Eagles - 26 :: Vikings - 14

This was only a two-point game midway through the fourth quarter before Brian Westbrook basically sent the Eagles to the next round of the playoffs on one play.  Westbrook caught a pass on a screen type of play and took off.  He picked up some great blocks downfield and navigated his way into the end zone to score a 71-yard touchdown.  The TD put the Eagles on top 23-14 and put the Vikings in a huge hole, especially since their offense couldn't move the ball.

Adrian Peterson did his best to keep the Vikings in the game during the first half with a pair of touchdowns.  One came from 40 yards away and the other was from 3 yards out.  Peterson's first TD actually gave the Vikings the lead until David Akers nailed a field goal and Asante Samuel picked off Tarvaris Jackson and ran the interception back 44 yards for a touchdown.  At that point it looked like this game was going to become very one-sided, but Peterson scored on the proceeding drive to keep things close until the fourth quarter.

The Daily Norseman was happy with the Vikings' season despite the loss.

Well, the Vikings slugged it out with the Eagles for four quarters.  They let up one big play to the one guy that they couldn't afford to give up a big play to late, and did nothing offensively in the second half.

Overall, however, this was a pretty successful season for the Vikings.  They captured a division championship, fought hard in the first round of the post-season, and have a lot of things to build on going into 2009.

There are now no more NFC North teams left in the playoffs, as Minnesota was the only one to begin with.  The only other team that had a shot at the playoffs was Chicago, and they blew their chance in the last week of the season.  Given that, Around the NFC North is officially on vacation until next season.  Here's to a stronger division from top to bottom in 2009.

Giants - 19 :: Vikings - 20

The Vikes fell behind 19-9 in the fourth quarter and things weren't looking good.  That is, until Tarvaris Jackson hooked up with Bernard Berrian for a 54-yard touchdown to cut the Giants' lead down to 2 points.  That slim lead meant that a field goal would win the game for Minnesota and clinch them an NFC North title.  As the clock expired, that is exactly what happened.  Ryan Longwell nailed a kick from 50 yards out to win the game and the NFC North for the Vikings.

The Daily Norseman was ecstatic after the win.

It wasn't necessarily pretty, and it wasn't always fun to watch. . .but by God. . .

THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS ARE THE 2008 NFC NORTH DIVISION CHAMPIONS!!

And they earned it by going out and doing what they needed to do.  They didn't "back in," and they didn't wait for Chicago to lose (even though it was pretty nice that they did). . .nope, they won their game, and they got into the post-season.

Bears - 24 :: Texans - 31

With the Raiders' upset of the Buccaneers and the Eagles' win over the Cowboys, the Bears would have made the playoffs had they won on Sunday.  Problem is they didn't.  The Texans and Bears went back and forth, and eventually it was Houston that came away with a win. 

The Texans trailed 10-0 at one time but then scored three unanswered touchdowns.  A Bears TD cut down the margin, but a Texans field goal and another TD made it a 14-point game.  The lead went on to become 7 points when Kyle Orton scored a late touchdown, but Chicago simply ran out of time, as did their playoff hopes.

Windy City Gridiron was upset after the game, as you can imagine.

It took Houston a quarter to realize what the rest of the league already knew.  The Bears cannot stop anybody in the pass game.  They cannot stop wide receivers, they cannot stop tight ends, they cannot stop tackle eligibles and they cannot stop quarterbacks in a wildcat formation.  The Bears could not stop the Texans pass game and as soon as they overplayed the pass, the Houston run game tore us up.

The Vikings are the only NFC North team alive and will host the Philadelphia Eagles in the first-round of the playoffs on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Falcons - 24 :: Vikings - 17

The Vikings simply could not hold on to the ball on Sunday.  They had 7 fumbles and lost 4 of them.  That is one reason why they lost this game.  Another reason is actually another fumble.  This fumble, though, was by the Falcons and resulted in a touchdown.  Matt Ryan tried to dive into the end zone and got flipped.  The ball came out after he was hit and rolled into the end zone.  Two or three Vikings players looked like they could recover the fumble, but somehow a Falcons player ended up with it for a touchdown.

The recovery made the score 24-7 in favor of the Falcons, and although Minnesota made a comeback attempt in the fourth quarter, it fell short.  The Vikings scored 10 points to cut the lead down to a touchdown, but in the end they simply couldn't move the ball when it counted most.  They turned the ball over on downs with a minute or so left in the game, allowing the Falcons to run out the clock and clinch a playoff spot.

The Daily Norseman discussed the Vikings' playoff scenarios after the game.

As I said before, the Vikings technically control their own destiny for the NFC North division title. . .and that's the only way they're getting in, as they can't get the other wild card spot (Atlanta clinched one of those spots with a win today).  If the Vikings beat the Giants next weekend, they're in.  Failing that, if the Bears lose to either Green Bay (tomorrow night) or at Houston (in Week 17), we can get in that way, too.  Since I have a feeling that the Packers have pretty well folded up the tents for the season, it's going to come down to the season's final week.

Even though, quite frankly, it shouldn't be that way.

Packers - 17 :: Bears - 20 (OT)

Speaking of that Packers-Bears matchup, it was probably one of the most exciting games all year long.  All I will say is that the Packers had dominated Chicago most of the night, but the Bears kept fighting back on this frigid night.  Green Bay had a chance to win the game on a last-second field goal, and what happened next was quite shocking.  Take a look:

Windy City Gridiron was pretty surprised that the Bears ended up winning this game.

A blue and orange dressed Santa Claus just gave a golden football to little baby Jesus.  That is how lucky and unlikely it was for the Bears should leave Soldier Field with a win and it is the very reason they keep putting the Bears on TV.  The Bears are incapable of just beating a team.  When Kyle Orton took the field for the first drive of overtime, I told my wife he would throw an interception, the Packer who picked it would fumble it and then a Bears player would pick it up and return it for a TD and I felt I had good odds of that happening.

Do you remember the old Super Fan SNL bits? Where Farley's character kept having minor heart attacks? That is what it is like to be watching a Bears game.

Acme Packing Company talked about how bad the Packers have been in close games and mentioned a stat that truly is unbelievable.

You just can't make it up anymore. The Packers keep finding ways to lose close games.

In the last eight games, they've been outscored by a combined total of 6 points (194 to 200). But their record is 1-7. That's just amazing.

In the final week of the regular season, the Vikings host the New York Giants, the Bears head to Houston to play the Texans, and the Packers finish up the season at home against our own winless Lions.

Saints - 24 :: Bears - 27

The Bears got off to a great start in this game by returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown.  The Saints, however, tied things up at 7 thanks to a Bears turnover.  Right on their own goal line, the Bears fumbled a snap and the Saints recovered, leading to a New Orleans touchdown just two plays later.

Despite the disappointing turnover, the Bears answered back with a pair of touchdowns to close out the first half with a 21-7 lead.  The Saints made another comeback and actually took the lead in the fourth quarter.  Pierre Thomas scored on a 42-yard run to get NO within 7, and then a field goal made it a 4-point game.  Finally, Marques Colston caught an 11-yard pass to put the Saints on top 24-21.

With only a few minutes left in the game, Kyle Orton had to drive the Bears down the field to tie or possibly win the game.  He was able to get them into field goal range, and Robbie Gould nailed a kick from 28 yards out to send the game to overtime.  In OT, it was more of the same from the Bears.  Orton led them down the field, setting up Gould to kick a 35-yarder to win the game.

Windy City Gridiron recapped the game by telling a story that had an unusual ending for Bears fans.

The Bears offense grows a sack and plays like a real offense.  The Bears all the sudden have receivers who can catch anything.  They move the ball down the field.  They should have won outright, but the refs don't blow the whistle when a Saints player mugs Greg Olsen.  The Bears settle for the FG and take it into over time.  The Bears win the toss.  Orton leads the team down field with the Hester assist and the Bears kick a FG for the win.

Packers - 16 :: Jaguars - 20

The Packers took a 13-3 lead into the fourth quarter and only managed to kick a field goal the rest of the game.  The Jaguars, on the other hand, scored a pair of touchdowns thanks to Maurice Jones-Drew.  One was in the air to Jones-Drew and the other was on the ground with only two minutes left.  Aaron Rodgers was picked off on the ensuing drive, leading to another Packers loss.

Acme Packing Company brought up a very interesting stat about the Packers this season (unfortunately the Lions are on the wrong end of it).

This is the 7th game this season (Tampa Bay, Atlanta, Tennessee, at Minnesota, Carolina, Houston, and Jacksonville) during which the Packers either have had the lead or are tied in the 4th quarter, and go onto lose the game. Only once this season, week 2 at Detroit, did the Packers tie or fall behind during the 4th quarter and go on to win the game.

Vikings - 35 :: Cardinals - 14

Who needs Gus Frerotte?

Tarvaris Jackson filled in for the injured Frerotte and played a great game.  He threw for 3 touchdowns in the first half.  Bernard Berrian was on the receiving end of one of them and also returned a punt.  The Vikings led 28-0 after one half, and it looked like this was going to be a blowout.

In the third quarter, though, the Cardinals made a comeback attempt.  A pair of touchdowns made this a 21-point game, leading some to believe that the Vikings didn't have it wrapped up yet.  Jackson made sure that the Cards wouldn't come back by throwing his 4th TD of the game.  This one was from 59 yards out to Bobby Wade, putting the Vikings on top 35-14, which is what the final score ended up being.

Daily Norseman pointed out that the Vikings are on the cusp of winning the NFC North.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. . .ONE Minnesota victory or ONE Chicago loss will officially wrap up an NFC North division title for the Vikings.

Somewhere in New York, Roger Goodell is kicking a puppy.

The Vikings host the Falcons next week, and the Packers and Bears play in Chicago on Monday Night Football.

Jaguars - 10 :: Bears - 23

This game was one-sided from the start, as the Bears led 20-3 after the first half.  The Jags did score a touchdown in the fourth quarter to make things a bit interesting, but that's all they could do.  Robbie Gould later added his third field goal of the game to give the Bears a 23-10 win.

Windy City Gridiron said this after the win:

It was not pretty for the Jaguars early, and it didn't get much easier. The Bears were able to easily handle our guests, partially due to a defense that appeared to care and an offense that got started early.

Texans - 24 :: Packers - 21

The Packers' playoff hopes are officially dead after the Texans went into Lambeau Field and came away with an exciting victory.  This game went back and forth, especially in the fourth quarter.  Ryan Grant started the scoring in the final quarter of the game on a 6-yard run to give the Packers a 14-13 lead.  The Texans answered right back on an 11-yard TD pass to Andre Johnson.  Johnson also caught a pass on the 2-point conversion try to make it a 21-14 game in favor of Houston.  Just a few minutes later, Jordy Nelson caught a 9-yard TD pass to tie things up at 21. 

After the Texans went three and out, the Packers looked like they were on the verge of winning.  Aaron Rodgers completed a 59-yard pass to Donald Driver, moving the Packers all the way down to the Houston 25.  Shortly after the big pass play a holding penalty and a sack took the Packers out of field goal range and forced a punt that was downed at the 3-yard line.  The Texans had a long way to go, but they quickly moved the ball down the field and actually got in field goal range.  As the clock expired, Josh Brown hit a game-winning kick from 40 yards away.

Acme Packing Company was obviously upset after the game, and his outlook on the rest of the Packers' season isn't so great (don't forget who the Packers play in the last game of the season; they will at least win that game).

Thank god. Now we don't have to worry about a stunning collapse at the end of the NFC Championship game this year. With the umpteemth 4th quarter collapse in 2008, the Packers don't have to be thinking about the playoffs anymore. Let's hope they can win another game this season.

The division-leading Vikings head to Arizona to play the Cardinals on Sunday.  The Bears, who are one game behind Minnesota, host the Saints on Thursday night.  The Packers, who are now 5-8, play at Jacksonville.

Panthers - 35 :: Packers - 31

The Packers found themselves trailing 21-10 at halftime, but they made a comeback in the third quarter.  Mason Crosby kicked a 44-yard field goal, and Aaron Rodgers found Donald Lee for a 5-yard touchdown.  Rodgers then found Greg Jennings in the end zone on the two-point conversion try to tie the game up at 21 heading into the fourth quarter.

Jennings caught another big pass from Rodgers, this time from 21 yards out for a touchdown, giving the Packers a 28-21 lead.  DeAngelo Williams scored on a 1-yard run only a couple minutes later, setting up a dramatic finish.  Mason Crosby kicked a 19-yard field goal with only 2 minutes left in the game, putting the Packers on top 31-28 after a 16-play, 9-minute drive.  It seemed like they were going to come away with a victory, but Carolina had other ideas.

Following a 45-yard kick return, the Panthers got all the way down to the 1-yard line thanks to a 54-yard reception by Steve Smith.  Williams punched it in from a yard out for his fourth touchdown of the game, giving the Panthers a 35-31 lead.  Aaron Rodgers would throw an interception on the second play of the Packers' next drive, essentially ending the game.

This was Acme Packing Company's reaction following the devastating loss:

Well, that's it, folks.  At 5-7, you can consider this year's Packers team pretty much out of the playoffs.  While they still have a viable shot (the division leader will only be 7-5 after tonight), this team simply isn't consistent enough to go on a run and take back the advantage they once had.  If they can beat Chicago AND both Chicago and Minnesota have horrible meltdowns, then it's possible.  But I wouldn't bet on it.

Bears - 14 :: Vikings - 34

The Bears actually led 7-0 in this game after the first quarter thanks to a 65-yard TD pass to Devin Hester.  After that, though, this game was all Minnesota.  Things fell apart for the Bears after they were stopped on 4th and goal from the 1-yard line.  The Vikings got the ball and believe it or not, took only one play to score.  Gus Frerotte hit Bernard Berrian for a 99-yard touchdown, leading to this game becoming a rout.

As you can imagine, the Daily Norseman was pretty happy following the game.

Breaking news story coming out of Chicago this evening. . .the Chicago Bears are no longer owned by the McCaskey family.  It turns out that the Chicago Bears are now owned by Adrian Peterson.

And to all the Bear fans that laughed and scoffed when the Vikings signed Bernard Berrian this off-season. . .go see how hard Charles Tillman is laughing right now.  That overrated schlub still has no idea where on earth Berrian went to.  If Tillman wants to find him, he can start by watching highlights of the 11th 99-yard play in National Football League history.  He may or may not actually appear in the frame, I'm not sure.

Windy City Gridiron, on the other hand, was upset with how inconsistent the Bears played.

There are inconsistent teams in the league.  The NY Jets going from handing Tennessee their first loss of the season to getting beat handily by Denver.  The Raiders beat up Denver and then go out and get blown up by the Chiefs.  For my money though the Bears are the most inconsistent team during a game.  Literally from drive to drive we don't know what team we are going to get and that is on both sides of the ball.

In Week 14, the Packers host the Texans, the Bears host the Jaguars, and the Vikings come to Detroit to play the Lions.

Bears - 27 :: Rams - 3

The Bears dominated this game from start to finish.  There's not much else to say other than the Rams suck, and Chicago made that perfectly clear on Sunday.

Windy City Gridiron was pretty happy with Matt Forte's performance against the Rams.

I think Matt Ryan is going to win the offensive rookie of the year, but no rookie is more important to their team than Forte is to ours.  He is a workhorse and a 3rd down conversion machine.  He takes pressure off of the rest of our offense.  I can only imagine what he will do if the Bears can get their line fixed for next year.  Forte had his best day with 132 yards rushing and 2TDs.  He had a 6.6 yard average and broke one long for a 47 yard TD.

Vikings - 30 :: Jaguars - 12

The Jags managed to keep it close for a half, as they only trailed 17-10, but Minnesota slowly pulled away in the third and fourth quarters.  Ryan Longwell kicked a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 22-yarder in the fourth.  The 22-yard kick preceded an Adrian Peterson touchdown run from 16 yards out that basically clinched the victory for the Vikings.

The Daily Norseman was pleased with Minnesota's performance but still got in a dig at Brad Childress.

As I mentioned in the Game Thread comments early on yesterday, just after the Vikings had scored 14 points in the game's first 95 seconds and people started talking about a blowout. . .these are the Vikings.  The Brad Childress Vikings.  The Brad Childress Vikings don't "blow teams out" with any sort of regularity.  The modus operandi of the Brad Childress Vikings is to play teams close, slug it out until the end of the game, and hope that either a) your team makes a big play, or b) the other team commits a massive screw-up.

But, yesterday afternoon, the Jaguars seemed bound and determined to get blown out, and the Vikings. . .for once. . .happily obliged.

Packers - 29 :: Saints - 51

Believe it or not, but the Stains were only ahead of Green Bay 24-21 after two quarters.  In the second half, though, this became a blowout.  The Saints scored second half touchdowns on a pair of Drew Brees passes, one of which went for 70 yards to Marques Colston, and runs by Deuce McAllister and Pierre Thomas.  Green Bay did manage to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but that is about the only positive thing they did in the second half.

Acme Packing Company felt that the Packers lost due to a collectively bad team-wide effort.

What happened in the loss to New Orleans was a lot like the loss last season at Chicago. They lost in a lot of different ways. The entire team came together to lose this game. All these problems have been there all season, but never before have they all come together in one game.

The Bears and Vikings, who are both 6-5, will break the tie for first-place in the NFC North in Week 13 with a game against each other in Minnesota.  The Packers, on the other hand, will host the Panthers in hopes of getting a victory.

Bears - 3 :: Packers - 37

There's not really much to say about this game.  The Packers destroyed the Bears in all areas of this game and were dominant for all four quarters.  Although Kyle Orton did start for the Bears, he was not very effective, passing for only 133 yards and no touchdowns.  On a positive note, he didn't throw any interceptions, but he did fumble the ball without even being hit, and it was returned for a touchdown.  The defensive TD for Green Bay really just added insult to injury, as it happened when the score was 27-3.

Acme Packing Company was surprised about the big win:

Where did this Packer team come from? This was not the same team that was outplayed last week in Minnesota. Unfortunately this game looks like a fluke. The Packers are better then their record would indicate, but they don't stomp their opponent 37-3 every week (obviously). The real shock is that this is a complete turn around from last week's loss at Minnesota.

Windy City Gridiron had this to say after the loss:

Maybe it is just me, but doesn't it seem that every game in which it is power against power, we lose the battle?  Everytime a team comes not being able to stop the pass rush, they stuff us.  Everytime a team comes in and can't stop the run, they stop us.  Everytime a team comes in not able to run the ball, they run up and down us?  And that isn't just this year, this is like a reoccurring trend for us.

Vikings - 13 :: Buccaneers - 19

Minnesota actually led 13-6 after one half of this game.  The second half wasn't quite as nice to the Vikings, though, as they were shutout.  Tampa Bay scored a touchdown thanks to a 1-yard run by former Michigan Wolverine B.J. Askew, and Matt Bryant kicked two more field goals to give the Bucs the lead and the eventual win.

The Daily Norseman wasn't happy with Brad Childress after the game, as you can imagine:

Really, there's not a whole lot else that needs to be said about today's game.  It was pretty much the same as most of the games we've seen in the Brad Childress era.  It was the 8th of Minnesota's 10 games this year that was decided by 7 points or less.  In addition, the Vikings entered the fourth quarter still very much in the football game.  As Pacifist Viking pointed out, these are the Brad Childress era Vikings.  Be conservative, play it close to the vest, get down to the end of the game, and hope that either a) your team makes a big play or b) the other team screws up.  Neither of those things happened today, and as a result the Vikings are part of a three-way tie atop the NFC North instead of sitting in sole possession of first place.

As the quote above states, there is now a three-way tie for first-place in the NFC North.  The Bears, Packers, and Vikings will look to break that tie in Week 12.  Chicago heads to St. Louis to play the Rams, Green Bay goes on the road to play the Saints, and Minnesota will go to Jacksonville to battle the Jaguars.