Vikings’ Burns Goes Out a Loser as Packers Roll to 27-7 Victory

Vince Workman scored twice as the Green Bay Packers ended the coaching career of Minnesota’s Jerry Burns with a 27-7 victory Saturday over the Vikings, equaling the most lopsided home losses of Burns’ career.

Burns announced his retirement two weeks ago and the Vikings (8-8) responded with successive victories over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Rams. But Minnesota sent Burns out of the NFL the same way it welcomed him into the league; the Vikings lost his debut in 1986.

Burns finished with a record of 52-43. But the Vikings never seemed to win as much as their talent indicated they could.

Minnesota players had spent much of the week talking about how much they wanted to win for Burns, the only Viking introduced before the game.

Instead, Rich Gannon’s nine-yard pass to Terry Allen with 1:22 to play averted their first home shutout since 1962.

Cris Carter fumbled on Minnesota’s opening drive, leading to Chris Jacke’s 42-yard field goal, and Minnesota had turnovers that set up touchdown runs by Workman and Keith Woodside.

The game marked the return of Green Bay quarterback Don Majkowski, who replaced injured Mike Tomczak midway through the second quarter. Majkowski, who had sat out six consecutive games because of hamstring problems, completed five of 10 passes for 64 yards. The Packers finished with a 4-12 record.