Five wins in a row, and the Vikings solidly defend second place in the division.

The game should have been much more one-sided, but instead it affirms their status as a mediocre football team. They tried too hard to win 21-16, although the middle of the game, again, showed more of the unbalance as the Vikings held on to a 21-9 lead until mid-way through the fourth quarter.

An explosive first play for an 80-yard touchdown pass should have set the pace for the game. It kind of did as the Vikings scored touchdowns while holding the Lions to field goals, until the end.

The worst damage is yet to be seen as the Lions took out our fantastic punter. Again, penalties caused the problem, although in this case it's almost forgivable. A muffed snap (hexed by the pre-game show where they talked to the Viking long-snapper about muffing snaps) caused Chris Kluwe to scramble and punt late in the play. As the plays are fairly predictable, the line did their usual bump and run down field, but this time the ball hadn't been kicked as the line scrambled past the penalty 10-yard mark. The kick had to come back. As they tried again, a Lion made it through to the kicker, and just after the kick was away (not blocked) the rusher landed on Kluwe's planted foot, and stressed his ankle. From the announcer's notice it sounded like a sprain, not a break, but it took him out of the rest of the game.

When last at the dome, a nearby fan pointed out that it's unfortunate we know our punter's name, and that we're so happy with him. His point was that if the offense performed correctly, the punter would seldom, if ever, play. We retorted that since that isn't the case, it's great that we have such an outstanding punter. When the offense fails to achieve a successful drive down field, it's good to know that we've got a man who can put the ball in their single-digits from just about anywhere.

The Bears also defeated the Packers in a game that was on at the same time. We've been miffed all season because the Pack get to play all of the cushy 3:15 games, while the others in the conference are kicking off at noon. Not a real big deal, but it gives them a possible chance to know what's happening with the competition before they play; this year that doesn't matter 'cause they're sucking.

Now the standings are starting to firm up. There's a chance for the Vikings to pull out and take the division, but it may come down to that last game when they host the Bears.

Four games remain in the season.

If the Packers win them all, they'll be 6-10; no chance for second place.

If the Lions with them all, they'll be 8-8. A chance for second place if the Vikings loose all of the remaining games, or a tie if the Vikings loose three games, which would still put them behind the Vikings because of division records.

If the Vikings win them all, they would be 11-5. They could take first if the Bears loose three, or tie if the Bears loose two including the game with the Vikings on New Year's Day (which would throw extra math in the mix).

If the Bears win just two more games they'll likely take the division at 11-5. If they win three more, they're sure to win.

It's almost time to start looking around the league to see who the Vikings'll be playing in the playoffs. I guess I'm not fan enough to have been doing this already. I'm barely a game ahead, outside of division standings.