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Road warriors

Raiders expose soft Vikings defense in impressive road win

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Posted: Sunday September 19, 1999 07:59 PM

Rich Gannon had two TD passes in leading the Raiders to a 22-17 victory over Minnesota. Brian BahrAllsport

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Forget the eagerly awaited matchup between Randy Moss and Charles Woodson. Russell Maryland knew the key to the Vikings-Raiders game was the amount of pressure he'd get on Randall Cunningham.

He got a lot and led Oakland to a 22-17 upset of Minnesota, an offensive powerhouse suddenly struggling to score.

"As good of a quarterback as he is and has been, nothing beats putting pressure on him," Maryland said. "You get him on the ground and you start to get to him."

With the football world anxiously awaiting receiver Moss vs. cornerback Woodson, who both had spectacular rookie seasons last year, Maryland recovered a fumble, picked off a pass and led a relentless rush Sunday. The Raiders got six sacks and held the Vikings to 34 yards rushing, including minus-1 in the second half.

A week after blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead at Green Bay, Oakland survived the Vikings' comeback bid.

With the Raiders ahead 22-10 midway through the second half, Cunningham completed a third-and-8 pass to Jake Reed and defensive end Tony Bryant was assessed a personal foul for driving the quarterback to the turf. The penalty moved the ball to the Oakland 45.

Then safety Eric Turner drew another 15-yard penalty for spiking the ball he picked off out of bounds near the end zone. That led to Cunningham's 28-yard TD pass to Jake Reed that pulled Minnesota to 22-17 with 14 minutes left.

The Raiders were flagged 10 times, all in the second half.

But after pulling to within five points, the Vikings went three-and-out twice, turned the ball over on downs and threw an interception at the end.

The Vikings (1-1) have needed two games to score 34 points, which was about their average output last year, when they set an NFL record with 556 points.

"No, I didn't expect that because I know the sky's always the limit," Cunningham said. "It's going to be a tough year for us."

So frustrated was Vikings coach Dennis Green that he went for it, but came up short, on fourth-and-10 from the Raiders 39 with 7 1/2 minutes remaining.

"I just felt like we had to try to make something happen," Green said.

Tyrone Wheatley fumbled at the Vikings 31 with 3:40 left, but Minnesota failed to gain a first down and punted. Wheatley secured the victory with a 25-yard run with two minutes left. He rushed 12 times for 67 yards in the second half and finished with 83 yards on 18 carries.

The Raiders (1-1) trailed 10-6 at the half, but Rich Gannon hit James Jett with a 9-yard touchdown pass to give Oakland its first lead, 13-10 midway through the third quarter.

Maryland, who recovered a Cunningham fumble at the Oakland 25 in the first half, intercepted Cunningham's tipped pass at the Vikings 30 two plays later. The Raiders settled for Michael Husted's 42-yard field goal for a 16-10 lead.

Gannon's draw from the 5 with 1:08 left in the third quarter made it 22-10, but the 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete.

The Vikings managed just 15 yards on eight plays in the third quarter.

Although Cunningham was 23-of-39 passes for 364 yards, including five passes to Reed for 100 yards, the Vikings' running game was nearly nonexistent. Robert Smith gained 24 yards on 11 carries.

In the first quarter, Cunningham threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Carlester Crumpler, but Minnesota blew three scoring opportunities and stumbled into halftime with just a four-point lead despite outgaining the Raiders 256 yards to 93.

Gary Anderson, the first perfect kicker in NFL history last season, was short on a 50-yarder and his 43-yard attempt was blocked, giving him four misses this year.

Anderson was good from 37 yards in the second quarter for a 10-3 lead, but that came after the Vikings failed to take advantage of Moss's spectacular one-handed, 24-yard catch over Charles at the Oakland 5.

For what it was worth, Moss called his matchup with Woodson a draw.

"I wouldn't say I won. I wouldn't say he won. I didn't do nothing and he didn't do nothing," Moss said.

Notes : Anderson's 43-yard attempt was blocked by Woodson and recovered by Oakland linebacker K.D. Williams at midfield, leading to Husted's 37-yard field goal just before the half. He also was good from 36 yards. ... Nine players caught a pass for Oakland, led by Tim Brown's nine receptions for 86 yards. ... Vikings tackle Korey Stringer injured his left knee in the second quarter and didn't play much in the second half. Linebacker Kailee Wong pulled a hamstring and his replacement, Rob Holmberg, sprained an ankle.

 

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