The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Vikings kept their starting quarterback a secret until just before Sunday's kickoff. Then Gus Frerotte, at least for this game, proved to be a capable backup for Daunte Culpepper.

Frerotte filled in for an injured Culpepper and threw for 267 yards and four touchdowns, three to Randy Moss, as the Vikings stayed unbeaten in four games with a 35-7 rout of the struggling San Francisco 49ers.

"Gus Frerotte came in and did exactly what we brought him in to do," said Minnesota coach Mike Tice, whose confidence in the 10-year veteran made it easier to rest Culpepper with three broken bones in his lower back.

Moss had eight receptions for 172 yards for the Vikings, who scored on four of their five first-half possessions, intercepted Jeff Garcia three times and held Terrell Owens to five catches for 55 yards.

"Nobody played very well," said 49ers coach Dennis Erickson, whose team has now lost three straight after an opening-day win. "You can go from me on down to everyone else on that sideline."

Culpepper was injured last week against Detroit, and Frerotte relieved him in a successful second half. He picked up where he left off, guiding the Vikings to a 28-0 halftime lead in a near-flawless performance.

"Whenever I'm in there, I'm going to be calm. Period. I think the guys feed off that," said Frerotte, who went 16-for-21 without an interception against a speedy San Francisco defense that entered the game second in the NFL in yards allowed with a league-high 13 sacks.

Rams 37, Cardinals 13

ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Rams are doing just fine without Marshall Faulk.

As Faulk nursed his broken hand, his replacement, Lamar Gordon, ran for 81 yards on 21 carries and scored the game's first touchdown in the Rams' victory over Arizona.

Marc Bulger threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third in his second start since replacing Kurt Warner, including a 7-yarder to Torry Holt that put the game away at 30-13 early in the fourth. He was 28-for-41 for 272 yards.

The Rams (2-2) led 20-7 at halftime. Josh Scobey had a 100-yard kickoff return in the third quarter that briefly cut the deficit to 10 points, but the Cardinals (1-3) couldn't keep the St. Louis offense off the field - the Rams had an 83-36 advantage in plays and held the ball for 42:27.

Panthers 23, Falcons 3

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Stephen Davis ran right, left, and straight ahead, stomping all over the Atlanta Falcons and ending their dominance over the Carolina Panthers.

Davis ran for 153 yards and his first touchdown of the season to help Carolina snap its six-game losing streak.

Jake Delhomme threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl and John Kasay kicked field goals of 53, 23 and 38 yards as the Panthers opened the season 3-0 for the second consecutive year.

But Carolina went on an eight-game skid last season, not likely to be repeated after the confidence-building win over Atlanta (1-3).

Backup QB Doug Johnson struggled to move the Falcons, managing just 267 yards total offense for the disappointing Falcons.

He completed 14 of 23 passes for 152 yards and was intercepted once.

His 63-yard pass to Alge Crumpler late in the fourth quarter generated Atlanta's only score - a 28-yard field goal by Jay Feely to cut it to 20-3 with 3:46 to play.

Davis has 406 yards rushing in three games. Delhomme finished 17-of-27 for 168 yards in his best game to date as a starter.

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