Vikings Show Saints How a Little Goes a Long Way

One statistic to console the New Orleans Saints on their plane flight back to Louisiana and reality:

Randy Moss, All-Pro, Super Freak, self-acclaimed unstoppable force with a penchant for fur coats--was held to two catches in the Minnesota Vikings’ divisional playoff game Saturday.

One an innocuous quick slant to the left sideline, the other a one-yard hitch-and-go.

One resulting in a 53-yard turbo-burst through the Saints’ secondary, the other leaving a 68-yard-long vapor trail wafting over the Metrodome artificial turf.

Together, they combined to transport the Vikings to a 34-16 victory and their second trip to the NFC championship game in three seasons.

Two catches, two touchdowns.

Two catches, 121 yards and 11 New Orleans defenders looking as if their feet were in blocks of cement.

The first came on the Vikings’ third play of scrimmage, with 11:57 left in the first quarter, both teams feeling their way through the early moments with playoff rookies at quarterback. One difference between New Orleans’ Aaron Brooks and Minnesota’s Daunte Culpepper, however: When Brooks throws a quick slant, his options are Chad Morton, Willie Jackson and Keith Poole. When Culpepper throws a quick slant, at his disposal are future Hall of Famer Cris Carter, Pro Bowl running back Robert Smith and, of course, A Man Called Moss.

So on third and 10 from the Minnesota 47, Culpepper connects with Moss, who spins one defender 360 degrees, leaves another coughing exhaust fumes and doesn’t stop running until a 53-yard touchdown is in the books and a 7-0 Viking lead is on the scoreboard.

“Just starting the party,” Moss said. “Somebody had to ignite this crowd.”

On the third play of the second half, the Vikings went again to Moss on third and one. Moss took one step forward, made sure he got the one, caught the ball, then turned a simple hitch-and-go into a 68-yard hitch-and-there-he-went.

Before the Saints could blink, they were down, 24-3, and their improbable season was melting before their eyes.

“There’s not a lot of people who can make that play,” Carter said, checking in with the understatement of the new year. “I missed my block, Daunte saw something. After I missed him, the next thing I see, Randy’s catching the ball. They had the angle on him--and he outran the angle.”

Carter shook his head in admiration.

“That’s why he has that nickname--’Super Freak.’ When he’s playing at a high level, there aren’t many people in the league better than him.”

And every defensive back in the NFL knows it, which, Moss maintained, contributed to the second touchdown.

“Actually, I almost lost the ball,” Moss said. “If the cornerback [Kevin Mathis] would have hit me when I caught the ball, I would have bobbled it or fumbled it.

“But I think he was so cautious of me going deep that he played me seven yards off. We talked during the week that they wanted to throw me the ball. Luckily, he threw me the ball and I split two guys and took it to the house.”

The New Orleans game plan was to prevent Culpepper from going deep to Moss, forcing the quarterback to throw under the coverage. The plan might have worked, had Moss not turned the coverage inside out after catching the ball.

“It’s nothing that I haven’t been doing since I got here, since my rookie year,” Moss said.

Culpepper, playing with a brace on a sprained right ankle, became only the third Minnesota quarterback to pass for 300 yards in a playoff game, joining Randall Cunningham and Jeff George. More than 240 of those yards went to Culpepper’s wide receivers, Moss and Carter, with Carter catching eight balls for 120 yards and a 17-yard touchdown just before halftime.

Culpepper, in his first playoff appearance, completed 17 of 31 passes for 302 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

“He’s going to be a tremendous player,” Carter said. “It was unbelievable for him to be able to do the types of things he was able to do with the high ankle sprain.”

Minnesota led by as many as 24 points, late in the fourth quarter, before Brooks and Jackson connected on a 48-yard scoring play with 2:19 remaining.

The victory was surprisingly easy, considering the Vikings had lost their last three games of the regular season and entered this game with the 28th-ranked defense in the league. The Saints, by contrast, were riding the emotional high of their first-ever playoff victory, last week’s 31-28 wild-card triumph over St. Louis.

But the quick strike to Moss forced New Orleans to play from behind right away--unmasking the Saints’ shortcomings. For two months, the Saints had done a brave job of pretending injuries to quarterback Jeff Blake, running back Ricky Williams and wide receiver Joe Horn didn’t matter. Saturday, they mattered.

Williams returned for the first time since breaking his ankle in mid-November, but at only a fraction of his early-season form. He gained 14 yards in six carries and caught one pass for two yards. Brooks led the Saints with 29 yards in five carries.

Without Horn, who led the Saints with 94 receptions during the regular season, New Orleans had no deep receiving threat to challenge the Vikings’ maligned secondary. Instead, Brooks was restricted mainly to throwing screen passes and short dumps to his running backs. In the first half, Brooks completed only one pass to a wide receiver.

For the game, Brooks completed 30 of 48 passes for 295 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Morton tied a playoff record with 13 receptions.

“Aaron didn’t play very well today,” Saint Coach Jim Haslett said. “This was his first chance to play in a situation like that. He can do better.”

The Saints, surprise champions of the NFC West, end their season at 11-7. Minnesota (12-5) moves on to the NFC championship game, where the Vikings will face the winner of today’s New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles second-round game.

Asked if the prospect “excited” him, Moss cocked his head back and said, “Ahhhhhh, not much. It doesn’t really excite me because I’ve already been there.”

Two years ago, losing at home to the Atlanta Falcons.

This time, the task is as simple as a one-yard hitch to Moss.

This time, Moss said, “we want to stay focused and win it.”