Vikings thrash Jaguars 50-10
Cunningham's 3 TDs give Minnesota home-field advantage
Posted: Monday December 21, 1998 08:07 AM
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Super Randall: Cunningham tossed at least two TDs while playing with a broken left hand AP |
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- History keeps coming in bunches for the Minnesota Vikings. And
points. And wins.
And this time, it was almost impossible to keep track of it all.
Randall Cunningham
threw three touchdown passes with a broken left hand as the Vikings
clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs with a 50-10
victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on
Sunday night.
The Vikings (14-1) are the first dome team ever to earn home-field
advantage, and they did it by finishing with their first unbeaten home
record since 1989.
After watching them manhandle the AFC Central champions, it's hard to
imagine anyone coming to the Metrodome and winning during the playoffs.
"This is a tough place to play," offensive coordinator Brian Billick said
after the Vikings became the second-highest scoring team in NFL history.
"I'd hate to have to bring a team in here."
But that's the job awaiting the rest of the NFC, and it must seem like
mission impossible after Sunday night's rout.
Cris Carter caught his
100th touchdown pass, tying Steve Largent for second place on the career
list, Randy Moss tied
an NFL record with his 10th TD of at least 40 yards and Robert Smith ran for 101
yards after missing two games with a knee injury.
Jimmy Hitchcock had a
30-yard interception return in the fourth quarter in the middle of a
17-point blitz in a 48-second span. It was Hitchcock's seventh interception
of the season, tying for the NFC lead, and his third return for a TD,
setting a team record.
That all added up to 530 points for the Vikings this season, the
second-most in NFL history and 11 short of the record 541 scored by the
1983 Washington
Redskins.
"That says this team is very explosive and we can put up some points in a
short period of time," said tight end Andrew Glover, who caught
two 14-yard TD passes from Cunningham.
Minnesota's offense had plenty of help, too. The defense allowed no first
downs and just 13 yards in the third quarter and forced four turnovers
which the Vikings turned in to 26 points.
That made it a long night for Jacksonville (10-5), which clinched the
first AFC Central title in its four-year history earlier in the day when
Tennessee lost at Green Bay.
Vikings tight end Andrew Glover celebrates the first of his two touchdown catches AP | |
The Jaguars toasted the title during the pre-game meal, but it was all
downhill from there as the loss assured that the Jaguars will not get a
first-round bye.
"It was flat-out embarrassing," linebacker Kevin Hardy said. "To be a
playoff team and get beat 50-10 doesn't make any sense to me."
Injuries forced the Jaguars to play with rookie third-string quarterback
Jonathon Quinn, who threw two interceptions.
The Jaguars crossed midfield only three times, once in the second half.
Their only points -- a 25-yard field goal by Mike Hollis on the last
play of the first half and Quinn's 1-yard TD pass to Pete Mitchell in the
fourth quarter -- came after long pass interference penalties.
"I felt I played just like a rookie," said Quinn, who finished 12-for-27
for 88 yards and was sacked four times. "I had several mistakes, slow
reads. Obviously, I've got a lot of work to do."
The Vikings led just 12-3 at halftime after a sluggish first half but
borke the game open two plays into the third quarter.
Smith took a handoff and then pitched the ball back to Cunningham, who
hit Moss for a 43-yard TD. That extended Moss' NFL-leading total to 16 TD
catches, one short of Carter's team record set in 1985, and tied Elroy
"Crazy Legs" Hirsch's record of 10 TDs of at least 40 yards in a season.
"It was just a play on which Randy does his thing," Cunningham said.
Cunningham said he injured his left (non-throwing) hand during the first
quarter. He threw a 14-yard TD pass to Andrew Glover in the second quarter
before X-rays at halftime revealed the fracture.
The only obvious indication that Cunningham was injured was that he made
all his handoffs right-handed, even on running plays to the right side.
Cunningham had the hand wrapped and then hit Moss and Glover for scores
in the third quarter. Glover's second score made it 26-3, and Brad Johnson replaced
Cunningham on Minnesota's next possession with 2:14 left in the third.
By then, it was obvious that next week's game at Tennessee will be the
last time this season the Vikings play away from the Metrodome. At least
until the Super Bowl.
"That's huge," said kicker Gary Anderson, who had four
field goals. "All you have do do is be in the stadium to see what it's
like, and I'm sure it's only going to get better." Extra
points
Anderson extended his NFL record for consecutive field goals to 38. He is
91-for-91 on the season, including extra points, and is one game away from
becoming the first kicker in NFL history to make every kick in a season.
... Jacksonville defensive end Renaldo Wynn left the game
with a strained groin in the third quarter and didn't return. ...
Minnesota's success this season has given coach Dennis Green a .630 winning
percentage, surpassing Bud Grant's franchise mark of .620. ... The 10
points were Jacksonville's fewest in the regular season since a 28-3 loss
to Pittsburgh in 1996.
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