Culpepper Not Perfect, but He Gets the Win

Daunte Culpepper proved he can throw too.

Culpepper, who ran for three touchdowns last week in his first career start, was 23 for 37 for 355 yards and his first career touchdown pass Sunday in Minnesota’s 13-7 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

He had a 15-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss with 1:56 left after throwing three interceptions.

“No quarterback is perfect,” Viking Coach Dennis Green said. “I don’t know what quarterback you know that’s going to make a perfect decision every time.”

Cris Carter caught nine passes for a career-high 168 yards, and Moss had six catches for 87 yards. Culpepper also ran for 37 yards in eight carries.

“I really didn’t have to run because Cris and Randy were getting open more,” Culpepper said, comparing the game to last week’s 30-27 victory over Chicago.

“I knew there were going to be opportunities that Chicago did not present. So I knew I just had to be patient. They were the No. 1-ranked defensive team last week and when opportunities came, we had to take advantage of it.”

After Culpepper teamed with Moss to give the Vikings a 13-0 lead, Miami cut it to six on Jay Fiedler’s two-yard touchdown pass to Thurman Thomas with 1:02 remaining. On the previous play, Fielder connected with Tony Martin for a 44-yard play.

Miami’s attempt to recover an onside kick failed, and the Vikings ran out the clock.

Miami was limited to 209 total yards--and 49 rushing--and was three for 13 on third-down conversions. Lamar Smith was held to 27 yards rushing.