Saturday, November 28, 1998

Banged-up Cowboys had no chance

By Kevin Lyons

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys doubled him. They singled him. They even held him twice. But with Deion Sanders unable to play because of a sprained big toe, they still had no chance.

Minnesota Vikings rookie Randy Moss stomped out the Cowboys' best-laid plans. He caught only three passes. But he might as well have caught 300. All went for touchdowns, 51, 56, and 56 yards as the Vikings trounced the Cowboys, 46-36, on Thursday at Texas Stadium, the most points the Cowboys have allowed in 13 years.

"He's a great player and he's young, but age doesn't mean anything to him," said Cowboys safety Kenny Wheaton, whose "50-yard" pass interference call against Moss led to a Vikings touchdown in the third quarter.

"You just can't coach making plays," Wheaton said.

Playing without Sanders made a difference in the game, several Cowboys players said.

"We're banged up," said cornerback Charlie Williams, who replaced Sanders. "Not having Deion made a difference. When we get everybody healthy and back in the lineup, we'll be contenders. I'd love to see them again."

Moss (163 yards) and Cris Carter (7 receptions for 135 yards and 1 TD) led a big-play attack that saw each of the Vikings' six touchdown drives take no longer than five plays, or 2:28 off the game clock. Five of the touchdown plays traveled at least 50 yards.

Cornerback Kevin Smith missed the second half with a back contusion. But he played long enough to become part of the Vikings highlight film in the first quarter that could have summed up the whole game. When Smith and safety Darren Woodson bit on a flea-flicker, Moss ran past them to catch a 51-yard touchdown pass just 1:57 into the game. Smith tried to grab Moss on his second catch of the game, but Moss ran down Randall Cunningham's throw anyway, for 56 yards.

Those scores sandwiched Carter's 54-yard touchdown, which came when he beat the coverage of Woodson and Wheaton. Before the first quarter was over, Cunningham had 184 of his 359 yards passing.

"Most of their stuff was just up the field and they made plays on the ball," safety George Teague said. "Randall tossed it up there, and they got it."

The Cowboys adjusted in the second quarter, doubling both outside wide receivers. They also blitzed more so that Cunningham would not have time to throw. The strategy worked for a while. From the beginning of the second quarter to near the end of the third, a hurried Cunningham threw 14 incompletions, was sacked once and threw an interception.

The Cowboys, once down 21-6, had closed to 24-19.

"We tried to mix it up and we got a better feel for the speed of the game in the second and third quarter," coach Chan Gailey said. "But then we let them get right back in it."

Wheaton's pass-interference penalty on Moss set up a 12-yard Leroy Hoard scoring run to give the Vikings a 32-19 lead. Then Moss broke the Cowboys' spirits when he caught a short Cunningham pass in the flat, broke a Williams tackle at midfield, then outran the rest of the Cowboys for a 56-yard score.

The Vikings led 39-22.

And finally, mercifully, the Randy Moss show was over.

"It looks to me like he is an exceptional receiver," Gailey said in the understatement of the day.

"He just had a great day."

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(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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