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Wacky bounce carries Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Antonio Freeman's fluky 43-yard touchdown catch in overtime gave the Packers a 26-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.

By The Associated Press

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 7, 2000

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Antonio Freeman's fluky 43-yard touchdown catch in overtime gave the Packers a 26-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.

Brett Favre launched a deep pass to Freeman, who slipped on the wet grass as cornerback Chris Dishman deflected the ball at the 20-yard line.

The ball bounced off Freeman's left shoulder as he rolled over, and he tipped it into his chest with his right hand before it hit the ground.

Freeman grabbed the ball, jumped up, juked safety Robert Griffith and rumbled into the end zone.

"I'm just so glad to catapult this team to a much needed victory," an exhausted Freeman said. "We needed a lucky break."

"We wanted to show the world we weren't a 3-5 team."

Players from both teams were scattered across the field, some in prayer at midfield, when the officials announced the play stood as called.

It was the first time the Packers had the lead all game against the stunned Vikings, who lost their second straight after starting 7-0.

It was the Vikings' fifth NFC Central game in the past six games. They won their first three before losing at Raymond James Stadium last week.

The Vikings botched a game-winning 33-yard field-goal attempt by Gary Anderson in a driving rain on the final play of the fourth quarter.

Holder Mitch Berger couldn't handle a poor snap by Mitch Palmer, and Tyrone Carter picked off Berger's desperation pass at the 5 as time expired.

The Vikings had moved into position thanks to curious play-calling by the Packers, who got conservative when they had the ball at their 20 with 1:40 left.

Ahman Green ran two straight draws, gaining 3 yards, and Vikings coach Dennis Green called timeout with 1:07 left. On third down, Favre badly misfired on a deep pass to Donald Driver.

Topping it off, Josh Bidwell punted only 25 yards, giving the Vikings the ball at the Green Bay 48 with 52 seconds and all three timeouts left.

Randy Moss, who had six catches for 130 yards, caught a 19-yard slant that gave the Vikings the ball at the 15 with eight seconds left before the botched field-goal attempt.

Minnesota's Robert Smith rushed for 122 yards on 24 carries and caught two passes for 67 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown.

The Packers scored just three points off five turnovers, but they took advantage of Daunte Culpepper's third interception to tie it at 13 on Ryan Longwell's 31-yard field goal in the second half.

The teams scored touchdowns 28 seconds apart in the third quarter.

On third and 17, Smith, who hadn't caught a touchdown since Oct.5, 1998, also at Lambeau Field, took a short pass from Culpepper along the left sideline and blew past arm tackles by Tod McBride and LeRoy Butler for a 20-13 Vikings lead.

Allen Rossum returned the ensuing kickoff a career-high 90 yards before Kenny Wright caught him at the 2. Two plays later, Green ran over Wright for the tying touchdown.

Minnesota took a 13-10 halftime lead on Anderson's 47-yard field goal as time expired.

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