MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Daunte Culpepper has found someone other than Randy Moss that he could depend on near the goal line.
Culpepper tossed two touchdown passes to tight end Jim Kleinsasser, leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 24-13 victory over the Chicago Bears.
While Culpepper usually looks for his star receiver to make big plays, Kleinsasser is emerging as a threat in one of the NFL's top offenses.
Culpepper found the 6-3, 272-pound Kleinsasser for a three-yard touchdown in the second quarter and the duo hooked up for an 11-yard score with under four minutes remaining in the contest, giving the Vikings a 24-13 lead.
Moe Williams added 108 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Vikings (2-0), who have won five straight games dating to last season.
"The game plan was to take whatever they would give us," said Williams, who finished three yards shy of matching his career high. "We thought they weren't going to let Randy (Moss) have the type of game he had against Green Bay and we just took advantage of it."
The Vikings also continued to show improvement on defense, limiting the Bears to 208 total yards and 10 first downs.
"I think our (defensive) personnel is much better than it was last year, not just because of the people, but because of the way we've worked in the preseason and gotten better," Vikings linebacker Greg Biekert said.
Kordell Stewart threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to David Terrell in the second quarter for the Bears (0-2). Stewart also left the game with under three minutes to play with a neck strain.
"We played hard today, but we have to learn to win," Stewart said. "When we have opportunities like this, we have to seize the moment."
Coming off a 49-7 loss at San Francisco in their opener, the Bears could not have gotten off to a worse start in this one.
On the first play of the contest from scrimmage, Culpepper found Kelly Campbell down the right sideline for 51 yards to the Chicago 5. Two players later, Williams barreled into the end zone from one yard.
The completion to Campbell was one of the few highlight-reel type plays for Culpepper, who completed 20-of-26 passes for 213 yards.
"Sometimes you're not going to be able to go downfield," Culpepper said. "Sometimes you have to be patient.
The Bears responded with a six-play, 33-yard drive that resulted in a 42-yard field goal by Paul Edinger. Anthony Thomas highlighted the march with a 34-yard run to the Minnesota 20.
Thomas did little after his big run and finished with 53 yards on 10 carries.
Rookie Keenan Howry returned a punt 33 yards to the Chicago 38 early in the second quarter, setting up the Vikings' second score.
Minnesota did have a 1st-and-goal at the 9, but settled for a 23-yard field goal by Aaron Elling, extending the lead to 10-3.
Culpepper directed a 12-play, 92-yard drive late in the first half, helping the Vikings open a 17-3 lead. He had completions of 12 yards to D'Wayne Bates and 13 yards to John Avery on the march.
On 3rd-and-goal from 3, Culpepper capped the march with a TD pass to Kleinsasser, giving the Vikings a two-touchdown late with 1:55 left before intermission.
But Stewart, who was held in check for the most part, engineered an eight-play, 60-yard drive in just over a minute. He made his big play with his feet, scrambling for 25 yards to the Minnesota 14.
Stewart capped the march with a 14-yard TD to Terrell, pulling the Bears within 17-10. Stewart finished 13-of-21 for 137 yards and did not commit a turnover.
In the third quarter, Stewart made one of his best plays with a 49-yard completion to Dez White to the Minnesota 15. But the Bears lost 10 yards on their next three plays and settled for Edinger's 43-yard field goal to close to 17-13.
But the Vikings used another long drive to put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. They went 93 yards in 16 plays, a march that took over 9 1/2 minutes.
Campbell, a wide receiver, kept the march alive with a 19-yard run on an end around on a 3rd-and-1 play to the Chicago.
Williams also kept the chains moving, twice running for first downs on a 3rd-and-1. His second conversion was a 17-yard run to the Chicago 3.
Three plays later, Culpepper culminated the drive with an 11-yard TD pass to Kleinsasser, extending the lead to 24-13 with 2:56 to play.
"They were buzzing out to Randy (Moss)," Kleinsasser explained. "A defense has to take care of Randy and they left me all alone. Daunte put it on my back shoulder pretty good, tha's the place he has to throw it."
"We had our chances to stop them and get off the field," Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "We need to learn how to do the things and make plays to win games."
At halftime the Vikings retired former wide receiver Cris Carter's No. 80 jersey. He is the club's all-time leader in receptions, yards, receiving touchdowns and total yards.
