Sid Hartman: It's all adding up to a playoff position

It must be a good omen for the Vikings to open with Atlanta because the past three times the Vikings have opened with the Falcons -- 1968, 1980 and 1999 -- they made the playoffs.

And now, in 2007, if the Vikings win the next three games, they are assured of a wild-card playoff spot.

Winning on the road has not been easy for Vikings teams in recent years, and the victory over the 49ers on Sunday was the third road victory this season.

Not since the 2000 season under Denny Green have the Vikings won four road games, and they have a chance to win a fourth in the final game of the season at Denver. The Vikings finished 11-5 in 2000 and went to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost 41-0 to the Giants.

While a lot of the experts didn't give the Vikings any chance to make the playoffs after the 34-0 loss to the Packers, coach Brad Childress had a feeling all along that this team would hit its peak in the second half of the season. And the Vikings have now won four in a row, giving them a 7-6 record.

"It's how you play the second half of the season is what counts," Childress told me some time ago.

And he added: "I think we can play with anybody."

Statistics tell the story of how much better the Vikings have played since they were 3-6.

Checking the first nine games, the Vikings scored 166 points, an average of 18.4 per game. The defense gave up 188 points in those nine games, an average of 20.9

In the four-game winning streak, the Vikings have scored 139 points for a 34.8 average. The defense has allowed only 56 points, an average of 14 per game.

Won without Peterson The great performances of Adrian Peterson were the only reason the Vikings got any national attention until this four-game winning streak. Peterson was a regular on ESPN and all the other cable networks and had the interest of various other media types around the country.

Well, on Sunday the Vikings proved they could win on the road without Peterson. The 49ers, one of the worst teams in the NFC, limited Peterson to 14 carries and a gain of a mere 3 yards. His longest run of the day was 4 yards.

Asked before the game by one of the national TV commentators on Sunday where he stands on the record, Peterson knew how many yards he needed to average in the final four games. "And it is doable," he said.

It's certain that Peterson will see the same type of defense when the Vikings host the Bears next Monday. Peterson had his first big day Oct. 14 against the Bears in Chicago, where he rushed for 224 yards and three touchdowns and drew national attention for the first time.

While Peterson had a down day Sunday, quarterback Tarvaris Jackson continued performing well, completing 16 of 25 passes for 163 yards, one touchdown and another outstanding rating of 95.9.

One of his favorite receivers on Sunday was former Packers star Robert Ferguson, who caught four passes for 57 yards and a touchdown.

Jaric important After the Wolves lost badly at Memphis and then at home to the Lakers, acting coach Jerry Sichting said to guard Marko Jaric, "I really didn't think I'd be saying this, but you're worth a lot of points to us."

"Before those two games we were playing some pretty good basketball," Sichting said. "We won at New Orleans, we took Dallas down to the wire at Dallas, and we were playing some pretty good basketball with Marko and Sebastian [Telfair] playing together. So Marko's injury, I think, hurt us for a couple games, and now it seems we're competitive once again."

Saturday night in the upset of the Suns, Jaric scored 19 points and was one of the outstanding players on the floor.

"Yeah, he's playing solid," Sichting said. "He's not a true point guard, but he gets his hands on a lot of balls defensively. He's a pretty good help defender.

"He's not a great passer, but he has the ability to kind of get into the line and find open guys at times, and he can finish. He's about 6-7, so he's bigger than people think he is."

Browning to Syracuse Greg Robinson said the first person he tried to hire when he was named the Syracuse football coach in 2005 was Mitch Browning, who was the Gophers offensive coordinator under Glen Mason.

The university made Browning the highest-paid assistant on Mason's staff in 2005, so he stayed, but Browning, who was with Mason for 21 years, was ready when Robinson called this time.

Jottings Former Vikings wide receiver Cris Carter is a first-year-eligible player among this year's 26 finalists for the Hall of Fame. But the odds of making it the first year are normally not good. However, former Vikings offensive guard Randall McDaniel, in his second year, has a good chance to be selected.

Former Vikings coach Bud Grant had a good opportunity to push the names of ex-Vikings Jim Marshall and Mick Tingelhoff for the old-timers category of the Pro Football Hall of Fame when Joe Horrigan, the Hall of Fame's vice president of communications and exhibitions, picked up the uniform Peterson wore when he broke the single-game NFL rushing record earlier this season. Grant compared some players in the Hall of Fame with Marshall and Tingelhoff and seemed to make an impression on Horrigan.

Two Minnesotans, Trevor Laws, from Apple Valley, and John Carlson, from Litchfield, received awards at Notre Dame's football banquet Saturday. Laws, a defensive end who was named the team's Most Valuable Player, and Carlson, a tight end, each received a Student-Athlete of the Year award. Carlson also received the Nick Pietrosante Award, which is given to the student-athlete who best exemplifies the courage, loyalty, teamwork, dedication and pride of the former Irish All-America fullback.