Thursday, October 14 Moss grows more uneasy By Tom Oates Special to ESPN.com

As dynamic as Randy Moss was last year as a rookie, he was not the center of attention for the Minnesota Vikings. He was just one component in the most prolific offense in NFL history.

	Randy Moss continues to stew over the Vikings' problems this season.

However, during the Vikings' unexpected free-fall to a 2-3 record this season, the unstoppable offense that made history in 1998 has become history just as quickly in 1999. And now Moss is at the epicenter of virtually everything that has gone wrong with the struggling team.

Last year, television highlights of the Vikings looked like instant replay. Week after week, the video clips showed Moss leaping over a helpless defender to haul in one of the 17 touchdown passes he caught from quarterback Randall Cunningham.

This year, Moss is still making the weekly highlight videos, but the clips are considerably less flattering.

After a loss to the Packers, Moss publicly rebuked new assistant coach Ray Sherman, saying it was the offensive coordinator's job to figure out how to get a wide receiver open despite double coverage.

The next week, during a home victory over the Buccaneers, a growing rift in Moss' relationship with Cunningham was exposed when Cunningham underthrew him on a pass down the middle. In front of everyone, Moss showed up Cunningham by pointing upward, indicating that the quarterback should have thrown it higher.

And late in last Sunday's loss to the Bears, television cameras caught Moss and fellow wide receiver Cris Carter near the bench in an animated, one-sided discussion with Cunningham. They were bending the beleaguered quarterback's ear after a failed drive, each squawking that the ball should be thrown his way.

Finally, during a time when the still-talented Vikings should be focused on righting their ship before it's too late, it came out this week that Moss would like to add the title of small forward to his résumé. Moss confirmed at midweek that he would like to play in the NBA, although he insisted his primary focus is and always will be winning a Super Bowl for the Vikings.

Whether deserved or not, the image of Moss that was portrayed in every instance was one of a selfish player who is pouting over his sudden lack of success and whining about the reduced number of passes that have been aimed in his direction this season.

Moss, in words eerily similar to what the 49ers' Jerry Rice was saying when his production began to fall off last year, said this week he isn't being selfish when he asks that more balls be thrown in his direction, that he is merely being competitive. But since Moss is someone who doesn't often hide his emotions, that competitive streak can be misunderstood as selfishness.

"I think it's something you're born with," Moss said. "I mean, I don't like to lose at nothing. I don't care if it's a card game, PlayStation game or whatever. I don't like losing at anything I do, and sometimes I get a little carried away when I do lose."

Moss engaged in some damage control this week after video of the conversation he and Carter had with Cunningham was shown. Rather than coming off as athletes frustrated by three unanticipated losses, the timing of it made Moss and Carter look greedy and self-centered.

Meanwhile, Cunningham acknowledged that there is immense pressure on him to duplicate last year's performance even though Sherman has replaced Brian Billick as offensive coordinator and opposing defensive coaches spent the offseason devising ways to shut down Moss and the Vikings.

Cunningham already has thrown eight interceptions, only two fewer than he had all last season, and has been consistently underthrowing Moss in the face of heavier-than-anticipated blitzes. Critics are calling for Jeff George to replace Cunningham, and they are chastising the Vikings for trading Brad Johnson to the Redskins and giving Cunningham a long-term contract.

But keeping everyone on the Vikings' offense happy isn't easy. Carter has always been a selfish player, and Moss, who spent last season under Carter's wing, seems to have acquired the trait. After the loss to the Bears, Cunningham issued a "no comment" when asked about the sideline conversation with his two best receivers. With some prodding, however, he broached the subject.

"It's like you've got to be perfect with what you're doing," Cunningham said. "I'll put it this way: There are a lot of hands out there that need the ball in it. To satisfy everybody is not easy. It's a very difficult job, and right not I am doing the best that I can do at that. We've got very, very, very, very talented guys. I get to touch the ball each snap, but it's hard to get it into everybody's hands."

	Randall Cunningham Quarterback Minnesota Vikings Profile
	1999 SEASON STATISTICS COMP ATT YDS TD INT RAT 114 185 1397 8 8 81.3

Moss, who has had two consecutive 100-yard games since he went to Sherman and coach Dennis Green with his complaints after the Packers loss, has softened his tone this week, perhaps because Minnesota's season is unraveling and the offense appears to be on the verge of anarchy. After scoring at least 24 points in every game last season, the Vikes have failed to reach that figure so far this year.

"I understand where Randall's coming from," Moss said. "The system that he's in now, I think, is harder than ever. Brad Johnson's gone and that was a big help to him. Brian Billick is gone, which was a big help to him. He still has to rely on help, but not as much as he had when those guys were here. I just let him be himself and come out there and play and really stay focused on what he's trying to do and not let people talking on the sidelines get to him."

Upon saying that, Moss was reminded that he was one of the guys who was on the sideline talking to Cunningham.

"I try my best to let Randall do his thing," Moss said. "If I ever see something out there that's wrong, or I see something that happens, I come in and tell coach Sherman or coach Green, 'OK coach, I think this might work.' But I never go to Randall and tell him about doing this or that. There are times that I look at him when I'm open or on an underthrown ball, but I never get into his ear and scream at him to distract him from what he's trying to do."

Green and Sherman have been moving Moss around the last two games, lining him up in all three receiver spots so opponents have a harder time double-teaming him. It has worked, too. After catching, nine passes for 123 yards and one touchdown in the first three games, he has 12 catches for 242 yards and two touchdowns in the last two.

However, the Vikings still aren't scoring a lot of points, and they still aren't winning.

"I really don't know what's wrong," Moss said. "We keep struggling week in and week out. We just can't put the puzzle together to make it work."

Beyond definition
Buccaneers quarterback Trent Dilfer added a new term to the pro football lexicon Sunday.

"We got Favred," Dilfer said.

We're not sure if it'll ever appear in Webster's, but the definition of getting Favred is this: To lose a game when the opposing quarterback drives his team the length of the field inside the last two minutes and throws the go-ahead touchdown pass.

On a day when Dan Marino, statistically the greatest comeback quarterback next to John Elway, rallied the Dolphins to a win over the Colts, Brett Favre took the definition of "comeback quarterback" to a new level in the Packers' 26-23 victory over the Bucs. He engineered a 73-yard drive, capped by a 21-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Freeman with 1:05 remaining.

It was the third time in three games at Lambeau Field this season that Favre has led the Packers to an improbable comeback win with a long drive in the final two minutes.

Against the Raiders, he threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Jeff Thomason with 11 seconds left, then broke down in tears at his postgame press conference. Against the Vikings, he threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Corey Bradford with 12 seconds left, then collapsed on the bench after hyperventilating on the sideline.

"I don't know if it's possible to do it the way we have the last four weeks," Favre said. "After the game, no one could say anything. This time I didn't hyperventilate, because I just couldn't believe it; this time I didn't cry, because I'm out of tears."

Although Favre was legendary for pulling rabbits out of his hat at Southern Mississippi, he hadn't been known for comeback wins in the NFL. That's because the Packers were so dominant the last five years that he was seldom called upon to bring them back.

This season is different, however. The Packers' talent has been depleted to the point where they are just another decent team trying to scrape by every week.

"I'm just doing what they pay me to do," Favre said. "Hell of a way to make a living, I can tell you that. ... I didn't think we'd have to do it again, but we did. Three times out of three, I guess, is pretty good."

Secondary a primary problem for 49ers
If the unbeaten Rams are 1999's version of the Falcons, or perhaps more appropriately, the Vikings, then their high-powered offense has claimed its first victim.

Just as the Vikings' weapon-laden offense of 1998 forced the Packers to retool their secondary with rookies, the Rams' weapon-laden offense of 1999 has forced changes with the 49ers' defensive backfield. In the wake of their 42-20 loss to the Rams, the 49ers benched cornerback Darnell Walker and replaced him with second-year man R.W. McQuarters.

Walker, who was coming back from a hamstring injury, was burned for three of Isaac Bruce's four touchdown catches. He also drew two penalties, one a 35-yard interference call, and was beaten by Bruce for another 29-yard gain and by Torry Holt for 49 yards.

On his fourth touchdown catch, Bruce victimized cornerback Mark McMillian and safety Lance Schulters, then pointed out that the 49ers safeties are at least partly responsible for the team's struggles at cornerback the past few years.

"Jacksonville had gone up on top of them several times (in the season opener), so we thought we would try," Bruce said. "Tim McDonald isn't as much of a pass-covering safety as some guys are. He likes to crowd the line and make tackles. So the cornerbacks cover the wide receivers. That made it possible for us to make plays. We have a big running threat in our backfield in Marshall Faulk, so McDonald crowds the line of scrimmage even more to fill the gaps. That puts the cornerbacks in single coverage a lot of times, and we were able to hurt them."

Quarterback Kurt Warner hurt them for 314 yards and five touchdowns, but the Rams aren't the only team that has inflicted damage on the 49ers' secondary. In its two previous games, San Francisco surrendered 355 yards and two touchdowns to Titans' backup Neil O'Donnell and three touchdown passes to the Saints' Billy Joe Hobert.

	Kent Graham Quarterback New York Giants Profile
	1999 SEASON STATISTICS COMP ATT YDS TD INT RAT 70 120 746 4 4 73.8

Giant problems on offense
In only 37 games as Giants coach, Jim Fassel has gone from Dave Brown to Danny Kanell to Kent Graham to Kerry Collins as the team's quarterback, all to no avail.

The Giants offense is still a disaster.

This year, the offense has produced six touchdowns and five field goals while committing 10 turnovers in 63 possessions. Those are not the numbers the Giants envisioned when they hired Fassel, a reputed offensive guru, in 1997.

Critics are beginning to question Fassel's approach. But after the team scored three points in a loss to the Cardinals last week, Fassel continued to blame the players.

"It doesn't matter what you call," he said. "Unless you execute, unless you stay out of stupid penalties, it doesn't matter what you do. My job is to get this offense to function, but at some point they've got to step up and make some plays. I don't know what's in their minds. I'm befuddled. We've got times when we can't make a play."

With growing tension between the offense and defense in the locker room, Fassel's plan for recovery is simple. He's going to dumb down the offense and eliminate the indecision.

"Maybe we're thinking too much, and we don't execute the nuts and the bolts of things," he said.

Maybe the quarterbacks just aren't very good, Jim.

Saints don't march at finish
The Saints are quickly becoming the anti-Favre.

After opening the season with a win, they've lost their last three games by letting a lead slip away in the final 10 minutes.

Last Sunday, the Falcons kicked two field goals in the fourth quarter to beat the Saints 20-17. The two weeks before that, the Saints blew 14-point leads to the 49ers and Bears, losing both games in the final two minutes.

Add it all up and it comes out to this: The Saints have been outscored 34-0 in the fourth quarter this season.

"I hate to say this, but in the fourth quarter it feels like we're in quicksand," quarterback Billy Joe Hobert said. "The more we try to get out, the worse it gets."

Helpful hint to the Saints: With Mike Ditka as your coach, if you don't get out soon, it'll get a lot worse.

Tom Oates of the Wisconsin State Journal writes a weekly NFC column that appears every Thursday during the regular season.