FLASH RECAP:
Tyrone Wheatley and Zack Crockett combine for three rushing touchdowns to help Oakland end a five-game losing streak with a victory over slumping Minnesota before an announced crowd of 56,653 at Network Associates Coliseum on Nov. 16, 2003.
Wheatley has 109 of the Raiders' season-high 191 rushing yards as Oakland (3-7) gets its first win since Week 4 against San Diego. Crockett scores twice on short runs and he also has a career-high 44-yard rush to set up Wheatley's 2-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter.
Oakland's maligned defense forces a season-high six turnovers, including two interceptions by Phillip Buchanon and one by Rod Woodson. On the game's second play, Buchanon returns a Daunte Culpepper interception 64 yards for a touchdown. Woodson's 71st career interception with 2 minutes, 46 seconds left sets up Crockett's victory-clinching touchdown run on fourth-and-one from the Minnesota 2-yard line.
The Vikings (6-4) suffer their fourth straight loss after opening the season with six victories. Culpepper throws for 396 yards and scores on an 11-yard run, but he also has five of Minnesota's aforementioned six turnovers.
The Vikings' Randy Moss has only four catches for a 25 yards. He entered the game with a league-high 10 touchdown receptions. With a first-quarter catch for five yards against Oakland, Moss becomes the first player in NFL history to reach 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first six seasons.
PRIME-TIME PLAYERS:
CB Charles Woodson - Dominates his mano-on-mano duel with the Vikings' Randy Moss, who has four catches (none after the second quarter) for a mere 25 yards. With the Vikings at the Raiders' 14-yard line late in the game, QB Daunte Culpepper throws incomplete for Moss in the back of the end zone on third and fourth down. On the fourth-down play, Woodson raises his fist in triumph after Cullpepper's pass for Moss sails out of the end zone.
RB Tyrone Wheatley - Rushes for 109 yards and a touchdown on a career-best 32 attempts. It's his first 100-yard rushing performance since rushing for 146 yards against Seattle on Dec. 16, 2000.
QB Rick Mirer - Completes nine of 13 passes for 195 yards with no interceptions for a 111.9 passer rating. One of Mirer's four incompletions is a dropped pass by a wide-open Tim Brown in the end zone on fourth-and-two from the Minnesota 3.
DT Chris Cooper - Has a monster game with a sack, a fumble recovery, a forced fumble and five tackles.
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CB Phillip Buchanon - Contributes two interceptions (including a 64-yard return for a touchdown), but he also surrenders a two-play Minnesota TD drive on consecutive catches by WR Kelly Campbell of 52 and 29 yards midway through the fourth quarter.
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QB Daunte Culpepper - Throws for a career-high 396 yards on 47 of 29 passing, but he also has three interceptions and three fumbles (two lost).
WR Kelly Campbell - Averages 28.8 yards on four catches for 115 yards. Campbell burns CB Phillip Buchanon on successive plays that result in two receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown.
RB Mo Williams - Has six catches for 80 yards and rushes 10 times for 39 yards.
SS Corey Chavous - Contribues a game-high 10 solo tackles and three assists, but it's a bad sign for a defense when its leading tackler is a defensive back.
KEY STAT:
Led by Phillip Buchanon's two interceptions, the Raiders force six turnovers. Oakland had only 13 takeaways (8 interceptions, 5 fumble recoveries) during the season's first nine games.
TURNING POINT:
Zack Crockett's career-best 44-yard run on a draw play sets up Tyrone Wheatley's 2-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to give Oakland a commanding 21-3 advantage.
BY THE NUMBERS:
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0: Catches by Minnesota's Randy Moss after the first half.
3: Sacks by the Raiders, who had only 11 sacks during the season's first nine games.
3: Penalties on Oakland LB Eric Barton, including one for kicking a Minnesota player when he was on the turf.
6: Vikings turnovers. Minnesota had only nine turnovers during the season's first nine games.
191: Oakland rushing yards.
THEY SAID IT:
Raiders WR Jerry Porter
"We're not really out of it. The moon is aligned right. If Jupiter is full, we might make the playoffs. We've got to take care of our own business and hope for some help."
"I don't know what's going to happen in the next six weeks. We're either going to win some games, go to the playoffs or pack it in."
Vikings WR Randy Moss
DID YOU KNOW?:
Tyrone Wheatley rushes 32 times against the Vikings. It's the most rushing attempts by a Raider since Marcus Allen had 33 carries against Green Bay in 1987. Mark van Eeghen holds the franchise record of 36 rushing attempts against the New York Jets in 1977.
The Raiders' Zack Crockett (32) drags two Vikings'
defenders during Oakland's 28-18 victory.
By The Associated Press
