It was an absolutely awful day for the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, as they were simply dominated all day by their archrival Green Bay Packers. It was no contest as the Packers rolled to an easy 34-0 victory at Lambeau Field.

But that's not what concerns Vikings fans today. Late in the contest yesterday, Adrian Peterson left the game with an apparent knee injury, as he was hit by the Packers' Al Harris after making an 11-yard catch. It did not appear to be too severe, as he left the field under his own power. He will have an MRI done today in Minnesota. Hopefully it is nothing worse than a sprain.

Last night's Vikings' 20-13 win at the Metrodome over the Chicago Bears was certainly not a thing of beauty, but it kept the Vikes' winning streak going at five.

The Vikings turned the ball over four times, three times on interceptions by Tarvaris Jackson. Jackson has shown steady improvement over the course of the winning streak, but last night he took a step backwards. He threw a lollipop up for grabs just before the half ended that was picked off, and the Bears converted it into a TD to make it 13-3. But a really stupid roughing penalty by Chicago helped the Vikings get into field goal range, and Ryan Longwell kicked one from 46 yards out at the buzzer to make it 13-6 and gave the Vikes some momentum for the second half.

As I watched the NFL Draft the past two days, I just hoped that the Chiefs would bring in someone that would make the Jared Allen trade worth while. I was maybe one of the only Chiefs fans not happy with the trade, and while I still am not 100 percent happy with the move, I definitely can live with it now.

First Round

Although I'm not a Vikings fan, but since I do live in Vikings territory I've heard a lot of debating about who the Vikings QB should be next season. Now I have myself pondering the same thing.

Any NFL fan, not just a Vikings fan can tell you that the Vikings need a new QB (WR as well). The Vikings haven't had a great QB for awhile and have relied heavily on some pathetic ones recently. Tarvaris Jackson just isn't getting it done right now and should not be the starter.

Candidates:

Tarvaris Jackson?

The Vikings season came to end in Denver on Sunday afternoon, as they were beaten by a Jason Elam field goal in overtime, 22-19, but it became academic as the Washington Redskins rolled over a Dallas Cowboys team that didn't show up, 27-6, and they claimed the final playoff spot.

It was not a great effort by the Vikings, as they scored only 3 points the first three quarters, and sure didn't look like a team bidding for a playoff spot.

The Vikings won their fourth in a row yesterday in San Francisco, and made NFL history in the process, as they won, 27-7. The Vikings became the first team to get two interceptions in a game by defensive linemen, and it included a touchdown by Kevin Williams (pictured) on the first play from scrimmage.

Pat Williams also had an interception, and Spencer Johnson apparently had a third one as the game was ending, but it was later ruled a fumble.

I thought the Vikings-Raiders game on Sunday had the potential of being another "Leonard Pinth-Garnell Game," namely more "Bad Football, NFL Style." But it turned out to a pretty decent game.

The Vikings blew a golden opportunity to wrap up a playoff berth in the Metrodome last night as the Washington Redskins handed them a devastating 32-21 loss, and now both teams have similar 8-7 records in the fight for the last NFC playoff spot. (If they end up with the same 9-7 record, Washington gets the berth because of last night's win.)

The Redskins came out slugging, and the Vikings were simply flat. They were torched through the air, as Todd Collins threw one TD, and Clinton Portis threw another as Washington rolled up a 22-0 lead at halftime.

No matter how this season ends, the first priority for the Vikings after this season ends is to go out and get an experienced NFL QB. (Chad Pennington and Donovan McNabb come to mind.)

Adrian Peterson will be out for possibly 2-4 weeks after it was determined that he has a partial tear of the LCL in his knee. He will not need surgery, but it will definitely miss Sunday's game against Oakland. It's bad news, but it sure could have been a lot worse, as was once feared.

Chester Taylor will move back into the starting role for the Vikings he lost when Peterson exploded after Taylor went down during Week 1.

Here's more about Peterson's injury from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
http://www.startribune.com/blogs/vikings/?p=1129

Adrian Peterson made a successful return to the Minnesota Vikings lineup today, and after a few conservative plays, cut it loose, and went on to score two touchdowns as the Vikes rolled over the slumping Detroit Lions, 42-10 at the Metrodome.

I missed the game as I attended a very nice Christmas party in New Jersey. I checked for scores on my cell phone, and the first one I saw was 35-10 in the second quarter! It was no mistake as the Vikings scored early and often against the Lions, who beat the Vikings in overtime in Detroit earlier this season.

Adrian Peterson was selected today as the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year for 2007. The vote wasn't close, and once he broke the single-game rushing record, you knew Peterson was a lock for the award. He led the conference in rushing, and was second in rushing touchdowns with 13, despite missing two games with a knee injury.

Peterson was slowed the last four games, as it looked like he wasn't 100% following the injury. But it was still a big year for him, and the award was well-deserved. His future looks very bright, and he was a godsend of a pick for the Vikings.

The Vikings were given many gifts by the New York Giants at the Meadowlands yeterday. And Eli Manning was Santa Claus without the red suit or white beard as he threw four interceptions, and three were returned for TDs as the Vikings won easily, and shockingly, 41-17.

With big brother Peyton watching from the stands, Eli threw interceptions that were returned by Darren Sharper (pictured), Dwight Smith and Chad Greenway for scores. The Vikings became the first NFL team to return three picks for TDs since 1984.

The New England Patriots just keep on rolling, and they took another opponent out to the woodshed, this time it was the Buffalo Bills. On Sunday night, they just beat them to a pulp, the final score being 56-10.

They are taking no prisoners right now, and are literally in a class by themselves. They are 10-0, and the 1972 Miami Dolphins players may not have any champagne celebration toasts this year.

NFL Draft addicts, better known as draftniks, have rejoiced in recent years as the NFL Draft has become more and more popular. Last years draft actually had better TV ratings than the NBA Playoffs. But the draft for the average fan has always been thought of as a long drawn out, grueling affair, more of a marathon than a race. Most football fans just want to watch the first round to see who their favorite NFL team was picking and even that was an all day event.

Sorry for the lack of postage lately, here's some NFL predictions for tomorrow. Also, tomorrow w will have TSF's Final Four Predictions.

Chiefs over Broncos
Bills over Dolphins
Packers over Vikings
Steelers over Browns
Saints over Rams
Jaguars over Titans
Eagles over Redskins
Panthers over Falcons
Bengals over Ravens
Bears over Raiders
Cardinals over Lions
Giants over Cowboys
Colts over Chargers

This letter was just sent out to SAG members by Doug Allen (Executive Director and Chief Negotiator) and Allen Rosenberg (President). Emphases in red are from us at UH -- LK.

Dear SAG Member:

Everyone hopes the WGA strike will end with a fair deal for the writers. There has been much speculation about the impact on the WGA strike of the tentative agreement between the Directors Guild of America

As I reported a few weeks back, you can't take too much away from the NFL's preseason, especially the won-loss record. I haven't watched all the games, but here are a few very early random observations from the 2007 NFL preseason.

The Good:

I usually do my best to avoid sports talk radio. It is usually a haven for brainless nitwits who can run their mouths off about any sports subject. (Sounds like the Internet actually.)
Yesterday was a rather dull day so I listened to a bit of "Mike and the Mad Dog" on WFAN.  (I still love the nickname Don Imus once hung on them: "Fatso and Fruit Loops.")  A big topic of discussion was the Giants upcoming games against Buffalo and New England. The Giants are still in a very good position to make the playoffs despite the loss to Washington last Sunday night. 

Sorry for making you wait so long. I spent last night watching the #1 UND Fighting Sioux dominate the #3 Michigan State Spartans (defending national champs) 6-0 in some Division 1 college hockey at the Ralph. It was awesome. PS I was a respectable 9-5 last weekend.

Just some odds and ends today. This morning, we got our 80,000th visitor to The Mighty Quinn Media Machine since I added the Site Meter back in April 2006. That person was from Burnsville, Minnesota and found the site through a Google search of Adrian Peterson's winning the Pro Bowl MVP award. The person was obviously a Vikings fan. (I was in Burnsville, Minnesota back in 1999 when I saw both the Vikings and Twins play at the Metrodome, and it is a suburb of Minneapolis.)

Once again, I thank all of you who come here, especially those who come here regularly. We've been getting 150-200 hits daily on a pretty regular basis. It's very much appreciated.

I saw at a web site called The Biz of Baseball (thanks to them for that cool photo I have here) that it was announced today that the Red Sox will be meeting with President Bush on Wednesday, February 27, at 3 PM, in the annual visit of baseball's World Series champions to the White House. Of course, they met with him back in March 2005 to celebrate their 2004 title.

Any successful defense must have a strong pass rush and the most versatile and arguably the most important member of that defense is the pass rushing outside linebacker. An elite pass rushing outside linebacker has the speed to cover backs and tight ends out of the back field, the size to come up fight through blocks and stuff the run and of course the quickness to flash past huge offensive tackles and sack the quarterback.

So anyone who knows me at all knows how hard of a column this is to write for me. I have to swallow my pride and actually give credit to a quarterback who I flat out despise. However, something clicked in the New York Giants locker room after that narrow 38-35 loss to the New England Patriots to end the regular season. Maybe Manning found some type of confidence in himself that he could finally play with those elite teams in the NFL. Maybe they feel they aren't as intimidated to the New York media anymore. Maybe his older brother Peyton said something.

NFL Draft

NFC
SEA Seahawks at GB Packers

College Football

The Season is half over and it’s time to take a look at how the rookies are doing. Some of these players were training camp holdouts and some have been fighting injuries, but it’s still interesting to see the progress of these guys. However, I will tell you, the second half of their rookie season is more important than the first half, so don’t count any of these young prospects as “busts” just yet. I think it takes about three years to label a prospect with that tag.

1. Oakland Raiders: QB JaMarcus Russell, LSU

It's not like I've never been called a homer before, so here's one last homer post for Brett.

Dear Brett,
I want to thank you. Throughout my entire football life you've been the starting QB of my favorite team since I can remember (it all started when I was only 4). Growing up my Dad and I rarely missed a Packers' game and my love for the Packers essential stems from my love of watching you play the game. You were so fun to watch and you played the game like it should be played, like a little kid who's having fun. You've always been my favorite player growing up, having to defend my fandom to all the Vikings fans at school. But it didn't bother me, because I knew that they'd never win a Super Bowl anyways. You've always been my favorite player and you always will be.

Sixty minutes of phone calls, faxes and e mails before silence descends on the NHL’s rumour mill for this season.

The Rangers make their first entry to the days events working with a familiar old Ranger in John Davidson to work out a deal with St. Louis, that brings Christian Backman to Broadway for a draft pick in the fourth round of this years draft.

TSN— Rangers acquire Backman from Blues
Sportsnet— Blues ship Backman to Rangers for pick

The leafs move another player off the roster sending Hal Gill to Pittsburgh as Cliff Fletcher collects more draft picks for his successor, this time the Leafs receive a 2nd and 5th round selection.

TSN— Leafs send defenceman Gill to Penguins
Sportsnet— Leafs deal Gill to Penguins