Making Sense Out Of Nonesense (Week 10)

NFC North: As Brett Favre once said, “The pieces are in place.” He was referring to him being the final piece to make the Vikings a great team. Well, the pieces are also in place for the Vikings to clinch the NFC North Division. . .and soon!

To start the season I said that, between the Vikings, Packers and Bears, one team would win the division, one team would get a wild card berth and one team would fall flat on their faces. My prediction was Green Bay to win, Bears to get the wild card and Vikings to fail. That’s why I don’t get paid, folks!

Not only was my conclusion wrong, my premise was wrong also. It’s really shaping up that two teams will fall flat on their faces (Packers and Bears) and the Vikings are elite. Chicago just lost to San Francisco which pretty much eliminates them from post season talk. The Packers have just lost to the woeful Buccaneers are going up against a resurgent Cowboys team. I predict a loss there. That means if the Vikings win their next 3 games (which they should) and the Packers (after losing to Dallas) lose to the 49ers or Lions (I guess that would have to be the 49ers) then the Vikings would clinch the division on November 29th.

I’m sure a lot of you have already heard that scenario already, but it is still amazing. Let’s hope that the battle for home field advantage keeps the Vikings intensity up going into the playoffs.

Random Gopher Football Thought: I'm you're all aware that there are 11 teams in the Big 10 conference. Perhaps we should rectify that non sequitor. A 16-13 victory over South Dakota State University would be a great win for a Division 1-AA team.

Rivalry of the Decade: Some Vikings fans are rooting for the Packers because they view Dallas as a threat to the Vikings' home field advantage in the post season. So in the spirit of looking ahead, let’s take a look at the “Rivalry of the Decade” in the Colts vs. the Patriots. This game could decide home field advantage in the AFC Championship Game which could determine which of these two teams go to the Super Bowl and face the Vikings.

So, if I had my pick, I’d rather the Vikings go against the Colts. Sure, Peyton Manning is awesome, but so is Tom Brady. And frankly, is there any doubt that Brad Childress would be completely outcoached by Bill Belichick? So, go Colts!

Lions vs. Vikings: What can be said about a Vikings/Lions game? I’ve heard some say that if the Vikings don’t win by 20 they’d be disappointed. You know me, I’m a win first guy. But this should at least be a comfortable win, right? Like at least 10 to 14 points? The win is the big thing, but if the Vikings are truly a Super Bowl contender (and I believe they are) they should have little trouble dispatching of the Lions. If the Vikings struggle against the Lions, I’d be worried about the dreaded “Second Half of the Season Slide.”

Random NFL Thought: I'm sure you heard that on October 25th Andre Johnson was coughing up blood. He still went back into the game. So the medical staff had to hide his helmet to prevent him from going back into the game again.

That's what I want to see from my favorite players and favorite teams. I want Adrian Peterson to want to risk death to play in the game and I want the Vikings rather not have AD die.

My Statistical Analysis (That Is Faulty And Most Likely Inaccurate): For the Vikings/Packers game my statistics based prediction, once again, failed. Perhaps we should just bet against whatever it says.

My prediction said the Packers would beat the Vikings and I think we all know that was wrong. Beyond that, for the Vikings I was off by -40 passing yards, -2 rushing yards, and -15 on the points scored. For the Packers I was off by -15 passing yards, +17 rushing yards, and -2 on points scored. But I was happy to be wrong. Really, only the points scored for the Vikings was way off (which shows how good the return game was). We’ll see how well I do this week:

The Lions get 214 passing yards and 100 rushing yards.
The Vikings get 249 passing yards and 114 rushing yards.
The Vikings beat the Lions 30 to 19.

So far, in two tries, this analysis hasn’t correctly predicted the winner. Let’s hope that streak ends this week.