Moss Factor Is Hard to Figure Out

It can’t be easy quarterbacking the Minnesota Vikings, never knowing in advance which plays Randy Moss plans to take off.

“Couldn’t you at least send a fax?” Daunte Culpepper may or may not have yelled at Moss--it was hard to hear over the booing of the home fans during the Vikings’ 21-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers Sunday at the Metrodome.

Culpepper had just thrown an interception, one of four on the day, one of two Moss might have prevented had he wanted this victory as much as the angry mob of Minnesotans, who had paid good money and wanted something more than half a loaf.

Culpepper hit the sideline hopping and screaming at Moss. He took off his helmet and threw it. Somewhat surprisingly, it was not intercepted.

Moss, a model of consistency on and off the playing field, ignored Culpepper. Too cool to care? Or trying to defuse a situation by refusing to respond to it? You never can tell with Moss--and therein lies a reason why Minnesota is 0-3 this morning.

The Vikings began this season touting a new offensive strategy called The Randy Ratio, for reasons that escape at the moment. Let’s see: The Vikings were either going to send 40% of their passes in Moss’ direction, or Moss was going to pay attention 40% of the time, one or the other.

Four receptions for 16 yards--Moss’ motley total against Carolina--weren’t part of any equation, at least any equation intended to produce a winning record for the Vikings in 2002.

After consecutive home losses to Buffalo and Carolina, two teams that combined for a 2001 record of 4-28, the Vikings are a mess and Coach Mike Tice is already at a loss over how to work the mop.

Asked how his team might be able to bounce back from such a start, Tice frankly replied, “I don’t know. I don’t know that I have ever been on a team that had lost three straight games at the beginning of the season like this.... The reality is that I have a bunch of guys, players and coaches, giving me everything that they have got.”

And at least one who is not, although Tice was quite careful not to mention any names.

When it comes to NFL quick fixes, a certain ratio has already eclipsed Randy’s as the route to success. Introducing The Rodney Ratio, in which an aging journeyman quarterback takes over a hopeless team and triples its previous season’s victory total in three weeks because of a helpful quirk in the league schedule.

Yes, Rodney Peete and the recently hapless Carolina Panthers are 3-0 after losing their last 15 games of 2001.

No, Peete’s Panthers have not beaten a team this season that has actually won so much as a game.

Week 1: Carolina defeats Baltimore. The Ravens, idle Sunday, are 0-2.

Week 2: Carolina defeats Detroit. The Lions, 37-31 losers to Green Bay in their Ford Field opener, are 0-3.

Week 3: Carolina defeats Minnesota, also 0-3.

Total 2002 record of Carolina’s 2002 opponents so far: 0-8.

Peete, who has been around a while, realizes the legions of doubters have noticed the numbers and are not yet prepared to bet the homestead next week on the Panthers at Green Bay.

“Nobody really expected [this], except for the people in this locker room,” Peete said. Easy for him to say. The Panthers have a very big season schedule posted in a prominent position in their locker room. Everyone on the team can read it.

That’s sacred sanctuary, an NFL locker room. Some teams, given their druthers, would prefer never having to leave it. (Everyone’s undefeated inside their own locker room. With the possible exception of the Cincinnati Bengals.) Many more consider the locker room “us” and the outside world “them,” such as the New York Jets, who were again routed by them, 30-3, Sunday. That’s Jets 10, Them 74 over the last two weekends.

“We’re going to have to stick together,” Jet quarterback Vinny Testaverde said after the 27-point loss to Miami, ending New York’s very peculiar eight-game winning streak over the Dolphins. “Because everybody outside of the locker room is probably going to take shots at us and tell us how bad we are.”

Assuming someone inside the Jet locker room--namely, Coach Herman Edwards--doesn’t beat them to it.

No league turns on itself faster than the NFL, which has watched St. Louis, Baltimore and New England overdose on the dregs-to-champions diet the last three seasons. Sunday, San Diego defeated Arizona, 23-15, and New Orleans rallied from a 20-point deficit to edge Chicago, 29-23, leaving Denver to share the 3-0 stage with the following:

* Carolina, which lost its last 15 games of 2001.

* San Diego, which lost its last nine games of 2001.

* New Orleans, which lost its last four games of 2001.

San Diego has done it the Panther way--milking a soft schedule (Cincinnati, Houston, Arizona) until it’s dry.

The Saints, however, have fashioned their 3-0 start in a manner that warrants attention. New Orleans is undefeated against three 2001 playoff teams--winning on the road against Tampa Bay and Chicago and at home against Green Bay.

(Hmm. New Orleans and Carolina are 3-0, San Francisco is 2-1 after defeating Washington, 20-10, and two plays separate 1-2 Atlanta from 3-0. Do you think the Rams, winless as they head into tonight’s game against the Buccaneers in Tampa, are happy the NFL realigned over the off-season?)

The Saints rallied to beat the Bears by scoring two touchdowns in a 58-second span in the second quarter, followed by the go-ahead touchdown--a 29-yard pass play from Aaron Brooks to Donte’ Stallworth--with 1:11 left in the game.

If that struck Bear fans as oddly familiar, it was. The Bears went 13-3 in 2001 and 2-0 during the first two weeks of 2002 in similar style--doing just enough to get by, doing it dramatically, doing it late.

Which might be disappointing to Bear fans, but can’t be surprising. They know, along with everyone else, that the NFL at the start of the 21st century is nothing more than a copycat league.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

*--* Bests of the Day PASSING Att Cmp Yds TD TOM BRADY, Patriots 54 39 410 4 BRETT FAVRE, Packers 47 31 357 3 TIM COUCH, Browns 56 30 326 3 DONOVAN McNABB, Eagles 37 24 287 3 DREW BLEDSOE, Bills 41 27 283 2 KERRY COLLINS, Giants 38 23 282 0 PEYTON MANNING, Colts 28 21 272 2 JIM MILLER, Bears 40 26 236 2

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*--* RUSHING Att Yards Avg TD PRIEST HOLMES, Chiefs 30 180 6.0 2 LAMAR SMITH, Panthers 30 154 5.1 2 RICKY WILLIAMS, Dolphins 24 151 6.3 1 ANTHONY THOMAS, Bears 27 111 4.1 0

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*--* RECEIVING No Yards Avg TD TROY BROWN, Patriots 16 176 11.0 1 ANTONIO FREEMAN, Eagles 6 118 19.7 1 MARVIN HARRISON, Colts 8 110 13.8 0 DAVID PATTEN, Patriots 7 108 15.4 1

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*--* DEFENSE Breakdown JESSIE ARMSTEAD, Redskins 17 unassisted tackles DEON GRANT, Panthers 3 interceptions for free safety MIKE RUCKER, Panthers 3 sacks for right end CHRIS CLAIBORNE, Lions 11 unassisted tackles

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