MinnesotaSportsScene.com

After a frustrating first quarter, Vikings QB Gus Frerotte rallied past the negatives of his advanced age and lack of mobility to overachieve and reach a new season-best performance on Sunday night against the Chicago Bears, a performance worthy of at least a thank-you gift of replica watches.

After Chicago took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the Vikings rallied under Frerotte and scored three consecutive times to take a 17-7 halftime lead. That rally included a 99-yard goal-line pass to Bernard Berrian for a touchdown, as well as taking one in himself on another goal-line stand. The performance shows what a fighter Frerotte still is, even if his skills are fading as a result of age.

Chicago was the first to score coming out of half-time, but then Minnesota on another unanswered 17-point scoring binge as Minnesota’s running game pounded the ball away against the Bears, with both Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor scoring on separate drives.

Minnesota won the game 34-14, redeeming their pre-bye-week loss to the Bears at Soldier Field several weeks ago. The win catapults the Vikings to a 7-5 record and in sole possession of first place in the NFC North, placing them a full game ahead of the Bears, who fell to 6-6.

Minnesota’s remaining schedule is somewhat favorable. Next week, they go on the road to the winless Detroit Lions, then have a tough road game against the resurgent Arizona Cardinals the following week. The Vikings then face two tough games with Atlanta and the New York Giants coming to the Metrodome to close out the regular season.

The Vikings will likely need to win at least two of their final four games to retain possession of first place and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2004, when the Vikings, coached by Mike Tice, made the playoffs with an 8-8 record, defeated the Green Bay Packers in the first round, and then lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round.

In the last two plays, despite excellent field position, Frerotte’s thrown incomplete balls to both Bernard Berrian and Sidney Rice. A huge, game-breaking play set the team up inside the ten-yard line and a touchdown ought to be the result.

Instead, it’s looking like we’ll have to settle for a field goal, at best. The Vikings offense is nowhere near as reliable as computer memory.

Of course, it’s hard to blame Frerotte, who’s past his prime and still the best signal-caller on the team. The responsibility for this has to go on coach Brad Childress and, of course, owner Zygi Wilf, who continues to indulge Chilly’s regime.

The Metrodome is a place where there’s little need for outdoor lighting, but something is lacking as I’m listening to the Vikings-Bears clash at the Metrodome on the radio right now. As I write this, Chicago is up on the Vikes, 7-0, and are driving the ball again.

Of course, in my opinion, this situation has a lot to do with the shortcomings of Brad Childress as a coach. On a good team, Bernard Berrian would be a number two receiver, not your top option, and there would be a quarterback who’s worthy of being a starter.

While the defense is OK and the running game is rock-solid, it’s a bit late in the game to still be blaming Minnesota’s shortcomings on the previous coach’s regime. It’s time to hold Childress responsible for this team underachieving.

The next six games will determine which team will advance to the playoffs and which two teams will be sitting at home in January, wishing. The Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears are all 5-5 after Sunday’s games, which saw the Packers disrupt the Bears, 37-3, while Minnesota lost a tough-fought game to Tampa Bay, 19-13.

Of the three teams in the hunt, Minnesota has the most challenging schedule ahead of them; their last six opponents combined for a 31-29 record, including a season finale against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants, currently 9-1.

By contrast, Chicago’s last six opponents have a 24-36 record this season, and face Houston (3-7) in their final game, while Green Bay’s last six have a 25-35 record and the Pack will host Detroit (0-10) in their season-finale… at Lambeau Field.

Whichever of these three finish strongest will go on to the playoffs; it’s unlikely one of the wild card teams will come from a division with such mediocre records. So that’s the challenge for Purple Pride: win enough to take the division, or spend January at home.

Is that a strong enough pitch to land me some jobs in marketing? Probably not.

After a hope-building win to start the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves have now lost eight straight games to get off to yet another disappointing start under third-year head coach Randy Wittman. Now standing at 1-8, their hopes for achieving at least a 5-5 record in the first 10 games is blown to smithereens.

While the Wolves have plenty of young talent, even with the addition of Mike Miller, they simply haven’t come into their own just yet, and their “W” column looks like a supermodel on cheap diet pills.

Still, there are signs of hope, right?

Not really. Not at this point. Sorry.

Whether on the benches at the arena, or from the comfort of satellite TV and home theater seating, the second season of Tubby Smith-coached Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball looked outstanding this weekend as Minnesota won three straight games to start out 3-0 on the season and take home top honors at the NABC Classic.

Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III have lived up to their top billing so far, as Iverson came out of the gates rumbling with nine blocks in the first game alone. It was Lawrence Westbrook who took home top honors from the four-team tourney as he collected 48 points in three games over the three days of the tournament.

Despite a loss to Northwestern on Saturday, on Sunday Gophers coach Tim Brewster came up the big winner when he received an oral commitment from five-star WR Hayo Carpenter, currently a sophomore for College of the Canyons in California; he turned down Arizona State, Boise State and Nevada to wear the maroon and gold.

That’s a bigger deal than landing a good price on cell phone amplifiers, that’s for sure.

The Minnesota Vikings enjoyed a post-bye-week victory over the Houston Texans and gained a game on Green Bay in the NFC North race today, with a 28-21 win.

After a win streak apparently on a diet pill this season, the Nordic warriors needed a “W” after a disappointing but hard-fought loss to Chicago going into the bye.

The Vikings D came up big, knocking Matt Schaub out of the game with a bad knee and forcing the Texans to turn to Sage Rosenfels instead. For their part, the Vikings eked a solid offensive performance out of their signal-caller as Gus Frerotte threw for just under 200 yards, but earned three touchdowns off 11 completions.

But the highlight of the day was Adrian Peterson, who scored the first touchdown of the day and ran for 139 yards off 25 carries.