EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Randall Cunningham and Gary Anderson, two of the most reliable players for the Minnesota Vikings during their 15-1 season last year, are struggling to get untracked.

	The Vikings' David Palmer is brought down by Anthony Newman, left, and Eric Turner.

They aren't alone. Their protection has broken down too often in the first two weeks following a humdrum exhibition season.

Cunningham was sacked six times Sunday by the Oakland Raiders, who also blocked a field goal and constantly harassed the two Pro Bowlers in their 22-17 upset at the Metrodome.

"You work hard, and you work through it, and you correct the little mistakes," Anderson said. "And that's the nature of our business in every position ... We just have to correct the little things and get back on track."

The Vikings have come up empty on half their 12 trips inside the opponents' 35-yard line so far.

Randy Moss, who snared 17 touchdown catches last season, has yet to reach the end zone because Cunningham hasn't had time to loft the deep ball.

And Anderson is 2-for-6 after making all 35 of his field-goal attempts last season. He's missed twice and watched two other tries blocked.

Anderson, who turned 40 in July, can't recall a worse start in his 18-year NFL career.

But it's not just Anderson who's off the mark. When Charles Woodson blocked his 43-yard attempt in the Raiders' 22-17 upset Sunday, the snap was high, and the right side of his line collapsed.

The entire unit seems out of sync.

"I'd say that's probably a fair statement," Anderson said. "It's an 11-person thing out there, and we all need to be doing our jobs."

The Vikings hadn't had field goal attempts blocked in consecutive games since 1963.

"We obviously have some work to do," said Anderson, who placed partial blame for his missed 50-yarder on the league's new rules that require kickers to use fresh footballs.

"I hit that kick long and well enough, and I just pulled it a little bit to the left. And the margin of error on long kicks becomes a lot, lot less," Anderson said.

"But with blocked kicks, that has nothing to do with the football. You could be playing with a soccer ball out there."

Anderson won't second-guess the coaching staff, at least publicly, for his sporadic practice time with 14-year long-snapper Mike Morris, either.

The Vikings gave plenty of snaps to rookie Jay Humphrey in the preseason and even waived Morris on the final cut before bringing him back.

Did all the indecision impede the kicking game?

"I don't want to get into those discussions," Anderson said.

Either way, the precision and protection aren't there like they were a year ago.

Maybe it's just the law of averages catching up to Anderson, who entered the season with an NFL record 40 consecutive field goals made.

There are plenty of other worries at Winter Park as the Vikings (1-1) prepare for their showdown at Green Bay.

Such as how can a scoring machine that produced an NFL-record 556 points last year struggle to get 17 two weeks running?

Two answers might be in Baltimore, where fullback Chuck Evans followed former offensive coordinator Brian Billick when he got the head coaching job.

Cunningham, coming off the best season of his 14-year career, and his Pro Bowl-studded offensive line haven't been able to beat the blitz, which Evans was adept at picking up.

Cunningham said he's going to have to just get rid of the ball sooner.

"It's not because or our line, but it's just that I've got to get into my rhythm," he said.

Cunningham admitted last week he wasn't used to new offensive coordinator Ray Sherman, who abandoned the booth for the sideline Sunday.

"It really helped me out," Cunningham said. "There was more communication, and I really like that."

But it didn't change the results any.