NFL TV ratings are down this season, which was probably a good thing for the league Sunday night. It meant fewer people saw the Cardinals and Seahawks play to a 6-6 tie in a game more notable for what it lacked (like, say, touchdowns and clutch field goals) than what it offered.

Still, if social media was any clue, there were still plenty of people who stayed with the macabre display until the weird end. I was one of them, treating it like a bad novel into which plenty of time had already been invested. Might as well finish it, right?

In the process, one Vikings thought after another came to mind. In an effort not have had Sunday night be a complete waste of time (or at least in attempt to share the pain), let's unpack those for you:

1) Blair Walsh, you are not alone. When Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro clanked a 24-yard field goal attempt off the left upright with a chance to win the game in overtime, only to have Seattle's Stephen Hauschka come back to miss a 28-yarder even worse to the left, sealing the 6-6 tie, you were only human if your thoughts turned to Vikings kicker Blair Walsh.

We don't have to rehash 2015 because we all know he missed a 27-yarder (badly, to the left) that would have defeated Seattle in the playoffs. What we can add to that conversation is that it can happen to anyone — and in fact happened to TWO kickers consecutively.

2) A long way to go, but … The tie (and the game in general) might prove to be a huge factor in the eventual NFC playoff race. If one imagines the byes in the NFC will come from one of three divisions — North, East and West — Seattle settling for a tie after a sure loss looked like a sure win could be significant come season's end. The Vikings and Dallas are both 5-1. Seattle is 4-1-1.

3) Those are two elite defenses. As bad as the play was on offense at times, the game was a reminder that the Vikings aren't the only team in the NFC with an elite defense capable of winning (or at least tying) big games without much of an offensive contribution.

4) Ah, memories. It was the fourth tie since the NFL switched its overtime format in 2012. One of those four? When the Vikings and Packers tied 26-26 in 2013. The Vikings surrendered a 23-7 fourth-quarter lead to a Packers offense quarterbacked by Matt Flynn, in case anyone wants to complain about this year's 5-1 team.

5) Speaking of which … Everyone has a clunker. Two teams with legitimate playoff aspirations ran 147 combined plays spanning 27 drives, and all they could muster was four field goals Sunday. Yeah, the defenses were great. But there was a lot of bad football mixed in. Just as it was with the Vikings on Sunday, both teams will have far better days if they are able to put this one behind them and learn from it.