MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Gus Frerotte kept his cool.
Terrell Owens lost his.
Frerotte, filling in for the injured Daunte Culpepper, threw for
267 yards and four touchdowns three to Randy Moss as Minnesota
beat San Francisco 35-7 on Sunday to improve to 4-0.
``Whenever I'm in there, I'm going to be calm. Period. I think
the guys feed off that,'' Frerotte said.
Owens, held to five catches for 55 yards, stormed off the field
after Kevan Barlow was stuffed for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-1 at
the Minnesota 31 late in the third quarter. The star receiver flung
his helmet on the sideline and continued to scream.
``We got no heart,'' Owens said. ``I don't know what to say.''
Owens, who criticized the play-calling and pass protection in a
postgame rant last week, again complained the 49ers didn't throw
enough balls his way in single coverage.
``I'm out there playing,'' Owens said. ``I'm out there beating
guys. What more can I do? I'm out there playing 100 percent. All of
America can see what's going on.''
Moss had eight receptions for 172 yards for the Vikings, who
scored on four of their five first-half possessions and intercepted
three of Jeff Garcia's passes.
``Gus Frerotte came in and did exactly what we brought him in to
do,'' said Minnesota coach Mike Tice, who turned to the 10-year
veteran with Culpepper out with three broken bones in his back.
Frerotte went 16-for-21 without an interception against a speedy
defense that entered the game with an NFL-high 13 sacks.
``I've been in some great games, and I've luckily done a lot of
good things in this league,'' said Frerotte, who set a franchise
record with a 157.2 quarterback rating. ``But today was an
outstanding day.''
The 49ers were clearly frustrated.
``Nobody played very well,'' said coach Dennis Erickson, whose
team has lost three straight after an opening victory. ``You can go
from me on down to everyone else on that sideline.''
Garcia was 11-for-23 for 108 yards.
``My overall play needs to improve,'' Garcia said, ``whether
that's accuracy, whether that's making better decisions, whether
that's getting us in better position to make positive plays.''
Minnesota had no trouble making those types of plays.
The Vikings drove 72 yards on the opening drive, with Moss
jumping over Ahmed Plummer to pull in a 15-yard TD pass.
Onterrio Smith's 5-yard TD run put the Vikings up 14-0 at the
end of the first quarter. In the second, Frerotte threw a 35-yard
scoring pass to Moss and a 22-yarder to Nate Burleson to blow the
game open. Frerotte accentuated his record-setting afternoon in the
fourth quarter with a perfectly thrown 59-yard TD pass to Moss
who had another score nullified by a pass-interference penalty.
``That's the best receiver in the game right now,'' Owens said.
The 49ers' red-zone struggles were magnified on the opening
drive of the second half.
After San Francisco marched 70 yards to the 4, Barlow ran for 2
yards on first-and-goal. Then Garcia threw three straight
incompletions passes intended for Owens, Tai Streets and Jed
Weaver that were broken up by Vikings defenders.<
^Notes:@ Tim Rattay played the fourth quarter, throwing a 37-yard
touchdown pass to Streets to keep San Francisco from its first
shutout since 1977. Garcia has a strained groin, but Erickson said
the decision to pull him was based on the score. ... Warren Moon
held Minnesota's previous single-game mark for quarterback rating,
posting a 152.9 against New Orleans on Nov. 19, 1995.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)