Dominant performance at home vs. a team with little to play for. Locked up the Division. Packers lost. Hopefully mostly injury-free. Great day by Kendricks and Newman. Run-D was stout.

Bring on the (eliminated) Packers. Still work to do.

I think green Bay is totally eliminated.
The biggest negative is the penalties especially on the OL.

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Atlanta has to beat the Bucs tomorrow night. Which means the Pukers are pretty much eliminated.

If they are eliminated, I highly doubt Rodgers plays against us, especially after Ian Rapaport's report this morning that his collarbone is not 100% healed. You have to believe they'll shut him down and not risk re-injury. No matter. We're easily the better team and should beat them, anyway.

NFC North champs. That has a nice ring to it. NFC champs would be even better.

The Vikings are NFC North champions for the second time in three years. They'll open the playoffs at U.S. Bank Stadium on either the first or second weekend of the playoffs.

Fantastic seeing Teddy get some snaps.

Gotta win out for that to happen. We have tiebreakers vs the saints, rams, and falcons.




We dont however, have one against carolina, and this lamblow game scares me.

If the Saints win out, they win the NFC South. That, in turn, renders the head-to-head loss with Carolina moot. So the Vikings can lose at Lameblow, beat Chicago, and as long as the Saints win both (home to Atlanta, at TB) they're still fine where Carolina is concerned.

Halfgiz is right, regardless of any other results, being division champ means a home playoff game. He didn't say a first round bye.

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Guys, how about that Vikings' defense in the first half?

3 plays, punt
3 plays, pick-6
4 plays, downs
3 plays, punt
4 plays, punt
3 plays, punt
3 plays, punt

23 plays, 38 total yards, 1 first down.

Just ... wow. That's 1971 Purple People Eaters territory.

At least we don't have to hear how dangerous the Packers would be if they make the playoffs discussion anymore right?

Atlanta needs to beat the Bucs tomorrow in order for the Pukers to be eliminated.

Go Dirty Birds.

One of the few times I will be rooting for ATL.

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Why do the Packers feel like a cockroach that just won't die this season? It feels like they should've been eliminated a couple weeks ago.

What a game to be at!! Stadium was electric. Cincy didnt have a shot.

-Keenum played great. That stadium went nuts for Teddy. Of course his first pass has to be a pick but honestly, it was a catchable ball.
-Another solid game by Murray. He's become the clear workhorse in this offense.
-WRs were quiet. Solid TD by Diggs
-OL was solid for the most part. Both sacks given up were duds. Keenum had his foot stepped on and the other Keenum stepped right up into Atkins.

-Defense was ridiculous today
-Solid on every level of the defense

-I've said it once and I'll say it again, Eric Kendricks is a pro bowl LB. And to be honest, Keuchly is not that much better than Kendricks is. That kid is a stud and is the anchor of this defense.

I didn't see the whole game, how did the O-Line play without Reiff?

Yeah Easton seems to have some issues and the real strength
seems to be his ability to play several OL spots.

I would love to see us get another OL upgrade or
depth.

720 Pete we gave up some sacks and didn’t set
our running blocking effective all game.

The Bengals seemed distracted by the HC news
and nothing to play for. After the 1st quarter
the game was out of reach.

Linval was killing them in run game and
our safties and linebackers made some key
plays all throughout the game.

Statistically speaking they haven't had a great shot at a playoff birth for about 2-3 weeks. It just feels greater because the entire national sports media swoons over Rogers. If you take a sober look at their roster it isn't pretty. Thompson really deserves to be fired.

Statistically speaking they haven't had a great shot at a playoff birth for about 2-3 weeks. It just feels greater because the entire national sports media swoons over Rogers. If you take a sober look at their roster it isn't pretty. Thompson really deserves to be fired.[/quote]I'm a little concerned about our receivers last couple of games. They have been too quiet for my taste. Have people figured out how to cover them?

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Well Easton is probably our weak link and Berger could retire. So we definitely need an OG or two this offseason

Great game against an uninspired Bengals team.

I am starting to warm up to US Bank stadium. I've always thought the stadium looks cold, like a glass prison, but the noise level in there could top the Metrodome given the right circumstance.

Eagles without Carson Wentz are a 1 and done team for the playoffs. So the Vikings getting 2nd place will also mean home field advantage thru out.

Have you ever been to a game there?

Everybody's different, but I find impossible to attend a game at USB and not thoroughly enjoy the experience. The place is anything but cold, especially when the sun is shining. Plus, it's an electric atmosphere. Every seat feels close to the action, and it's LOUD. The amenities are first-rate, the bathrooms are nice and big (and plentiful), and those huge doors make exiting the stadium so easy and fast. It's one of the most well-conceived buildings you'll ever see.

Do you know what I DIDN'T notice during Teddy's brief appearance? Any sign of a knee issue.

Honestly I was so excited to see him throw I wasn't even thinking about that. Nothing was noticeable. That's phenomenal.

Guys, I think I need therapy.

I don't know why, but I read MMQB religiously every week. Perhaps because it's fairly interesting and well-written. Perhaps because I have a love-hate thing for Peter King -- for a long time, I loved his work, but then he became his own brand, and now I can't stand him. Maybe it's because I grew up with ink-stained fingers from constantly carrying my SI in hand. Running out to the mailbox each week to get my magazine was a highlight of my life.

I SHOULDN'T read MMQB, though, because it drives me nuts. This week's edition is a perfect example.

A day after the Vikings clinched the NFC North title with a convincing win, MMQB did not devote a single word to the Minnesota Vikings. Have you ever read MMQB? It's LONG, like the online version of War and Peace. But the Vikings? Not one word!

They talked ad nauseum about Pittsburgh, even implying "the fix was in" regarding the non-catch by Jesse James (King has long had a love affair with all things Pittsburgh and Green Bay ... he picks them for the Super Bowl preseason virtually every year). They talked at length about the Jerry Richardson sex scandal and the Jaguars being a feared playoff opponent. King also called Sean McVay the obvious coach of the year, even though Zimm handed McVay his hat in Week 11.

They talked about Marvin Lewis. Even in THAT segment, neither the words "Minnesota" nor "Vikings" appeared.

And the topper? King called Pittsburgh "this heartsick city." Heartsick? You want heartsick? Come to Minneapolis, Buttwipe. How the hell can a city with 6 Super Bowl titles be called heartsick?

Of course all of this follows up last week, when King said Aaron Rodgers' return gives NFL fans "reason to hope."

Seriously guys. I need an intervention. Somebody please unsubscribe me from MMQB. That click-bait is like catnip for me.

I do miss being blown out of the metrodome though. Even when the Vikings or Twins lost, everyone had fun doing that.

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Sorry to keep going with this off topic theme. I'll end it after this. Most Vikings regular and post season games are out of my income level. I attended a couple of preseason games. USB stadium with its glass and steel just looks like a prison to me, not a sports stadium. I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to sports stadium design. I love the Ann Arbor stadium, it feels more like a true sports stadium to me.

Yeah, that's why everybody's different.

I went to an Oregon-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago. Very similar stadium to the Big House. I hated the Rose Bowl. Flat-out hated it. The seats were so cramped ... literally only a few inches of legroom. I'd had knee surgery about 3 months prior, and my knee felt like it was going to explode. I thought, "It's no wonder they can get 100,000 people in here. This is a death trap." I left at halftime (it didn't help that Oregon was destroying UCLA, and Brett Hundley was stinking up the joint for UCLA).

And you see all those made-for-TV beauty shots of the mountains near Pasadena and the sunshine and the scenery, but what you don't see is the area immediately around the stadium, which is a dump.

Give me modern comfort and convenience!

Here's a 6 minute discussion on the Vikings.

Zimmer wired:

http://m.vikings.com/media-vault/videos ... a35ff63096