It was over when ...
Chester Taylor surged into the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter, scoring his third touchdown of the game to put the Vikings ahead 29-19. The touchdown capped a six-play, 74-yard drive after Raiders QB Daunte Culpepper was sacked and fumbled, wiping out an Oakland scoring threat.
Game balls
Taylor was the workhorse for the Vikings, gaining 164 yards rushing and 38 more on three receptions, but rookie WR Sidney Rice deserves some recognition, as well. Rice caught just two passes, but he also completed two, for 103 yards. For Oakland, K Sebastian Janikowski matched his career high by making all five of his field-goal attempts, including one from 52 yards, one from 49 and two from 42.
Key stat
Minnesota rolled up 478 yards of offense against the Raiders, split pretty evenly -- 228 rushing and 250 passing.
Noteworthy
The Vikings made 25 first downs but faced only seven third-down situations. ... Janikowski had made five field goals in a game twice previously, most recently in 2003 vs. Chicago, when he made 5 of 6 attempts in a 24-21 loss. ... Of 70 offensive plays, the Raiders dropped to pass on 43 of them. Culpepper was sacked four times, fumbled twice and was intercepted once.
