BALTIMORE (AP) – The Minnesota Vikings’ flickering playoff hopes were snuffed out by a barrage of precision passes from a suddenly effective Kyle Boller.

Boller went 24-for-34 for 289 yards and three touchdowns, and the Baltimore Ravens eliminated the Vikings from the postseason hunt with a 30-23 victory Sunday night.

Needing a victory to stay alive, the Vikings (8-7) came up with their worst defensive performance in two months. Minnesota, which hadn’t given up more than 23 points since Oct. 30, allowed the Ravens to go 10-for-15 on third down. The Vikings loss gave the New York Giants (10-5) a playoff berth.

Baltimore (6-9) trailed 20-17 before Boller threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason with 14:47 left.

Then, after Minnesota punted from the Ravens 38, Boller directed a 68-yard drive that produced a 38-yard field goal by Matt Stover with 1:55 to go.

Any chance the Vikings had of winning their fourth straight road game vanished when quarterback Brad Johnson fumbled on a sack by Adalius Thomas.

Mason had nine catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. He has 83 receptions this season.

, breaking the team record of 76 by Michael Jackson in 1996.

Johnson was 25-for-36 for 248 yards and two scores.

The announced crowd was 70,246, but several thousand fans decided to spend Christmas night at home rather than watch the Ravens conclude their home schedule.

Baltimore’s Chester Taylor fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half and Minnesota’s Raonall Smith recovered the loose ball, setting up a 26-yard field goal by Edinger for a 17-10 lead.

For the third time, the Ravens answered a Vikings score with one of their own. On a third-and-7 from the Minnesota 47, Boller hit Mark Clayton with a pass over the middle, and the rookie ran the final 20 yards to tie it.

On the ensuing drive, the Vikings moved 18 yards after a holding call on a third-down play by Baltimore’s Chris McAlister, and Edinger kicked a 40-yard field goal that put Minnesota back in front.

The Ravens answered again, this time with a 79-yard drive that gave them their first lead. After Darren Sharper was called for roughing the passer on a third-and-9 incompletion, Mason got behind Dovonte Edwards for the score that made it 24-20.

Minnesota scored touchdowns on its first and last possessions of the first half to take a 14-10 lead.

Held to a field goal at home against Pittsburgh one week earlier, the Vikings took the opening kickoff and moved 64 yards to take a 7-0 lead. Johnson went 5-for-5 on the drive, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to Travis Taylor, who played five years with Baltimore before joining the Vikings as a free agent in March.

The Ravens responded with a 17-play, 73-yard march that lasted more than 9 minutes. Three plays after running for 2 yards on a fourth-and-1 from the Minnesota 9, Boller threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Todd Heap.

Both defenses stiffened until late in the half. Vikings rookie Troy Williamson broke a tackle by Thomas and sprinted to the Baltimore 12, a 56-yard pass play that set up a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Wiggins.

Boller then went 5-for-7 in a 56-yard drive that produced a 37-yard field goal by Stover on the final play of the second quarter.

Minnesota was 6-0 this season when leading at halftime.

AP-ES-12-25-05 2345EST