The Vikings toppled the struggling Rams for a much needed 27-13 victory.

Few highlights will come out of this game that caused our friend and co-game-goer to repeatedly ask if I was falling asleep. Sure, I was a little cold, and, yeah, the action was a lot slower than I think it'll need to be to win anything significant, so perhaps I was drifting away in thought from time to time, but, no, I wasn't falling asleep. The game moved at such a lethargic pace, however, that I probably could have dozed from time to time and still been aware of all of the important action.

In the third quarter there was an increase in the tension as the Rams seemed to have fallen into a groove that threatened the Vikings' then 13-6 lead with a fairly early touch down. The Vikings responded with a touchdown and sealed the deal with a field goal.

The fourth quarter was an agonizing wait as we watched nothing happen for far too long. Back and forth, neither team getting anything done.

Throughout the game the announcer notified us of the Steelers' score over the Bears. Each announcement was met with a resounding cheer as the Bears worked their way out of their winning streak, and dropped to within one game of the Vikings.

It is important to note that the Vikings host the Steelers next week. This will be arguably the first good and winning team the Vikings will have faced since their loss to the Panthers in week 8; the last game they lost before the current 6-game winning streak. The Vikings truly need to beat the Steelers to have any chance of continuing in the playoffs. Sure, the could still get in with a wildcard, or even with some convenient Bears losses take the division, but they haven't had a truly tough game in a while.

The Bears loss holds them to 9 victories and brings them to 4 losses, while the Vikings victory raises them to 8-5. One more week of Vikings win and Bears loose, and we're tied.

The Bears (9-4) host the Falcons (7-5) next week, then go to the Packers (3-10) before going to the Vikings. The Bears seemingly have two "sure thing" victories before facing the Vikings in the final week.

The Vikings (8-5) host the Steelers (8-5), then go to the Ravens (4-9), before hosting the Bears. It seems like two possible wins, but after watching the 11/28 Monday Night Football crushing of the Steelers by the Colts, I think the Vikings are playing a different game. Although the Steelers lost that game, I thought they played so much faster than the Vikings do; faster off the line, faster down the field, and faster to the stop. Sure, the Colts were faster still, but given that I was drifting off at this week's game, I'm certain the Vikings will be overpowered. The Ravens aren't playing any better than the Lions (statistically speaking), and the Vikigns owned them this year.

If the Bears loose either of their next two games, and the Vikings win both of them, they'll meet with a tied record, and easily enough to figure out, the victor is the division champion. As long as the Bears loose one more than the Vikings do (that is they loose both and the Vikings only win once), they'll be tied. If the Vikings loose either game and the Bears loose none, they'll win the division, no chance of tying.

Bears & Vikings

The toughest to figure out is if they meet with the Bears up one, meaning both teams have won or lost the same number of games in the next two weeks.

Assuming the teams meet with the next two weeks victories (to keep the fabricated stats easy), then the Bears are still a game ahead, and would keep the division title if they won, ending up two games ahead again (Bears 12-4, Vikings 10-6). The Vikings would tie in overall standings (11-5) if they win.

The first tie breaker would be head-to-head records. The Bears beat the Vikings earlier, and this scenario has the Vikings winning, so that's a tie for the season; one each.

This would then look to division standings for the tie-breaker. The Bears have yet to play the Packers and Vikings, the Vikings just the Bears. Assuming the two-victories a piece, this would put the Bears' division record at 5-0, while the Vikings would still be 4-1; the Vikings victory would tie them at 5-1.

The next tie-breaker is the common game standings. This is tougher to work out, but essentially, ignoring the two games against each other, they will have played 11 games against common opponents, and each have an 8-3 record (assuming the two future wins, each).

Then they'd look to the conference standings win percentage, and that's where the Vikings loose; in conference games the Bears are now 8-1, the Vikings 7-4. The Bears play three more conference games (all of their remaining games), and in our scenario have beat two and lost one, so they'd be 10-2 (83%). The Vikings play only one more conference games (the Steelers and Ravens are AFC), which the scenario has them winning, so they'd be 8-4 (66%). A definitive Bears victory.

So, after all of that, the Vikings are out, even if they hold tough and beat the Bears? Well, yes, but also no.

If the Bears lose to the Packers, then they loose the Division tie-breaker, even if the Vikings loose one of the in-between games, too; as long as they both win and loose the same number, their overall standings are matched, but this tie-breaker could help the Vikings.

If the Bears beat the Packers, but the Vikings loose either of the next two games, even if they end up tied in stats with the Bears going into that last game, they can't win the division, as they'll loose the tie-breaker either at the common games or conference games.

The only hope for Vikings victory is to either win two more games than the Bears do, or tie the Bears with overall standings before the last game and then defeat them.

Packers & Lions

Speaking of the Packers, their overtime 16-13 victory of the Packers over the Lions (4-9) was outrageous. We caught parts of the game throughout the evening, and watched much of the fourth quarter. The game was tied 13-13 when we started watching, and the Lions had just messed up a 4th down attempt to convert.

The Packers ended up fouling themselves into their end zone with a couple of flags. The Lions beat the Packers running back, knocking him down in the end-zone. He pitched the ball forward, which bounced off the ground, ending up in the grips of a Packer just outside the end-zone; which was flagged as an intentional grounding. Additionally, two Packers were called for holding in the end zone. Three penalties that result in a safety. Should have been 15-13 in favor of the Lions. After a bit of umpire conference, and an apparently illegal attempt by the Packers to have the play reviewed, the intentional grounding was overturned to an incomplete pass (as arguably the running back was behind the line of scrimmage so he could make a pass, and he'd run outside of the pocket, so he's free of the intentional grounding restrictions). However, in the same breath, they knocked the holding call to just "half the distance to the goal" (they were already on the 1/2-yard line) instead of a correct safety (due to an offensive penalty in the end zone); the entire Packers line was in the end zone at the beginning of the play, and they were all pressed backwards, deeper into the end zone, when the penalties occurred. Don't forget, there were two of them called.

The score was overturned, and the Packers were able to work out of the end zone. Neither team scored, and the game went into overtime. After a Packer's field goal, they won.

Border-battle pride wanted the Lions to win. Fair play wanted them to win, too. Division standings mandated a Packers win; now the Lions cannot do any better than 7-9, or the Packers better than 6-10, so even if the Vikings tanked and went 8-8, they're still ahead. These two teams are out of the playoffs, and cannot conquer our mighty Vikings.

The Packers, however, still may hold a key to Vikings success. When it comes to the Bears game on Christmas day, join the chant: "go Pack, go!"