Carter Plan Works as Vikings Rout Cardinals

In a 34-7 victory over the Phoenix Cardinals Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings didn’t try to sit on their lead, much to the delight of Cris Carter.

Carter, who criticized his coaches for their conservative fourth-quarter play calling that helped Detroit rally from 17 points down to beat the Vikings last week, caught six passes for 118 yards.

“My concern last week was that we weren’t getting the ball to the wideouts once we got ahead. We basically did that today,” said Carter, who also caught a touchdown pass and was instrumental in four of Minnesota’s five touchdown drives. “We had some good plays called and we executed them.”

Coach Jerry Burns, whose Vikings ended a three-game losing streak, acknowledged that the Detroit game was on his mind.

“Last week we might have gotten a little conservative,” Burns said. “Today, perhaps, we did stay a little more aggressive in the second half.”

Rich Gannon, who played his second consecutive game in place of Wade Wilson as Minnesota’s starting quarterback, said he was thrilled with Burns’ aggressive play calling.

“It gave us a chance to make some big plays,” said Gannon, who completed 23 of 31 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns. “I think that’s the only way we can play if we’re going to score points.”

Gannon, who also ran 18 yards for a touchdown, completed 12 consecutive passes to open the second half.

He had plenty of time to pick apart the Cardinal secondary, as the Cardinals (3-4) rarely pressured him and had no sacks.

Meanwhile, John Randle and Chris Doleman combined for five sacks for the Vikings (3-4).

“They had time to throw and we didn’t,” said Phoenix Coach Joe Bugel. “It’s tough for anybody to cover Anthony Carter and Hassan Jones and Cris Carter with no pressure.”

The Cardinals, who have lost two in a row, didn’t score until Anthony Thompson’s one-yard touchdown run with 5:01 to play. By then, the Vikings were already leading 34-0.

“No one made any big plays,” said Phoenix quarterback Tom Tupa. “Today was just a bad game for us. Overall, I don’t think anyone had too good of a day out there.”