MINNEAPOLIS Vikings boost playoff hopes

Minnesota beat the Chiefs to take a half-game lead over the Packers.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Minnesota Vikings played the part of a desperate team perfectly on Saturday.
Onterrio Smith ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns, and Randy Moss caught two of Daunte Culpepper's three touchdown passes in a 45-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Vikings boosted their postseason hopes and delivered a blow to the Chiefs' chances for home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs.
Culpepper completed 20 of 29 passes for 260 yards and one interception as Minnesota, which opened the season with six straight wins and improved to 9-6, moved a half-game ahead of Green Bay in the NFC North race.
Seven catches
Moss, playing with his puffed-out Afro protruding from his helmet, had seven catches for 111 yards.
Priest Holmes, held to 55 yards rushing and 50 yards receiving, scored three times for Kansas City and matched Emmitt Smith's 1995 NFL record with 25 rushing touchdowns in a season.
The Chiefs (12-3), who have wrapped up the AFC West and their first playoff berth since 1997, can still clinch a first-round bye if Indianapolis loses to Denver today. But Kansas City's goal of getting the top seed and securing the home-field advantage in the playoffs, took a big hit.
Minnesota held the NFL's top-scoring offense in check for most of the game, limiting tight end Tony Gonzalez to 65 yards and no touchdowns, and holding Dante Hall to a long return of 21 yards. Hall, who hasn't returned a kick for a score since Oct. 5, left in the third quarter with leg cramps.
Down by 31-0
Trent Green was 18-for-38 for 224 yards and two interceptions for Kansas City, which failed to score in the first half for the first time all season and trailed 31-0 midway through the third quarter.
A win at Arizona next week gives Minnesota the division title, regardless of what Green Bay does.
But the Vikings can also clinch this weekend if the Packers lose to Oakland on Monday night and two of the following three scenarios occur on Sunday: Detroit beats Carolina, Washington beats Chicago and Pittsburgh beats San Diego.
The Vikings lost 13-10 in Chicago last week and dropped into a tie with the Packers (8-6). That forced the Chiefs to play another team with everything to lose. Two weeks ago, Denver kept its wild-card chances alive with a 45-27 victory over Kansas City.
Moss gets 16th
The Vikings needed only eight plays to drive 92 yards on the NFL's 28th-ranked defense -- one that has allowed an average of nearly 30 points over the last six games. Moss' 16th touchdown receptions of the season, a 30-yarder, gave Minnesota a 7-0 lead.
Then a costly fumble call kept Kansas City from gaining any momentum. Green completed a 32-yard pass to Eddie Kennison, who had the ball punched out along the sideline by Brian Williams. Brian Russell, who had both interceptions, recovered at the Vikings' 3.
A challenge by the Chiefs was overturned, but replays showed Williams came from out of bounds to force the fumble. What coach Dick Vermeil challenged was not immediately known.