Jeff: PACKER WEEK!!!!

I think we've pretty much beaten to death the notion that the Vikes were lucky to beat the Giants Sunday. The only real debate was who was worse: the vikes offense or Eli Manning? But lucky or not, it still counts as a win, and in this season, which may go down as one of the strangest in team history, we'll take it. Somehow, someway, the team (4-5) is still in the hunt for the division title. This season has proven league wide there's no such thing as an "easy" game (just ask the Giants), but the Vikings schedule looks favorable from now until the end of the year meeting with the Norris-leading Bears (6-3).
Chicago, on the other hand, has to play four teams with winning records, plus the plucky Packers twice before the New YEar's Day game at the Metrodome. None of their games are considered even remotely easy, but with their tough defense and conservative offense, there's no reason to think the BEars can't continue rolling. THe Vikings need help from these good teams, and even from our hated neighbors the Packers.
But not this week. This is not just Packer week, but it's a Monday Night Packer week at that. This is one of those games where it's fun to be a football fan. "Throw out the records" is a cliche you'll hear far too often, but it's certainly true this season. As much as I hate to hear announcers fighting over who loves Favre more, you can't deny how dangerous this team is. During their win over Atlanta Sunday, I must have heard 537 different times how "this team hasn't quit", and it's true; they haven't. Nobody plays better on the Monday Night stage than Favre, and with 5th string running back Samkon Gado putting some punch back in the Packer running game (my favorite stat of this week: Gado's 3 TD's last week were more than Ahman Green's had in the last calendar year) there will be some fireworks at Lambeau. The Vikes will need to play better (espcially on O) to keep up with an inspired Packers bunch.

So for this week, I'm putting aside all talk about the Love Boat and Tice and Daunte and all the other debacles we're endured. For this week, I'm going to bask in the glow of one of football's best rivalries, of a prime-time stage, of a two-game winning streak in November, and the fact that we're still in the playoff hunt. Hopefully this will continue for a few more weeks to come.