Warren Moon saved the Minnesota Vikings again Sunday, throwing the winning touchdown to Qadry Ismail with five seconds left to beat the New Orleans Saints 21-20.
Moon moved Minnesota (7-2) 84 yards in 13 plays after the Saints (3-6) had taken the lead on two field goals by Morten Andersen.Moon was 8-for-12 for 86 yards on the go-ahead drive, including a 4-yard, fourth-down completion to Amp Lee at the New Orleans 27.
Four plays later, he found Ismail in the left flat. Ismail dodged one defender and dove over another for the winning points.
Moon finished 33-of-57 for 420 yards and two touchdowns. It was the most attempts of his career, surpassing the 56 passes he threw against Dallas on Nov. 10, 1991.
It was the second straight home game in which Moon rallied the Vikings on their final drive. On Oct. 20, he led a late drive for a tying field goal against Green Bay, then led Minnesota to the winning kick on the opening drive of overtime.
His heroics this time kept Minnesota two games ahead of the Packers in the NFC Central after Green Bay beat Detroit.
The game was tied at 14 when Saints quarterback Jim Everett hit running back Derek Brown with a short pass, and Brown dodged three would-be tacklers for a 37-yard gain. After three plays gained just three yards, Andersen's field goal with 4:12 left gave New Orleans its first lead.
Then, on Minnesota's second play, Renaldo Turnbull tipped the ball from Moon's hand as he was passing and Frank Warren recovered at the Minnesota 18.
The Saints couldn't move the ball, but Andersen's 26-yard kick made it 20-14 with 2:49 remaining.
The 3-6 start is the Saints' worst since 1985, and New Orleans is in danger of missing the playoffs for the second straight year, something the Saints haven't done since 1988-89.
The Vikings, meanwhile, are off to their second 7-2 start in three years under coach Dennis Green. That is the Vikings' best record through nine games since the 1976 team went 8-1-1 on the way to Minnesota's fourth Super Bowl loss.