-But first some Monday night thoughts:
+I'll get to the Vikings and all their problems in a minute, but before that the Chicago Bears deserve a few kind words....Lord knows they haven't had many this year.
In the first half, the Bears looked probably as good as they have all year. Their defense smothered Adrian Peterson, and hurried Brett Favre: the Vikings' first four dries went punt, fumble, punt, punt.
Even more surprisingly the Chicago offensive line, much maligned all year, was able to give Jay Cutler great time in the pocket. One key match up was left tackle Chris Williams against Jared Allen, and the 14th overall pick of the 2008 draft did a great job dealing with perhaps the league premier's pass rusher. Sweet redemption for Williams, who was moved to right tackle this summer to make room for veteran Orlando Pace at the start of the season. With the extra time in the pocket, Cutler was able to settle down, show off his cannon arm and have one of his better nights as a Bear.
Things turned around a little on both sides of the ball in the second half as the Vikings, led by number 4, got back into it. But even though Favre was able to find Sidney Rice from 6 yards out with 22 ticks left to tie the game, the Bears were the better team in overtime and would have won on their first possession had Robbie Gould not missed a 45 yarder. As it was, they capitalized on an Adrian Peterson fumble: Jay Cutler threw a 39 yard bomb down the sideline which Devin Aromashodu hauled in.
By the way, quick word on Aromashodu. Never heard of the 25 year-old out of Auburn? Well, he had less than 200 receiving yards coming into the game, despite having already played for four NFL teams. He almost doubled it on Monday when he tore up the Vikings secondary for 150 yards. Looked sharp doing it too. And Cutler sure looked happy to have receiver who was neither undersized (Johnny Knox) nor a converted kick returner (Devin Hester) to throw to.
+My, oh, my, another NFC early season powerhouse is in trouble. I talked about the potential dream matchup in the NFC title game between the Saints and Vikings a few months back. Doesn't look too likely now, does it?
Even had the Vikings come away with a win in overtime, it wouldn't had hid the truth about this team to anyone who actually watched the game. The NFL is all about a team's momentum going into the playoffs, not their early season record (think about those 2007 Giants, or 2008 Cardinals), and right now, the Vikings, just like the Saints, have none.
Its run defense isn't as intimidating anymore, and its secondary looks vulnerable (on the winning touchdown pass, Aromashodu basically just ran past Antoine Winfield). They miss E.J. Henderson at middle linebacker, where rookie Jasper Brinkley is a good run-stuffer but his pass coverage will be picked on in every playoff game Minnesota plays. Even Jared Allen has quieted down, only one sack in his last four games.
On offense, the Vikings still have Favre, who played well against Chicago, but the offensive line is having more and more trouble protecting him. He was hurried all game by the Panthers last week, and against the Bears, Anthony Herrera, Phil Loadholt and Bryant McKinnie all made mistakes.
Adrian Peterson looked focused, and ran like a man on a mission all day, only to crucially fumble in overtime. You just know the Vikings coaching staff have spent countless hours trying to work on AP's fumbling woes, and to see him continue to put the ball on the turf is very worrying. Just wrap the ball up, young man, you're too good for this to continue to happen to you.
Finally, the Vikings didn't look comfortable in the cold conditions in Chicago last night. Which is more bad news because by losing last night, they made it all the more likely they'll have to travel away from the Superdome during the course of the playoffs.
Now, don't quote me as saying the Saints or Vikings won't make a splash in the playoffs -they both have far too much talent to be completely ruled out- but if I'm Brad Childress, I'm putting a lot of effort into getting the guys pumped up to beat the snot out of the Giants next Sunday: Minnesota needs to pick up a head of steam.
The Fab Five:
1. Colts (14-1): Get ready to see some fresh new faces, if you insist on watching Indy face the Bills on Sunday. The trendy pick at this spot would be the Chargers, but I'm not about to completely disregard the Colts middle of the season run (where they beat the Patriots, the Ravens, the resurgent Titans and the Texans twice in five successive weeks) just yet.
2. Chargers (12-3): Looking for momentum Vikings and Saints? Check out the game tape of the Chargers destroying the Titans on Thursday. Now that's how you stay hot.
3. Eagles (11-4): The team that might be the biggest beneficiary of Minnesota's and New Orleans' woes. Almost put Dallas here, because they beat Philly earlier this year (and might well do so again Sunday for the NFC East crown), but two wins don't make me forget their December woes.
4. Cowboys (10-5): What I like about the Cowboys is that they have one of the best pass rush defenses in the NFL. When you go up against the best quarterbacks in the playoffs, you need that pass-rush. DeMarcus Ware is a stud, Anthony Spencer and Jay Ratliff are playing out of their skin. If Tony Romo can continue to play mistake-free (and that's a big if), the Cowboys might be in very good shape.
5. Patriots (10-5): That's right Saints fans. Enough has gone wrong with your team that you're now behind the team you walloped a month ago. Hey, a month is a long time in the NFL.
The Fat Five:
32. Rams (1-14): Watching Kurt Warner torch their defense for over 300 yards on Sunday, Rams fans must have felt far more than a decade removed from the days of the “Greatest Show on Turf”.
31. Lions (2-13): Please come back Matthew Stafford, I can't take much more of Drew Stanton and Daunte Culpepper.
30. Chiefs (3-11): At some point, Todd Haley and Scott Pioli's master rebuilding is going to have start showing results. 2 and 3 win seasons are not going to be accepted in Kansas City.
29. Redskins (4-11): Get destroyed by division rivals two weeks in a row? Check. Piss off your $100 million defensive tackle? Check. Make no effort to hide the fact that Jim Zorn won't be your head coach next season? Check. Good times in Washington, good times.
28. Bills (5-10): Cleveland flew out of the bottom five with three straight wins. Tampa Bay did just enough to crawl out by beating New Orleans. Welcome to the party Buffalo! Who knew that signing a 35-year old prima donna receiver with declining skills and declining production wouldn't be the solution to all your problems?
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