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MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Todd Bouman offset the absence of Daunte Culpepper by offsetting a 10-point deficit. Bouman threw four touchdown passes in his first NFL start and rookie Michael Bennett rushed for 113 yards and two more scores as the Minnesota Vikings rallied for a 42-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans in an interconference game. The fourth-year quarterback replaced Culpepper, who has a sprained left knee and helped the Vikings (5-7) snap a two-game losing streak. "Nobody can fill Daunte's shoes," Bouman said. "I got my role on this team and that's to go out and play when I'm needed. When he's healthy, he's going to play and that's the way it should be." "Todd Bouman did an excellent job," Vikings coach Dennis Green said. "We made up our mind on Friday that he was going to start." Trailing 10-0, Bouman threw a six-yard touchdown pass to tight end Byron Chamberlain with 7:40 left in the second quarter. Seven minutes later, Bouman hit Jake Reed with a 20-yard pass in the end zone, giving the Vikings the lead for good, 14-10. Reed's catch completed a 10-play, 75-yard drive that included two first-down conversions on 3rd-and-8 and 3rd-and-12. Bennett added to the Vikings lead just 2:24 into the third when he ran to his left for a 31-yard TD and followed that up in the fourth quarter with a 10-yard score with 7:53 left to play. It was the first 100-yard game for Bennett, who was Minnesota's first-round pick. Minnesota's Randy Moss caught seven passes for 158 yards and a TD to become the first player in NFL history to have more than 1,000 yards receiving in his first four seasons. Earlier this week, Moss made headlines when he told the Nashville-based media "when I want to play, I'll play." Despite his incredible receiving numbers, Moss often has been accused of slacking off on plays. "People really don't understand what he says and that's fine," Bouman said. "He's going to go out and play hard and do what everyone asks him to do." "I don't think it was a breakout performance," Minnesota receiver Cris Carter said. "That's what Randy does. He had opportunities and we got the ball to him." Tennessee (5-7) had its postseason chances damaged with the loss and remais one game behind third-place Cleveland in the AFC Central. The seven losses by the Titans are one more than they had over the past seasons. "We just have to come back to work and play," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "We are in a situation we haven't been in in a long time. You have to hold your head up high. The playoffs isn't an issue right now." Tennessee opened the scoring 6:54 into the game when Eddie George ran up the middle from 13 yards away for his third touchdown of the season. It marked the first time in the last six games since last season that the Titans lost when George rushes for a TD. After stopping the Vikings on the ensuing possession, Tennessee drove 59 yards on 10 plays and increased its lead to 10-0 when Joe Nedney kicked a 37-yard field goal with 1:15 left in the quarter. After the Titans took possession following Bennett's first TD, George took a handoff at his own 34 and ran three yards to his right. But Minnesota linebacker Lemanski Hall reached in and knocked the ball out of George's hands and fell on it at the 37, setting up a scoring chance for the Vikings. Bouman connected with running back Doug Chapman on the first play following the fumble for a 37-yard TD, making it 28-10, with 10:29 left in the third. "(Bouman) came out today and we know he was athletic," Tennessee safety Perry Phenix said. "And he made plays outside of the tackle box. He made a lot of plays with his feet." Titans quarterback Steve McNair threw to Derrick Mason in the left corner of the end zone from 15 yards away 53 seconds into the final quarter, with Mason had to barely keep his feet inbounds. But Bennett answered for the Vikings with just under eight minutes remaining with his second TD of the game, making it 35-17. McNair hooked up with Wycheck from nine yards away with 2:57 left before Moss caught a pass from Bouman at his own 28 and turned it into a 73-yard TD with 2:35 to play. McNair was sacked four times, including twice by defensive end Lance Johnstone. "Our game plan was that we didn't want them to run the clock with Eddie, so once we got them in that position, we wanted to put a lot of heat on them and make (McNair) make some bad throws and (enable us to) get to him," Johnstone said. |
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