Vikings Right At Home For Playoffs

History keeps coming in bunches for the Minnesota Vikings. And points. And wins.

And this time, it was almost impossible to keep track of it all.

Despite a broken (non-throwing) left hand, Randall Cunningham threw three touchdown passes as the Vikings clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs with a 50-10 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday night.

The Vikings (14-1) are the first dome team ever to earn home-field advantage, and they did it by finishing with their first unbeaten home record since 1989.

After watching them manhandle the AFC Central champions, it's hard to imagine anyone coming to the Metrodome and winning in the playoffs.

"This is a tough place to play," offensive coordinator Brian Billick said after the Vikings became the second-highest scoring team in NFL history. "I'd hate to have to bring a team in here."

But that's the job awaiting the rest of the NFC, and it must seem like mission impossible after Sunday night's rout.

Cris Carter caught his 100th touchdown pass, tying Steve Largent for second on the career list, Randy Moss tied an NFL record with his 10th TD of at least 40 yards and Robert Smith ran for 101 yards after missing two games with a knee injury

Jacksonville's Jonathan Quinn has a rough outing in his first NFL start, throwing two interceptions and getting sacked four times. (AP)

Jimmy Hitchcock had a 30-yard interception return in the fourth quarter in the middle of a 17-point blitz in a 48-second span. It was Hitchcock's seventh interception of the season, tying for the NFC lead, and his third return for a TD, setting a team record.

That all added up to 530 points for the Vikings this season, the second-most in NFL history and 11 short of the record set by the 1983 Washington Redskins.

"That says this team is very explosive and we can put up some points in a short period of time," said tight end Andrew Glover, who caught two 14-yard TD passes from Cunningham.

Minnesota's offense had plenty of help, too. The defense allowed no first downs and just 13 yards in the third quarter and forced four turnovers which the Vikings turned in to 26 points.

That made it a long night for Jacksonville (10-5), which clinched the first AFC Central title in its four-year history earlier in the day when Tennessee lost to Green Bay.

The Jaguars toasted the title during the pre-game meal, but it was all downhill from there as the loss assured that the Jaguars will not get a first-round bye.

"It was flat-out embarrassing," linebacker Kevin Hardy said. "To be a playoff team and get beat 50-10 doesn't make any sense to me."

Injuries forced the Jaguars to play with rookie third-string quarterback Jonathan Quinn, who threw two interceptions.

The Jaguars crossed midfield only three times, once in the second half. Their only points -- a 25-yard field goal by Mike Hollis on the last play of the first half and Quinn's 1-yard TD pass to Pete Mitchell in the fourth quarter -- came after long pass interference penalties.

"I felt I played just like a rookie," said Quinn, who finished 12-for-27 for 88 yards and was sacked four times. "I had several mistakes, slow reads. Obviously, I've got a lot of work to do."

The Vikings led just 12-3 at halftime after a sluggish first half but broke the game open two plays into the third quarter.

Smith took a handoff and then pitched the ball back to Cunningham, who hit Moss for a 43-yard TD. That extended Moss' league-leading total to 16 TD receptions, one shy of Carter's team record et in 1985, and tied Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch's record of 10 TDs of at least 40 yards in a season.

"It was just a play on which Randy does his thing," Cunningham said.

Cunningham said he injured his left hand during the first quarter. He threw a 14-yard TD pass to Glover in the second quarter before X-rays at halftime revealed the fracture.

The only obvious indication that Cunningham was injured was that he made all his handoffs right-handed, even on running plays to the right side.

Cunningham had the hand wrapped and then hit Moss and Glover for scores in the third quarter. Glover's second score made it 26-3, and Brad Johnson replaced Cunningham on Minnesota's next possession with 2:14 left in the third.

By then, it was obvious that next week's game at Tennessee will be the last time this season the Vikings play away from the Metrodome. At least until the Super Bowl.

"That's huge," said kicker Gary Anderson, who had four field goals. "All you have do is be in the stadium to see what it's like, and I'm sure it's only going to get better."

Notes