Vikes Slam Steelers

Pictures didn’t help the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they didn’t lie, either. They couldn’t disguise their five turnovers in a single quarter, their frustration or the Vikings’ Purple People Eater-like defense.

Rookie defensive backs Orlando Thomas and Corey Fuller, with only three NFL starts between them, each scored off a near-comedic burst of seven Pittsburgh turnovers, and Minnesota beat the self-destructive Steelers 44-24 Sunday.

“We pretty much disintegrated,” Steelers linebacker Kevin Greene said. “I don’t know if we were into it mentally. We like to hammer people, and it’s pretty hard for the Pittsburgh Steelers to accept somebody else came in here and hammered us.”

The Vikings’ defense, run by former Steelers defensive coordinator Tony Dungy, forced five turnovers and scored twice in a 24-point third quarter.

And it wasn’t just defense for the Vikings. Robert Smith literally ran out of his shoes on a 58-yard touchdown run, and Warren Moon, the first 60,000-yard passer in pro football, threw two touchdown passes to Cris Carter.

Moon was 17 of 30 for 213 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions to give him 60,055 career passing yards, 21,228 in the CFL. His 38,827 NFL yards rank sixth all-time.

Raiders 48, Eagles 17

Oakland trailed Philadelphia 17-0, and the Raiders had the Eagles right where they wanted them.

The Raiders blitzed the Eagles for 48 straight points, getting a pair of touchdowns on fumble returns by linebacker Rob Fredrickson and defensive tackle Austin Robbins in a home victory.

Oakland (3-1), in its second home game since returning from Los Angeles, scored 28 points off five Philadelphia turnovers, including an interception and fumble by Randall Cunningham and a fumble by Ricky Watters, who had an unhappy return to the Bay area.

Rams 34, Bears 28

St. Louis just keeps beating the odds.

After four games, the Rams still haven’t turned the ball over and they haven’t lost either, matching their victory total from their final season in Anaheim, Calif., with a home victory over Chicago.

Chris Miller threw for 231 yards and three touchdowns, his best day as a Ram, before leaving with a concussion in the fourth quarter. The St. Louis defense added its fourth score of the season.

Giants 45, Saints 29

The New York Giants’ offense finally found something that works, Rodney Hampton running against the NFL’s worst defense.

The Giants, limited to 23 points in losing their first three games, got a team-record four rushing touchdowns from Hampton as they beat visiting New Orleans.

Tyrone Wheatley, the Giants’ first-round draft pick, also scored on a 19-yard, fourth-quarter run in New York’s biggest scoring outburst since a 49-3 playoff win over San Francisco in 1986.

The Saints’ 0-4 start is their worst since Jim Mora took over as coach in 1986.

Oilers 38, Bengals 28

Chris Chandler completed a pass after falling down. He completed one while getting pulled down. He completed all of the easy ones too. Chandler threw a career-high four touchdowns passes in the first half.

Playing with a sore left shoulder that sidelined him last week, Chandler directed the Oilers (2-2) to their biggest offensive day since their devastating 41-38 playoff loss to Buffalo in 1992.

Browns 35, Chiefs 17

In another time, under other circumstances, Marty Schottenheimer would have been proud of Earnest Byner. Not on Sunday.

Schottenheimer was on the opposite sideline when Byner ran for one touchdown and caught a short pass for another as Cleveland handed Kansas City its first loss of the season.

Byner spun 7 yards up the middle for a TD on Cleveland’s second drive of the game, then caught a 3-yard pass from Vinny Testaverde for the clinching score with 10 minutes to play.

Testaverde became one of 10 active passers to surpass 20,000 career yards passing, completing 21 of 35 for 204 yards without an interception.

Packers 24, Jaguars 14

With a pair of touchdown passes, Brett Favre joined some select company.

Favre tied an NFL record held by Dan Marino, Johnny Unitas and Don Meredith when he threw for at least two TDs in his 12th straight game, and Green Bay’s defense stymied host Jacksonville for the win.

Green Bay (3-1), off to its best start since a 4-1 beginning to the strike-shortened 1982 season, could have beaten the expansion Jaguars (0-4) even worse, but the Packers had a pass intercepted near the goal line, missed a field goal, failed to cover an on-sides kick and gave up a long punt return which led to a Jacksonville touchdown.

Chargers 17, Broncos 6

San Diego found a cure for both John Elway and its scoring problems: Hand the ball to Natrone Means.

Means carried a career-high 27 times for 115 yards and his first two touchdowns of the season, and the Chargers held Denver without a touchdown to win the AFC West showdown at San Diego.

Cowboys 34, Cardinals 20

Emmitt Smith met the NFL’s worst rushing defense, and the result was predictable, except for an elbow injury on his last play of the game. Smith scored two touchdowns, rushed for a 116 yards and had 53 yards receiving as Dallas got off to its best start in 12 years with a win over visiting Arizona.

Smith fell hard on his left elbow late in the game and went to the locker room for X-rays, which were negative. The elbow showed only a bruise, and Smith will be examined again today for swelling.

Falcons 13, Jets 3

Kevin Ross led Atlanta’s defense with a fumble recovery and interception and Jeff George threw for one touchdown as the Falcons beat New York. Morten Andersen added field goals of 37 and 36 yards in the first and third quarters and the Falcons improved to 3-1. George’s 4-yard scoring pass to Bert Emanuel late in the second quarter broke a 3-3 tie.

Buccaneers 14, Redskins 6

Bouncing back from the worst performance of his career, Tampa Bay’s second-year quarterback Trent Dilfer used high percentage passes and the legs of Errict Rhett to beat visiting Washington. After completing 4 of 5 passes for just 24 yards in the opening half, Dilfer was 6 for 7 for 75 yards and Rhett carried 10 times for 47 yards and a touchdown to help Tampa Bay (2-2) turn the game around in the third quarter.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SUNDAY’S BEST Quarterbacks Jeff Blake, Bengals24-46-356 Chris Chandler, Oilers23-26-352 Running backs Rodney Hampton, Giants33-149-4 Robert Smith, Vikings15-115-1 Receivers Rob Moore, Cardinals9-154-1 Jeff Graham, Bears6-145-1