NFL game summary for 12/21/1974:

Amid light snow flurries and with the temperature at 21 degrees, the Vikings forced a pair of Cardinals' turnovers that resulted in 10 points, which broke a 7-7 halftime deadlock and sent the defending champions into the conference title game for the second year in a row. Strong safety Jeff Wright's interception of a Jim Hart pass set up Fred Cox's tie-breaking 37-yard field goal 3:31 into the third period. One minute later cornerback Nate Wright picked up a Terry Metcalf fumble and raced 20 yards for a touchdown and a 17-7 Minnesota lead. Fran Tarkenton and John Gilliam combined on two touchdown passes covering 16 and 38 yards. Chuck Foreman rushed for 114 yards, including a four-yard touchdown.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

Team		Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
St. Louis Cardinals	OFFENSE	139.7  (13)	168.4  (7)	308.1  (10)	17
	DEFENSE	134.9  (15)	168.8  (19)	303.6  (17)	25
Minnesota Vikings	OFFENSE	132.6  (15)	196.8  (2)	329.4  (3)	22
	DEFENSE	114.6  (5)	164.4  (18)	279.1  (10)	33

Line: n/a

Team	1	2	3	4	F
St. Louis Cardinals (10-5-0)	0	7	0	7	14
Minnesota Vikings (11-4-0)	0	7	16	7	30

( 7- 0) STL Earl Thomas 13 yard pass from Jim Hart (Jim Bakken kick)
( 7- 7) MIN John Gilliam 16 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Fred Cox kick)
( 7-10) MIN Fred Cox 37 yard field goal
( 7-17) MIN Nate Wright 20 yard fumble return (Fred Cox kick)
( 7-23) MIN John Gilliam 38 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (kick failed)
( 7-30) MIN Chuck Foreman 4 yard rush (Fred Cox kick)
(14-30) STL Terry Metcalf 11 yard rush (Jim Bakken kick)

                     STL             MIN
First Downs:         17              19
Rushes-yards:        25-100          42-197
Yards/rush:          4.0             4.7
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     18-40-200-1     13-23-169-2
Sacked-yards:        2-16            1-3
Net pass yards:      184             166
Net yards/pass:      4.4             6.9
Total net yards:     284             363
Total plays:         67 (37% run)    66 (63% run)  
Yards/play:          4.2             5.5
Fumbles-lost:        2-1             0-0
Turnovers:           2               2
Penalties-yards:     1-15            4-39

Attendance: 44,626

Passing:
STL: Jim Hart, 18 of 40 for 200 yards and 1 TD (1 int)
MIN: Fran Tarkenton, 13 of 23 for 169 yards and 2 TDs (2 int)

Rushing:
STL: Terry Metcalf, 15 for 55 yards and 1 TD; Jim Otis, 8 for 35 yards; Jim Hart, 1 for 10 yards; Ken Willard, 1 for 0 yards
MIN: Chuck Foreman, 23 for 114 yards and 1 TD; Dave Osborn, 16 for 67 yards; Fran Tarkenton, 2 for 0 yards; John Gilliam, 1 for 16 yards

Receiving:
STL: Earl Thomas, 6 for 64 yards and 1 TD; Mel Gray, 5 for 77 yards; Terry Metcalf, 4 for 43 yards; Gary Hammond, 1 for 10 yards; Jackie Smith, 1 for 7 yards; Jim Otis, 1 for -1 yards
MIN: Chuck Foreman, 5 for 54 yards; Dave Osborn, 4 for 36 yards; John Gilliam, 2 for 54 yards and 2 TDs; Stu Voigt, 2 for 25 yards

Kick returns:
STL: Terry Metcalf, 3 for 85 yards; Greg Hartle, 3 for 14 yards
MIN: Sam McCullum, 2 for 49 yards; Doug Kingsriter, 1 for 0 yards

Punt returns:
STL: Terry Metcalf, 3 for 18 yards
MIN: Jackie Wallace, 1 for 3 yards

Interceptions:
STL: Roger Wehrli, 1 for 10 yards; Mark Arneson, 1 for 7 yards
MIN: Jeff Wright, 1 for 18 yards

Punting:
STL: Hal Roberts, 7 for 255 yards
MIN: Mike Eischeid, 5 for 191 yards

Field Goals:
STL: Jim Bakken, 0/1
MIN: Fred Cox, 1/1

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