MinnesotaSportsScene.com

The Minnesota Vikings took until the last drive and the final five seconds of the game, but a 50-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell broke a long-standing dry streak as the Minnesota Vikings took the NFC North division championship for the first time since 2000, and made the playoffs for the first time since before the Brad Childress era began.

It’s been a long, crazy ride but Minnesota overcame long odds against the Giants to prevail with a 20-19 win, and all this without even the aid of diet pills, or half of the Williams Wall as Pat Williams remains out with an injury.

The playoff picture came into focus later in the day as Dallas lost and Philadelphia won, allowing the Eagles to slip past Dallas into the playoffs as the sixth seed in the NFC. The Vikings, the NFC third-seeded team at 10-6, will play host to the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs next weekend.

It’s about time!

After several seasons of being one of the worst road teams in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings today whupped the Arizona Cardinals but good, right there in Sun Devil Stadium. That makes four important road wins this season for the Vikings, which is probably more than they have accumulated in the last two seasons combined under Brad Childress.

They should almost set up a toll free number for shell-shocked Cardinals fans - and perhaps even some disheartened Vikings fans who found out the team isn’t going in the tank just yet - after the dominating 35-14 win that had Minnesota up 28-0 at halftime.

The victory places Minnesota one victory - or one Chicago Bears loss - away from their first division title since, what, 2000? That’s a reason for optimism, because our next two games are at home, and Atlanta could be another Arizona, while the Giants may have everything wrapped up and be resting their starters on Week 17.

The win was even more significant because it came with Tavaris Jackson looking competent at QB, with Adrian Peterson topping Robert Smith’s franchise-leading single-season rushing record en route to a monster day running the ball, and with one-half of the Williams Wall going down with an injury on defense.

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.

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 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.

People were keeping a close eye on their Guess watches today as time ticked off the clock in the Bears-Vikings clash at Soldier Field in Chicago. It was a high-scoring affair that left each team counter-punching the other most of the way.

In the end, though, it was Gus Frerotte’s fourth interception, the fourteenth turnover of the day by the Vikings offense, that sealed the team’s fate in a 48-41 loss to the Bears. When a team can have 14 turnovers and only the last one takes away their ability to come back and win the game, you know it’s been a sloppy day on defense for both teams.

Adrian Peterson did his best, offering up 121 yard rushing and two scores in the game; Frerotte threw for just under 300 yards and scored two touchdowns despite the four interceptions. And the game was not an example of sterling offense for the Bears, as three of their scores came off special teams or defensive plays.

The Vikings definitely gave this one away. But with Childress going 2-1 over the past three games and entering the bye week with a record of 3-4, I believe he’s earned a reprieve. Let him finish out the season and avoid the chaos of a mid-season coaching change.

But make no mistake about it: he’s still a prime target for firing, once this season is over. Zygi should can him as quickly as possible after the season and open up the coffers wide enough to lure a quality head coach to this team.

Bill Cowher’s still out there, my friends. Ripe for the hiring.

Whether Brad Childress, whose tenure with the Vikings is on a pulse oximeter, gets to finish out this season as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, or becomes the next coach to be fired mid-season, is a tale that may be told over the next three games. Currently a very disappointing 1-3, the Vikings face crucial opponents, starting tonight.

First, on Monday Night Football tonight, the Vikes will have a showdown with the New Orleans Saints, a game they ought to win. After that, there will be key division match-ups against NFC North foes Detroit and Chicago.

If Childress secures all three wins, he’ll survive the season, at least, leading the Vikings into their bye week with a 4-3 record. He’ll probably survive if he drops one of those games.

However, if Childress loses two of the next three games, or worse, loses all three, we may see a coaching change going into the bye week. And it will be long overdue.

If owner Zygi Wilf does decide to release Childress during the bye, look for assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier to be named to the interim spot, with a strong chance to retain the job once the season’s over, if he can turn things around. If Frazier can’t turn things around, expect Wilf to clean house and start over fresh in January.

You heard it here first.

Well, the Minnesota Vikings finally came up with their first win of the season, but it took until game three, and a QB change, to secure it. The win game against the acne treatments-needing, so-called “Cardiac Cats,” the Carolina Panthers, who the Vikes have done very well against over the years since Carolina entered the league.

The 20-10 victory may not seem like a lot to write home about, but at least it wasn’t a loss. MinnesotaSportsScene.com was among the first to question whether T-Jack had the drive to be a starting QB, and the answer, finally, seems to be, “Nope.” We don’t revel in being right, this time.

Still, when a 37-year-old journeyman signal caller like Gus Frerotte can outperform you, something’s wrong. And that’s what happened Sunday as Frerotte led Minnesota to a long-awaited first win of the season.

Star RB Adrian Peterson carried only 17 times for 77 yards, but it was enough to help the passing game while Peterson doesn’t overwork his ailing hammy. The important thing, again, is it was a win.

I’m itching for the start of the Vikings-Packers game tonight and one of the biggest questions on my mind is whether Adrian Peterson can be great again this year. Certainly, despite missing four games last season, he has already established himself as possibly one of the best runners ever to wear the purple and gold.

The question is, can he avoid the sophomore slump? Can he improve on what he did last season? With the healing that’s gone on in his knee in the off-season, I’d venture to say it’s possible, even plausible. Only time will tell and kickoff’s in about 12 hours. No time left for those Caribbean cruises. It’s football time, baby!

Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback Tavaris Jackson suffered a sprained right knee against the Baltimore Ravens in pre-season action on Saturday. The injury is to the medial collateral ligament and is expected to keep the signal-called out of action for the remainder of the pre-season.

The Vikings are eying a return in time for the regular season debut against Green Bay on September 8. That takes golf balls! While the wound is not expected to be serious, you can bet opposing defenses will be looking to test Jackson’s knee throughout the season.

It’s only the first pre-season game - the kind that aren’t supposed to count for much except evaluating talent of those who are not obvious starters. Just the same, the Vikings lost to Seattle on Friday 17-34, and to add insult to injury, the team lost two players for the season, LB Heath Farwell and DE Jayme Mitchell.

Both injuries happened early in the game and so both are players who were likely to make the Vikings roster this fall; the Vikes have indicated that Farwell will be replaced from among those players already in camp, while Mitchell’s replacement may require the Vikes to go scouting the cut lists of other teams in the league as the preseason moves forward.

Although the Vikings traded for last year’s NFL sack leader, Jared Allen, in the offseason, depth behind him and on the other side of the D-line is questionable, so Mitchell’s injury status is particularly unwelcome news. Kind of like someone telling you that instead of a prime rib dinner, they’re serving you a round of diet pills.

I’m sorry, I know he’s a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback, but the Minnesota Vikings is the last place I want to see Brett Favre suiting up in his condo hotel to come out of retirement. After sixteen years, Favre is too much “the enemy,” and I’d rather see the Vikes take their chances with a young, high-potential guy like T-Jack and bring in Favre for a season or two and really screw up the kid’s development.

It’s simply not worth it. Not in the least.