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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
>> NFL
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2006
Vikings have what it takes to win big
Team proves itself in victory against Washington Redskins Monday night
Nick Wass/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Minnesota Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell (8) follows through on his 31-yard field goal against the Washington Redskins to put the Vikings up for good 19-16 during the fourth quarter of a football game, Monday in Landover, Md. Vikings holder is Chris Kuehler (5).
BY JOSEPH WHITE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LANDOVER, Md. — The Minnesota Vikings have a new coach, a new attitude, and an old quarterback who knows how to win.
Brad Johnson led a 54-yard fourth-quarter drive, capped by Ryan Longwell's 31-yard goal with one minute remaining, to give the Vikings a 19-16 victory against the Washington Redskins on Monday night.
The victory made Brad Childress a winner in his head coaching debut, and made Johnson a winner for the 66th time as a starter two days before his 38th birthday. Johnson, who completed 16 of 30 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown, has won an impressive 61 percent (66 of 109) of his starts with four teams in his 15-year career.
"To win is big, but to not only win, but to win against a team that was in the playoffs last year, in their home environment, Monday night, all the things that go in their favor," Minnesota safety Darren Sharper said. "That just shows how battletested we are. That's what coach has expressed to us all camp — he wants a hardened unit."
The Redskins had a chance to tie after Longwell's kick, but John
Hall — who has struggled with leg injuries for the last two years — was wide left with a poorly hit 48-yard field goal attempt with 12 seconds remaining.
"My heart was kind of stopping there," Johnson said. "I was tying my shoes getting ready for an overtime game. Fortunately, it went a little wide left for us and turned out great."
Chester Taylor, the Vikings' free agent signing from Baltimore, rushed 31 times for 88 yards and a touchdown, upstaging Clinton Portis' surprise return for Washington. Portis, who spent the week downplaying his chances for the game because of a shoulder injury, entered the game late during the Redskins' first drive and finished with 39 yards on 10 carries.
The loss subdued a Washington crowd that turned the stadium into a sea of fluttering red, white and blue as they waved American flags to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The attendance was 90,608, a new record for the largest stadium in the NFL, and it included actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in Dan Snyder's box. Cruise's production company recently signed a two-year financing deal with an investment partnership headed by the Redskins
owner.
The Vikings become the 10th road team to win in the NFL's opening weekend, the most in Week 1 since 1983, when there were 12 road winners.
A game that had no turnovers was decided with a winning Vikings drive that began at Minnesota's 33 with 5:34 remaining. A 13-yard pass to Troy Williamson converted a key third down, and 15 yards were added to the play when Redskins safety
Sean Taylor, grabbed Williamson's face mask.
From there, Chester Taylor carried five straight times to the Washington 13, forcing the Redskins to use all their timeouts before Longwell's winning kick.
The game featured a Hall of Fame coach (Joe Gibbs) against a first-time head coach making his debut, as well as two of the oldest quarterbacks in the league. Washington's Mark Brunell turns 36 on Sunday.
MLB
Cardinals beat Astros in 7-0 victory Monday
Ending St. Louis' three-game losing streak victory puts St. Louis in lead for NL Central
BY R.B. FALLSTROM ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — Chris Carpenter threw a six-hitter and Ronnie Belliard had four RBIs, helping the St. Louis Cardinals take advantage of a fill-in starter in a 7-0 victory against the Houston Astros on Monday night.
Juan Encarnacion had two RBIs for the Cardinals, who dominated in the first of seven meetings with the Astros over the final 20 games. St. Louis ended a three-game skid and leads the NL Central by five games over Cincinnati and six over the Astros, who beat them in the NLCS last year to go to the World Series.
Taylor Buchholz was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to sub for Andy Pettite, who was pushed back a day because of a heavy workload and a minor ankle sprain. Buchholz (6-10) made his first appearance for Houston since July 27 and allowed five runs in 3 1-3 innings.
Carpenter (14-6) is 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA in his last seven starts. He lowered his NL-leading ERA to 2.84 with his fourth compete game of the season and third shutout, which tied Arizona's Brandon Webb for the major league lead.
Carpenter struck out six and walked two, raising his career record against Houston to 5-2 with a 2.52 ERA. He has 24 career complete games and 12 shutouts.
He had been 0-1 against the Astros this season while allowing nine runs in 14 innings. The Astros were shut out for the second straight game, and 13th time overall, after Adam Wainwright worked the ninth.
Carpenter, the NL Cy Young Award winner last year, has worked eight or more innings in five of his last six starts.
Belliard had been in an 0-for-
20 slump before his RBI single off
Buchholz in the third. His three-
run triple off Fernando Nieve
capped a five-run inning that put
the Cardinals ahead 7-0.
Encarnacion had an RBI single in the third and drew a bases-loaded walk from Nieve in the fourth.
Five of the next six batters reached safely.
Astros shortstop Adam Everett committed two errors, one of them contributing to five unearned runs in the fourth. He lost his grip and double-pumped while preparing to throw on a grounder by Aaron Miles, and Miles ended up beating the throw with one out and none on.
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