Vikings Teach Lions Costly Lesson

Barry Sanders for 6 yards. Sanders for 15. Sanders for 4.

Sanders for ... almost nothing else.

The Minnesota Vikings held the NFL's most feared running back to just 24 yards after the first two series and rattled rookie quarterback Charlie Batch into three turnovers on the way to a 29-6 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

The Vikings were especially punishing against Sanders in the second half, holding him to 12 yards on 13 carries as they pulled away from a 6-6 halftime tie. They did it by being patient and nearly perfect in their run defense, something they haven't done much in recent years.

"You've got to be disciplined, but aggressive," defensive coordinator Foge Fazio said. "As soon as you see him you go, boom. You miss him, somebody else will get him."

That's never easy to do, especially for the Vikings (3-0), who had allowed Sanders to go over 100 yards in five straight games. He seemed to be on the way again after gaining 45 yards in the first quarter as Detroit built a 6-0 lead, but that was nearly all Sanders got.

That left the Lions (0-3) with nowhere to turn as Batch struggled through his NFL debut, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble that led to a touchdown.

"You never dream of being 0-3," said Detroit offensive tackle Ray Roberts. "I thought we'd be 3-0. Our offense just isn't producing anything. We didn't do much to crate anything for Barry. But Minnesota had a lot to do with that."

Linebacker Dwayne Rudd led the Vikings with 10 tackles, all solo stops. Minnesota also sacked Batch five times, with John Randle and Ed McDaniel getting 11/2 apiece.

McDaniel also forced and recovered a fumble and set the tone for the second half by stuffing Sanders for 2- and 3-yard losses on the first two plays of the third quarter.

"We weren't really worried about Barry, we were worried about us," said defensive end Derrick Alexander. "We were worried about everybody doing their job and filling their gaps. If we did that, he would have to do some spectacular things back there to make things happen."

The smothering defensive effort allowed the Vikings to overcome some of their own offensive sluggishness with Randall Cunningham starting in place of injured quarterback Brad Johnson.

The Vikings sputtered near the end zone most of the day, settling for five Gary Anderson field goals.

But Cunningham threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss in the third quarter after a 44-yard punt return by David Palmer. That gave Minnesota the lead for good, and Leroy Hoard scored on an 11-yard run to make it 26-6 early in the fourth quarter after Batch's fumble.

Directing an offense that had too many options for the Lions even with Johnson out 4-6 weeks with a broken leg, Cunningham was 20-for-35 for 220 yards.

"I knew they were going to be tight down in the red zone," Cunningham said of Detroit's defense. "And we made some mistakes that stopped us. It was a tough battle early in the game. I'm happy our defense played as well as they played."

Batch, who got his first start when Scott Mitchell was demoted to third string after blowing last week's game against Cincinnati, was poised early and got plenty of help from Sanders.

The Lions got field goals on their first two drives and led 6-0, but they made it into Minnesota territory only once more. Randle ended that drive at the 10 when he sacked Batch on fourth down midway through the final period.

Batch finished 20-for-40 for 160 yards.

"Ultimately, I'm the person to blame for all this," Detroit coach Bobby Ross said. "And right now I'm embarrassed by it."

Notes