MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Opponents spent all offseason searching for ways to shut down Randy Moss, and two blueprints have now emerged.

Oakland did it by blitzing Randall Cunningham crazy, preventing him from even thinking about airing it out deep.

Green Bay double-teamed the second-year star receiver, putting a cornerback in his face at the line and a safety downfield.

Of course, Tampa Bay figured out how to stop Moss last season: keep him on the sideline.

The Buccaneers handed Minnesota its only regular-season loss o 198 with a mighty running game that chewed up the clock and limited the Vikings' offensive possessions in a 27-24 thriller.

"Our best defense was our offense," Bucs safety John Lynch said.

They're looking for a repeat Sunday when they visit the Metrodome.

The Bucs (2-1) rely on the NFL's stingiest defense to carry them and they like to run the football with Mike Alstott inside and Warrick Dunn outside.

"It's a power running game that can just bloody you up," Vikings cornerback Jimmy Hitchcock said. "It's a blood-and-guts game. You have to bring your Band-Aids or your bandages and you have to bring your shoulder pads."

Alstott rushed for a career-high 131 yards against Denver last week, and there's no better trial than Alstott & Dunn for Hitchcock's aim of defending the run better.

"One is very quick and the other is just a fast and hard runner, just runs over people. Put everybody up in the hole and Alstott will just come up and run everybody over to the end zone," Hitchcock said. "This is the ultimate test. I'll be asked to do a lot of tackling this week and I'll just try to put on a couple pounds, eat some nasty food."

Maybe he can dine with 300-pound nose tackle Jerry Ball, who returned to the Vikings this week to shore up their run defense.

Ball, who left for Cleveland as a free agent after starting 25 straight games for Minnesota in 1997-98, rejoined the Vikings (1-2) on Wednesday.

His arrival, a week after defensive end Chris Doleman came out of retirement, gives the Vikings great flexibility on the defensive line. It allows John Randle to return from tackle to end, providing speed on the edge.

"I think we have to prepare for everything," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said. "They've got a lot of options now. They can go with Jerry and Joe Phillips inside, move Randle outside. They can come out with a quick group with Randle and Doleman and Duane Clemons. They're a lot like us now; they've got a lot of options."

When the Vikings, coming off a bitter last-minute loss at Green Bay, do get their offense on the field, don't expect the Bucs to employ the Raiders' or Packers' blueprints for stopping Moss.

"I think everyone has to play their style," Dungy said. "Oakland, that's really their style, going after you. Green Bay is much more of a four-man rush, mix-the-coverages type of team. We hope too do a little bit of both."

One thing Moss can forget about is seeing 1-on-1 coverage anymore, especially after his spectacular one-handed catch against Charles Woodson in Week 2.

"What teams are doing is they're playing a guy up in his face and they're rolling a guy over the top, and that's how you have to play Randy Moss to stop him," said Hitchcock, who faces Moss every day in practice. "You saw Charles Woodson try to play him man and he put him on a poster."

After the Packers held him to two catches for 13 yards last week, Moss took a shot at new offensive coordinator Ray Sherman, with whom the Vikings are averaging 18 points. That's about half what they averaged last season under Brian Billick, the architect of the highest-scoring team in league history.

"They just played a cover two," Moss said of the constant double teams. "When you look at film, that's what coordinators are for. We have to find a way to beat a cover two. You can't be running up the sideline all the time. You can't really do the stupid stuff out there. ..."

Cunningham said everybody, players and coaches alike, had to work harder to get Moss more catches and to perfect the plays designed for him.

The Bucs know they can't entirely shut down Moss even if they get good pressure and solid coverage.

"He's a guy you watch make a lot of catches in double and triple coverage," Dungy said. "And from what I'm hearing they are saying they have got to get the ball to him more. So it sounds like they are going to go to him even if he is double covered."

TAMPA BAY Season schedule and results

MINNESOTA Season schedule and results

September 12 NY Giants L 13-17 September 19 @Philadelphia W 19-5 September 26 Denver W 13-10 October 3 @Minnesota 1:00pm ET October 10 @Green Bay 8:20pm ET October 24 Chicago 1:00pm ET October 31 @Detroit 8:20pm ET November 7 @New Orleans 4:05pm ET November 14 Kansas City 1:00pm ET November 21 Atlanta 1:00pm ET November 28 @Seattle 4:05pm ET December 6 Minnesota 9:00pm ET December 12 Detroit 1:00pm ET December 19 @Oakland 4:05pm ET December 26 Green Bay 4:15pm ET January 2 @Chicago 1:00pm ET

September 12 @Atlanta W 17-14 September 19 Oakland L 17-22 September 26 @Green Bay L 20-23 October 3 Tampa Bay 1:00pm ET October 10 Chicago 1:00pm ET October 17 @Detroit 1:00pm ET October 24 San Francisco 1:00pm ET October 31 @Denver 4:15pm ET November 8 Dallas 9:00pm ET November 14 @Chicago 1:00pm ET November 28 San Diego 1:00pm ET December 6 @Tampa Bay 9:00pm ET December 12 @Kansas City 8:20pm ET December 20 Green Bay 9:00pm ET December 26 @NY Giants 1:00pm ET January 2 Detroit 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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