Promise fulfilled for Wiggins

Nobody ever gave Jermaine Wiggins a chance until he got to Minnesota, so he's on the right team, because no one gave the Vikings a chance after first Randy Moss, then the ''Love Boat," and finally quarterback Daunte Culpepper all left the dock.

Yet as of this morning, no tight end in the NFC has caught more passes than Wiggins, and no team has been more surprising than the Vikings, who are on a five-game winning streak and face the Rams at the Metrodome today.

Wiggins, a product of East Boston High's practice field out by Logan Airport, where half the time he couldn't hear the quarterback above the roar of jets, has one of the oddest stories of any athlete. He's a guy who's always produced when given a chance but who seldom got one.

A case in point was his brief stay in New England, where he won a Super Bowl in January 2002. That season Wiggins was used sparingly but then started two of three playoff games and set a club playoff record with 10 catches against the Raiders, including three on the final drive to set up the snow-covered winning kick by Adam Vinatieri in overtime that began the Patriots' Super Bowl era. By the spring, he was gone.

That has been the story of Wiggins's six-year march through the NFL, a road that has led him to the Jets, the Patriots, the Colts, the Panthers (with whom he again appeared in the Super Bowl), and finally the Vikings, who made him a promise a year ago he wasn't sure they'd keep.

''They said they'd give me a chance consistently, but because of all I've been through, I'm always going to be skeptical," said Wiggins, who has 54 catches this year and sole possession of a surprising team record. What Viking receiver got to 100 catches fastest? Moss, who was dealt to the Raiders in the offseason after six spectacular years and one injury-riddled one? Cris Carter? Anthony Carter? Ahmad Rashad? Sammy White? Steve Jordan?

How about Jermaine Wiggins?

Wiggins did in 20 games what it took Moss 21 to do -- reach the 100-catch plateau, which Wiggins did Oct. 23. He got there in large measure because Minnesota kept its word, starting him in 13 of the 14 games for which he was healthy last year. Wiggins responded by leading the club with 71 receptions for 705 yards and four touchdowns.

''If you look at my track record, when my number has been called, I've stepped up," Wiggins said. ''The problem for me was this league is heavily based on potential. What a guy did at the combine. What kind of program was he from? Where did he get drafted? How tall is he? How fast does he run?

''I didn't go to the combine. I didn't get drafted. I don't have the measurables. I'm not the prototype tight end with all the numbers, but I produce. Not everybody in the NFL notices that."

What people miss are the little things that have allowed Wiggins to not only survive but prosper. Things like hours of studying tape and years of believing in himself.

''I study my opponents and I study ways to get open," Wiggins said. ''I have a feel for the game. I know how to work a zone and beat a man. And I tell myself I can do it. I always have, at every level, so I'm confident. I don't need anyone to tell me I can play. I just needed someone to let me."

Wiggins will tell you the same is true of his team, which appeared dead in the water after starting the year with a Super Bowl ticket-scalping scandal enveloping coach Mike Tice. Then Moss was traded and the team started 2-5. The nadir came when charges of sexual improprieties on an offday cruise came to light and were soon followed by Culpepper's season-ending injury Oct. 30.

With the Bears dominating the NFC North and the Vikings' offensive leader of the past five years lost for the season, it appeared that they simply would be playing out the string. But Brad Johnson took over at quarterback and the 14-year veteran has gone undefeated as a starter while finding Wiggins 18 times the past three weeks. That reminds Wiggins of a season four years ago and a team that opened 5-5, lost its quarterback, and ended up Super Bowl champs.

''You can't help but think about it," said Wiggins. ''It's human nature. None of this is shocking to me. It's how it is for a kid from East Boston. It's the hard road. I understand I have no control over how people talk about me or my team. All I control is what I do when I step on the field.

''There were a lot of outside distractions for a while here but I think we finally decided we were a better team than we'd showed. We were making a lot of mistakes and we believed if we eliminated them, we'd show what we can do."

Once Wiggins found a team willing to eliminate the mistake of overlooking him, he's begun to do the same.

How much can Chicago bear?

Despite leading the Bears to eight straight wins, rookie quarterback Kyle Orton has good reason to be looking over his shoulder. Rex Grossman has been declared healthy and ready to play at a time when the Bears' offense has ground to a halt.

Chicago's defense is approaching record levels of stinginess, but it has scored only one offensive touchdown the last two games, and that was on a 1-yard drive. Against the Packers last Sunday, Chicago started five drives in Green Bay territory and failed to score a touchdown.

Much of the blame for this is falling at the feet of young Orton. His passer rating of 60.2 is last in the league, and after posting ratings of 84.9, 77.5, and 89.4 in his first three wins, he's fallen to 43.3, 42.8, 68.8, 60.7, and 23.7 in the last five.

Coach Lovie Smith says he has no thoughts of benching Orton, but we're not talking about the kind of situation Bill Belichick faced when Drew Bledsoe returned to health in 2001. Tom Brady was playing so well then, it was absurd to consider a change. But the Bears seem to be winning despite their quarterback.

Grossman didn't help matters when he was asked about the budding controversy.

''I feel bad talking about other people's situations," he said just before talking about other people's situations. ''I definitely think we've left some points and yards on the field. There's a lot of room for improvement. We threw for 60-some yards [68 vs. Green Bay]. If you're asking me if I feel like I could throw for more yards than that, yes I could. But it's easy for me to say that here, sitting in the locker room."

The critics are firing on all cylinders in Detroit

Layoffs may come to more than the auto industry in Detroit this holiday season if the fans of the Lions have their way.

The long-suffering fans are demanding more than the heads of Steve Mariucci and whoever happens to be playing quarterback, and that could mean bad news for team president Matt Millen.

Last Sunday at Ford Field, during a 21-16 loss to the Vikings, fans began chanting ''Joey, Joey, Joey" in the first quarter after Jeff Garcia threw an interception, apparently calling for the embattled Joey Harrington, who has been blamed by many for the firing of Mariucci two weeks ago. But by halftime, they began to turn their ire elsewhere, going after the embattled club president.

One fan ran through the stands with a sign on a paper bag that read ''Fire Millen." He was tackled by security and ejected. Detroit talk radio stations are trying to organize a fan boycott of the last home game. Tuesday night at a Red Wings game at Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit, there were ''Fire Millen" signs -- and chants -- in the stands.

You can't blame the fans for their anger, however. Since Millen took over in 2001, the Lions are 20-56. He's fired three coaches: the one he inherited, Gary Moeller, who never coached a game for him; his first hire, Marty Mornhinweg; and now Mariucci.

Garcia didn't help himself with a radio appearance during which he threw his teammates under the bus, saying some of them ''still don't get it."

He took some flak from callers, only to be defended by his girlfriend, Carmella DeCesare, a former Playboy Playmate of the Year, who called in to make matters worse.

''I'm disappointed," she said. ''I hear people call in and I hear people say they lose respect for him, he makes excuses. He's not making any excuses. If you want to talk about losing respect, I was at the game yesterday, and in all honesty, I've lost respect for this town."

She said some fans rooted for Garcia to get hurt.

''I think that's what bothers me most," she said. ''They want to see a winning team, and I understand that, and they've got every right to feel that way. But I just think yesterday was a bit much."

Etc.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones lives just a few blocks from Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt in Dallas, and because of that Hunt created the ''Preston Street Trophy" for the rare times Dallas plays Kansas City. It is an actual trophy the owner of the winning team gets to keep until they meet again. Today Hunt's team will try to get it back. The Cowboys beat the Chiefs in an exhibition game, and Jones said he'll put the trophy in the window all week so Hunt can take a peek at it when he drives by. If Hunt doesn't get it back today, he'll have to wait a while. The Chiefs aren't scheduled to play Dallas again until 2009.

Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher is one of many defensive players who have grown weary of rules changes to protect the quarterback. When he heard about Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger complaining about a hit from Bengals rookie linebacker Odell Thurman last weekend, Urlacher said, ''Where are we supposed to hit the guy? You can't hit him in the face, you can't hit him in the chest, you can't hit him in the knees. I don't understand where we are supposed to hit those guys. People call it dirty. Call it what you want. We can't hit him. We get fined, we get flagged. There are so many rules for the quarterbacks now."

Some folks in Minnesota are mighty upset with injured quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who has chosen to return to Florida to rehab rather than staying with the Vikings as they try to make a playoff push. In contrast, injured Pro Bowl center Matt Birk has done all his rehab work in Minneapolis and is regularly seen around the team's facility.

The inexperience of Eli Manning has begun to show and could yet trip up the Giants' drive to the playoffs. After a hot start, Manning has thrown 11 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions in the last eight games and his QB rating has dropped to a season-low 77.2. Manning was only 12 of 31 for 152 yards in Sunday's 17-10 win over the Cowboys. Even worse, he was 4 of 16 for 49 yards in the second half while trying to protect a 17-0 lead. ''I'm concerned about accuracy," said coach Tom Coughlin. ''I'm concerned about the completion percentage. Some of the misses are things that you think would be kind of second nature, and obviously we have to go back and bear down with some of these things such as checkdowns."

When Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie spoke at halftime last Monday night during a tribute at Lincoln Financial Field he organized to honor the late Reggie White, he was viciously booed by the crowd. At the time, the Eagles trailed, 35-0, but what are fans angry at him for? They should be angry at Terrell Owens or maybe even coach Andy Reid, who announced with some fractured logic that he was sticking with quarterback Mike McMahon as his starter because he's more mobile than Koy Detmer. That's after McMahon completed just 4 of 10 passes and threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns before being replaced by Detmer late in the second quarter Monday night. Detmer didn't do much better, but at least he kept the ball out of his own end zone.

If Cardinals kicker Neil Rackers overcomes his left calf injury and sets a record for field goals in a season, a small assist should go to Denver's Jason Elam. Elam strained his left calf a few weeks ago, and a Broncos adviser told him to try a jab-step approach to alleviate the pressure on his plant leg. Since then, Elam is 7 for 7, and is using the same technique even though his calf is healed. Rackers, who is listed as probable today, tried the one-step approach this week, and if he's comfortable enough with it, he'll kick today. Rackers has 32 field goals, seven shy of the NFL record.

With a loss today against the Redskins, the Cardinals would lock up their 16th losing season in 18 years in Arizona. Their only playoff year came in 1998, when they went 9-7. They finished 8-8 in 1994. While it can be difficult to keep pushing yourself with so much negativity around you, nose tackle Ross Kolodziej remembers his year out of football and uses that as motivation. ''You're trying to stay in the league, trying to feed your family," he said. ''If for one second you don't look like you want to play football, they'll help you out [the door]." What would help the Cardinals is figuring out how to run the ball. Arizona has not had a 100-yard rusher since Emmitt Smith on Oct. 24, 2004, and hasn't even rushed for 100 yards as a team this season.

It's a little early to be thinking about the April draft, but the Packers are already worrying about a dilemma they could face. They'd love to grab Southern Cal's Reggie Bush, but if they end up picking second and he's gone, they'd have a tough call to make on Bush's teammate, quarterback Matt Leinart. Although the Packers drafted quarterback Aaron Rodgers a year ago with their first pick and gave him a five-year, $7.7 million contract, GM Ted Thompson said he'd have to think about it. ''We're OK at that position but I wouldn't rule it out," Thompson said. ''In that position, you have to get in among the lions and tigers and bears to kind of figure that out. We haven't seen all that yet. We saw a little bit in preseason. [Rodgers] didn't do all that good, but that's not unusual for a rookie quarterback. He seems to be growing in his craft."

Material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.