Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Minnesota Vikings 7 at New York Jets 20 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Minnesota Vikings: Things are ugly again in Minnesota. Daunte Culpepper's first pass of the game was picked off, and everything went downhill from there. Mike Tice claimed the Vikings were going to come out and try to establish the run, but somehow they couldn't get anything going against a defense that had been allowing 191 rushing yards per game. RB Michael Bennett did not break any big runs and without those, he's just not going to get it done as a viable fantasy back. He had a costly fumble early in the fourth quarter, and did not see the field the remainder of the game. Moe Williams finished the game in his place. Bennett owners who were ecstatic over him winning the featured role should be worried. In addition to the big fumble by Bennett, Williams was fairly active in the passing game and scored yet another 1 yard TD. The "Randy Ratio" was thrown away today. Of the 39 passes thrown by Daunte Culpepper, only 8 passes (21%) went to Moss. With the Randy Ratio in place, teams know the ball will be force-fed to Moss. When Culpepper spreads the ball around to his receivers, everyone, including Moss, becomes much more effective because teams can't just key on him. Moss finished with 86 yards. New York Jets: Don't look now, but the Jets execution may finally be catching up to their talent level. Granted, the opponent was Minnesota but the Jets played a near-flawless game in all aspects today. The offense moved the ball through the air and on the ground equally effectively. The defense shut down a solid Vikings rushing attack, and forced 4 costly Minnesota turnovers, which resulted in 13 Jet points. QB Chad Pennington had the breakout game many expected of him. He exudes confidence and looks to be a bright star on the rise. Curtis Martin said of him, "I imagine this is what it must have been like to play with Joe Namath". Pennington was afforded a lot of time to throw, and the Vikings pass defense is not much to speak of, but still Pennington must make the plays. He spread the ball around well and always seemed to throw it to the proper receiver. Laveranues Coles needs to be upgraded big-time after his last 3 performances with Pennington at QB. A lot of people forget that the Jets defense was struggling mightily against the run early last season, much like this year. But they eventually got things turned around in 2001 and got off to a good start on trying to duplicate that today. They allowed just 101 yards on the ground to Minnesota and more importantly, never allowed the Vikings to establish a consistent attack. This forced Daunte Culpepper into some very poor decisions, which the Jets capitalized on. WR Santana Moss had 5 receptions for a career high 111 yards. Don't expect this against every team because Coles is clearly the #1 WR, but it was nice to see Moss come through when he had the opportunity to. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Minnesota Vikings QB: Daunte Culpepper had one of the worst games I've ever seen him play. Many of his turnover problems this year can be attributed to receivers dropping balls, running the wrong routes, etc. Today, the interceptions were his fault. His first pass of the game was picked off on an under thrown pass to Moss. Mo Lewis later intercepted him at the New York 6 at the end of a 9-minute, 18 play drive. It seemed to demoralize the team that all of that work went for nothing. Whenever Culpepper finally seemed to get into a rhythm, he would then make a very poor decision and get picked off. RB: Michael Bennett found some room to run early today, and his numbers were solid for the number of carries he had (12 rushes for 56 yards, 4.7 YPC) but the Vikings found themselves trailing early on and pretty much abandoned the run. Bennett also had a costly fumble late in the fourth quarter on a 2nd and short deep in Jets territory. He didn't see the field the remainder of the game. Bennett does not have a fumbling problem (it was only the 2nd of his career), but we all know he doesn't have the best job security in the league so Bennett owners should take note of this. Call us worried here. Moe Williams got the remainder of the carries after Michael Bennett went out after his fumble. Williams also managed a 1-yard TD run, which is becoming his specialty. He was stuffed on his first attempt, but Tice went back to him on the next play and he popped it in for Minnesota's only score all day. Also caught 4 passes for 30 yards. WR: This game showed precisely why the so-called Randy Ratio wasn't effective. Moss is having his worst year yet as the Vikings force it into him without a reliable WR to take pressure off (a la Cris Carter). Sunday, he was thrown to only 8 times ( out of the 39 passes thrown) and bingo, actually had a decent day (4 catches, 86 yards). As great as Moss is, even he cannot make plays when defenses know the ball is always coming his way. Looks like they'll start taking more what the defense gives them vs trying to force things. D'Wayne Bates received the same number of targets as Randy Moss, and finished with about the same numbers. Culpepper's final pass of the game was a heave to the end zone that Bates actually got two hands on but it was knocked away. Derrick Alexander is a forgotten man in this offense. He doesn't have the speed to stretch the field like he once could, and with his reputation you wonder if he's going to really care whether he can or not. Based on his past success, one would think he could easily beat out D'Wayne Bates for the starting job but he cannot even do that. TE: Byron Chamberlain is Culpepper's safety net on most plays. He was consistently thrown to this afternoon and had a decent game with 6 receptions for 38 yards. Vikings Pass Defense: As usual, had trouble doing much of anything. There was usually zero pressure on Chad Pennington, and the Jets WRs got open no matter what routes they ran. Chad Pennington completed 24 of 29 passes, which pretty much says it all right there. Vikings Rush Defense: The Jets had more success through the air than anything else. When it came time to run the clock down, they were so confident in their ability to complete passes that it was Pennington, not Martin, who racked up a good percentage of the garbage time yardage. Vikings Special Teams: Were not a factor one-way or the other. Gary Anderson did not attempt a field goal, and the return units were pretty much average. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** New York Jets QB: Chad Pennington is the real deal. He appears confident in the huddle and in the pocket, and is embracing his shot at NFL stardom. He has gone from a sleeper to a borderline starter to a sure start in about 3 weeks time. A good example of his poise and ability was on a play where he stumbled out of the snap, gathered himself, and completed a perfect pass to Laveranues Cole while simultaneously being drilled by a linebacker. He engineered a number of long drives, something that was absent when Testaverde was in there. Do consider this defense though. We very much like the guy but this was not a tough defensive test. RB: Curtis Martin was feast or famine today. He had 71 yards on 20 carries, with 34 of his yards coming on two runs. But he did manage to get into the end zone on a nice run, and appears to be fully recovered from a nagging ankle injury. He did leave the game briefly with an apparent mild concussion but seemed fine. WR: Santana Moss had the numbers (5 receptions, 111 yards), but it seems that it's Laveranues Coles who stands to benefit the most from Chad Pennington's presence. Coles had his third straight good game, and scored his first TD of the season. Pennington has a great rapport on the field with Coles, and announcer Tim Ryan said, "Without question, Laveranues Coles is Chad Pennington's favorite target". Coles had another long reception on which he was called out of bounds, but he was clearly shoved out. Santana Moss did have a very productive day with a career-high 111 yards, but it was probably more a product of a shoddy defense than anything. Wayne Chrebet had a few passes thrown his way early on and finished with 4 receptions for 53 yards. Had a nice 16-yard reception, which led to the Martin TD later in the drive. TE: Anthony Becht was unusually quiet today, and did not see a single pass go his way. That can be attributed to the fact that the Jets weren't in the red zone much, and when they were there the ball went to Curtis Martin. Jets Pass Defense: Made all the plays---only once did Moss manage a big gain, a 46-yard strike on a perfect pass from Culpepper. Shut down everyone else, got some very good pressure on Culpepper, and forced turnover after turnover, which was ultimately the difference in the game. Jets Rush Defense: Because the Jets got out to the early lead, the Vikings didn't pound the ball as they had planned to do. Did a much better job of tackling today, and did a tremendous job in a match up that was supposedly one-sided in the Vikings favor. Came up big with the forced fumble on Michael Bennett and contained Culpepper so he couldn't do a lot of damage with his feet. Jets Special Teams: What has been a bright spot for New York continued today with much success in every area. Minnesota did not have a single long return on the day, due to solid coverage by New York. K John Hall did have a 31-yard field goal blocked, but he was perfect from 38 yards twice in the game. Hall also successfully attempted a "pooch" punt on a fake field goal, placing it perfectly at the Minnesota 4.