Defense manhandled on the ground

Minnesota Vikings running back Chester Taylor's third rushing touchdown of the game was a perfect illustration of the nightmarish Sunday the ' defense had. Six yards away from the Raider end zone, Taylor leaped off his feet, landed short of the goal line by about 3 yards and then let his line carry 4 Brett Favre Purple jersey
him the rest of the way. It looked far too easy.The Vikings' front five dominated Oakland's D-line for four quarters, as the group cleared the way for 228 yards on the ground. In place of the NFL's leading rusher, Adrian Peterson, backup Chester Taylor ran for 164 yards and three scores on 22 carries. Heading into the contest, Oakland had the 29th-ranked rushing 'D', which allowed just over 144 yards on the ground each game. That average rose by 8 yards after Sunday's 29-22 loss.Minnesota ran two successful reverse passes, both of which set up short touchdowns. Rookie wideout Sidney Rice was the passer on both, finishing the game with 94 yards through the air, including a 79-yarder to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe on the first play of the game. Rice's 94 yards represented nearly 40 percent of his team's total passing output. That wasn't much of a concern, though, with Taylor & Co. averaging 7.1 yards per rush.The entire Raider D-line, with the exception of backup end Chris Clemons, had awful days. Defensive tackles Terdell Sands and Warren Sapp were regularly pushed back and out of position, and reserve tackle Gerard Warren played no better. Sapp finished the day six tackles, while Sands and Warren combined for just three.Clemons, a 25-year-old backup end from Georgia, had two sacks on the day and now leads the team with five.On another positive note, after not recovering a single fumble all season, Oakland's defense recovered four. Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha also had his first interception of the season.Offensively, Oakland had a strong game through the air; however, the Daunte Culpepper-led unit had trouble finding the end zone. Kicker Sebastian Janikowski booted five field goals (from 30, 42, 42, 49 and 52 yards), while only one other Raider scored. Backup tight end John Madsen caught a 10-yard TD in the second quarter to pull his team within two.On the day, Culpepper completed 23 of 39 passes for 344 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Steelers 36 Bettis Jersey
Four of those passes were caught by wide receiver Ronald Curry, who finished the day with 120 yards. He now has team-high 538 receiving yards on the season.The Raiders, 2-8, have dropped six straight games, keeping another 2-14 season within sight.Next week, Oakland will travel to Kansas City to meet the 4-6 Chiefs.Anthony Carroll, a senior writer for