This is why we love the NFL, for its unpredictability and drama.

This is why workplace productivity takes such a hit on Mondays following the Sundays when the local NFL team loses.

At different times during the Vikings' 31-30 loss to Chicago, I expected Christian Ponder to be benched, Devin Hester to return every kick for a touchdown, Adrian Peterson to be ground into dust, and Jay Cutler to get extremely hot and dominate the game.

Instead, Ponder settled down after an awful first half and played the way he did last December, the Vikings' defense and special teams produce countless big plays and the Vikings set themselves up to win an almost-must-win game at a place where they hardly ever play well, Soldier Field.

Most interesting, they put themselves in position to win without a big game from Adrian Peterson, who outperformed most mortals but was hardly his dominating self because of the Bears' attentive defense and the slippery turf.

Then Jay Cutler hit Martellus Bennett with a touchdown pass with 10 seconds left, and the Vikings suddenly were staring into the abyss, at 0-2.

Again, that's why we love the NFL, and so many of you hate Mondays. Games and seasons can swing in a matter of minutes.

Teams that return a kickoff and a fumble for a touchdown in the same game have lost only 12 times since 1940. While Ponder played much better in the second half, his inability to take advantage of a Bears defense stacked to stop the run in the first half may have been the deciding factor.