29th time in 31 games ... The Vikings had a
2-to-1 edge in time of possession, holding the ball for 39:08. The
Patriots held the ball for 38:00 a week earlier in a 20-19 loss to
the New York Jets. ... Minnesota allowed only 267 yards after
giving up 209 the week before.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Minnesota Clubhouse
New England Clubhouse
Week 3 wrap-ups
Week 3 infirmary report
TJ's Take on Week 3
Week 3 stats leaders
Prime Time Players
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