Thursday, September 23 Vikes dominate Pack mentality By Tom Oates Special to ESPN.com

When the Packers and Vikings met at Lambeau Field on a Monday night early last season, a neighborhood rivalry turned into a landmark NFL game.

	Mark Chmura and the Packers were stopped cold by the Vikings in 1998.

Rookie wide receiver Randy Moss, who had made only a small splash in his first four games with the Vikings, cannon-balled into the national consciousness, leaping over and running past a bewildered Packers secondary all night. As Moss was turning into the NFL's most unstoppable deep threat before the nation's very eyes, Minnesota unveiled what would become the highest-scoring offense in NFL history during a shockingly easy 37-24 victory over the two-time defending NFC champions.

No one has looked at either team the same since then.

In a mere three hours, the balance of power in the NFC shifted dramatically. The outcome turned the high-powered Vikings into the prohibitive favorites to reach the Super Bowl and signaled the end of the Packers' dominance.

"I think after that night everyone in the football world realized just how good Minnesota could be," Packers quarterback Brett Favre said. "I think everyone, as the season progressed, expected them to go to the Super Bowl and probably win it. I know I was one of those people. I was as shocked as anyone when Atlanta beat them (in the NFC Championship Game).

"If anything, that was kind of the turning point for (the Vikings), at least for people saying, 'Whoa, this team's for real.' And they are."

This year, however, the Vikings are slightly less real than they were a year ago.

The team that went 15-1, crushed opponent after opponent and broke the NFL record by rolling up 556 points has looked very average so far this season.

After scoring 31 or more points in 12 of their 18 games last year and never scoring less than 24, the Vikings have been held to 17 in each of their first two games this year and have a 1-1 record to show for it.

Now they find themselves in the same situation they were in last year, heading to an early-season game at Lambeau with a lot of questions in tow. The only difference is that the Packers, like the rest of the NFL, are ready for the Vikings this time.

"So many great things happened last year, and we have the same players," Vikings quarterback Randall Cunningham said. "But it's going to be different. Teams took the offseason to plan against us, and we're at a point now where we're going to have to squeak games out."

No one did more in the offseason to beat the Vikings than the Packers, who lost twice to Minnesota last year by two touchdowns or more. Can you blame them? They had no answer for Moss last year in his coming-out party at Lambeau.

Despite rainy conditions, Moss caught five passes for 190 yards that night. He scored on receptions of 52 and 44 yards. His numbers would have been even more impressive had not a 75-yard touchdown catch been nullified by a holding penalty. In all, the Vikings had six pass receptions of 33 yards or longer, four by Moss and one each by Cris Carter and Jake Reed.

Moss was almost as spectacular in the later meeting at the Metrodome and finished his two games against Green Bay with 13 catches for 343 yards and three touchdowns.

That led the Packers to a simple conclusion. If they were going to reclaim the NFC Central title from the Vikings, they would have to stop Moss.

The Packers' first response came on draft day, when they selected cornerbacks with their first three picks. Their next move was to replace starting cornerback Craig Newsome, who never regained his speed after knee surgery, with third-round pick Mike McKenzie. The final move was to dump the slow safeties who played in the nickel and dime defenses last year and replace them with two rookie cornerbacks -- first-round pick Antuan Edwards and second-rounder Fred Vinson.

An overreaction? We'll find out Sunday, when the Vikings and Packers meet again at Lambeau. The Packers, who are also a troublesome 1-1 this year under new coach Ray Rhodes, hope to leapfrog past the Vikings with a win. To do so, the new corners will have to stop Moss, first and foremost.

"Something that's really been understood ever since the draft is that this is the team we've really got to beat," Vinson said.

The outcome is doubly important because both teams lost last week, the Vikings by five points to the Raiders and the Packers by eight to the Lions. In an early-season phenomenon that few would have predicted, Sunday's loser will sink into last place in the NFC Central. The Packers hope to take advantage of the Vikings' scoring slump to drop them to 1-2.

"A lot of defenses have spent their whole offseason trying to figure out ways to stop this offense, and the first two weeks they've been doing a pretty good job," Packers safety LeRoy Butler said of Minnesota's high-powered attack. "I think it's up to us to feed off of that. We can't let them have a coming-out party here in Lambeau like they did last year. I think everybody knows what's at stake. It's almost as important as a playoff game."

On the heels of only the third 15-1 season in NFL history, the Vikings are finding out what the Packers learned after they played in back-to-back Super Bowls. When you're on top, people spend a lot of time, energy and money figuring out ways to beat you.

So far, the offense that averaged 34.75 points per game last season has totaled 34 points in two games this season. In the loss to the Raiders, Cunningham was sacked six times, double what he was sacked in any game last season. Meanwhile, the Vikings gained 34 yards on the ground, including minus-4 after the first quarter.

	Randy Moss Wide Receiver Minnesota Vikings Profile
	1999 SEASON STATISTICS REC YDS YDS/R TD LNG FUM 7 110 15.7 0 29 0

Moss, who led the NFL with 17 touchdown catches as a rookie, has been silenced by double-coverage in the secondary and blitzing linebackers who aren't giving Cunningham time to set up for the deep throw. This year, Moss has seven catches, none for longer than 29 yards, none for a touchdown.

After such a dominant season, the lack of scoring has caused much angst in Minnesota. Critics claim offensive coordinator Ray Sherman is much more conservative than departed Brian Billick, that the $12-million-a-year offensive line can't handle the increased blitzing by opponents, that Moss isn't dealing well with more physical play by cornerbacks, that Cunningham is becoming rattled with blitzers in his face, that Sherman is abandoning the run too quickly.

Whatever the reason, the Vikings are no longer jumping out to big leads. That's putting increased pressure on their shaky defense, which was OK last year only because it knew opponents had to pass to catch up. If opponents can stay close, they usually can wear down the Vikings with the run in the second half.

Coach Dennis Green says there's nothing wrong with the offense that time won't cure.

"I think everybody in the league is blitzing more," he said. "I think that's kind of a trend throughout the National Football League. We are also getting roll-up coverages. Randy Moss is getting a little more roll-up coverage than he got last year. The key thing we have to do is have the whole package.

"One thing we haven't been is opportunistic, which means scoring in the red zone, and we haven't run the ball very consistently. If you don't do those things, it makes it difficult to just throw and win. You don't win just by throwing the football."

After two games, the Packers appear to be as flawed as the Vikings. They've been inconsistent and mistake-prone in their first two games out from under the stern whip of former coach Mike Holmgren. Their secondary, despite the infusion of youth and speed, gave up two long touchdown passes to the Lions.

Nevertheless, the Packers are out to gain redemption Sunday by putting an end to the monster they helped create.

"We think we have a better secondary than we had last year," Butler said. "We're just looking forward to the challenge."

Big numbers in Washington
Norv Turner arrived in Washington with a reputation as an offensive wizard, but for five years all anyone saw were quarterback failures and a dysfunctional offensive line, not to mention a very porous defense.

	Stephen Davis Running Back Washington Redskins Profile
	1999 SEASON STATISTICS ATT YDS YDS/A TD LNG FUM 47 235 5.0 5 24 1

After two games this season, however, the Redskins coach has recaptured at least some of his reputation as a brilliant offensive mind. With former Vikings starter Brad Johnson now at quarterback behind a line that came together almost overnight, Turner's offense has exploded in Vikings-esque fashion.

In two games, the Redskins have scored 85 points, picked up 53 first downs and gained almost 900 yards. Their average of 449.5 yards per game leads the NFL. Johnson's 125.9 passer rating leads the NFL. Stephen Davis' 235 rushing yards and five touchdowns lead the NFL.

The numbers are so spectacular that if the Redskins keep it up, they'll set an NFL scoring record with 680 points, far surpassing the 556 scored by the Vikings last year.

Look beyond the numbers, though, and there's little hope that the Redskins' scoring splurge will continue.

For one thing, the Redskins' first two opponents were without their best cover cornerbacks due to injuries. The Cowboys, who gave up 35 points to Washington, didn't have starting cornerbacks Deion Sanders and Kevin Smith. The Giants, who surrendered 50, were without starter Jason Sehorn and third cornerback Conrad Hamilton.

For another, Johnson's poise and accuracy is the key to everything Turner's offense has done so far, and his long history of injuries makes it unlikely that he will play an entire season. Johnson's backup, Rodney Peete, came over from the Eagles, a team that had trouble scoring 85 points all last season.

A bold move, by George?
Did he or didn't he?

Only Panthers coach George Seifert knows for sure.

Here's the scene: There was 1 minute, 55 seconds left on the clock and the Jaguars, holding a 15-14 lead, had the ball on the Panthers 44. Carolina had only two timeouts left, which meant that even if the Panthers held the Jaguars without a first down, they would get the ball back in poor field position with little time on the clock.

On first down, Jaguars halfback James Stewart piled into the middle of the line trying to run out the clock. Only Stewart didn't meet the expected resistance. Instead, he found a huge hole, which he glady sprinted through for a 44-yard touchdown. The Panthers had gone wide with a seven-man blitz, virtually guaranteeing that Stewart would score.

It took Stewart only seven seconds to score, which meant that instead of getting the ball back trailing by a point with little time left, the Panthers got it back trailing by a still-manageable eight with 1:48 to play. Carolina promptly marched for a touchdown, but failed on the two-point conversion and Jacksonville won anyway.

Afterward, Panthers defensive players denied Seifert had ordered them to let the Jaguars score. However, the smiles and smirks on their faces told a different story.

"In that situation," Seifert said, "everybody looked around and said, 'That's probably the best thing that could have happened to us.' "

But, Seifert added, "I didn't say we let him."

He didn't say they didn't let him, either.

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