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.

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

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.

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.

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.

I'm sure all you readers know that I am far from a Vikings fan. However, almost all of my friends are and I've seen quite a bit of Vikings football and I would like to make an announcement: Adrian Peterson is the REAL DEAL!

I was sceptical at first, thinking that the Vikes should have taken a QB (probably Quinn) in the 1st round. I now believe that they made the best pick in the draft in getting a guy with arguably the most talent to come out of the draft since LT.

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.)

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?

Adrian Peterson capped off a truly amazing rookie season by leading the NFC to a 42-30 win in an entertaining Pro Bowl on Sunday in Honolulu.

Peterson rushed for 129 yards and scored two touchdowns in the second half to lead the NFC to a comeback victory. Peterson posed with the new car he won as Pro Bowl MVP at midfield after the game. He said his goal for the game was "to win the game and become MVP."

Mission accomplished.

It was a really spectacular way to finish off one of the best rookie seasons any running back has ever had in NFL history. Peterson set the rushing record against the San Diego Chargers with 296 yards, and became the first back ever to have two 200 yard rushing games in the same season. Now he became the second rookie ever to win the Pro Bowl MVP, joining Marshall Faulk, who did it in 1995.

Broncos safety John Lynch may have set it best about Adrian Peterson and the day he had on Sunday: "He's going to wreak havoc in this league for a long time."

I sure hope so. Congratulations, AP.

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.

Even though we just had our Pro Bowl Snubs post, I would like to specifically look at one of those snubs in Fred Taylor and break down his case as to why he should playing in Hawaii in February.

Is this 2007 or 1997? You would think it would be '97 with the way Fred Taylor is playing this season. Taylor has been very productive this season, especially the last 4 games.

Taylor has put up 1,091 yards rushing on 216 carries, with a 5.1 avg. His last 4 games have been phenomenal, 487 yards, 71 carries, 6.8 avg. Taylor also has the AFC's two longest TD runs of 80 and 76 yards.

Big news today as the Kansas City Chiefs have confirmed they are shopping star defensive end Jared Allen. The Vikings are thought to be one of the frontrunners - along with Tampa Bay and possibly Jacksonville.

Of those teams, the Vikings have the highest first round pick to dangle in front of the Chiefs. And they have the greatest need for a sack specialist, so they should be willing to give the Chiefs what they want.
It should be mentioned however, that Allen has a booze problem, notably two outstanding DUIs. This seems very contradictory for a team that Zygi Wilf is trying to assemble that is "accountable for it's actions" and trying to build up the team's character problems that surfaced around the "sex boat scandal". His problems with the law propose more problems than that though. He'd also have to be signed to a long-term deal for big money and would take up a lot of cap space and one more run-in with the law like that would result in AT LEAST a 4-game suspension (probably more than that). Still, this is a risk worth taking for the Vikings.

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.

Notre Dame completed one of the worst seasons in its storied history on a high note yesterday, as they beat Stanford, 21-14, at Palo Alto.

The Fighting Irish end the 2007 season at 3-9, and with two consecutive wins. Stanford is ending a pretty rotten season also, as they are now 3-8, but a win is a win as they say.

(And by the way, I've always wondered something. Why does Stanford call themselves the "Cardinal" and not the "Cardinals?" It's like calling the Boston baseball team "the Red Sock." Pretty dumb if you ask me.)

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. 

The Giants amazing run in this year's postseason took yet another astounding turn as the "Road Warriors" won their third straight postseason game away from home, in a 23-20 thrilling overtime win in Green Bay on Sunday.

I honestly didn't give the Giants much chance against the Packers. It was bitterly cold (the temperature was below zero at the start), and Green Bay rarely lose a playoff game at home. But Eli Manning continued his terrific play and Plaxico Burress was just superb.

The Vikings fan in me was going with the Giants all the way, as I didn't want to see Green Bay in the Super Bowl. Manning continues to have the last laugh on his critics, as well as coach Tom Coughlin. Lawrence Tynes, the Giants kicker, missed two field goals, one as regulation was ending, and he appeared to be the goat of the game. But he redeemed himself 2:35 into overtime with a 47-yard field goal to send the Giants to the fourth Super Bowl berth in their history.

There was an old, recurring character on Saturday Night Live many years ago (back when the show was good) named Leonard Pinth-Garnell (pictured). He was played by Dan Aykroyd, and the premise of his character was that he was a snooty critic of really awful "highbrow" entertainment. Every sketch started with the word "bad," and it included such ones as "Bad Ballet," "Bad Poetry" and "Bad Opera."

I've been a member of a head-to-head pick 'em league for the NFL for several years running now. The way it works is you and your opponent pick every game and whoever gets more right wins. The scheduling is easy because there are as many players as there are teams in the league, and everybody represents a team. I happen to be the Falcon.

Pretty simple stuff except for the fact that I stink at NFL prognostication. So a few years back I started writing a semi-regular column for the league called the "Falcon's Faulty Pick of the Week". The way it works is I pick one game that seems like it should be a lock, and then watch with dismay as somehow the pick goes sour. My inaccuracy has been almost uncanny in the past.

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It was truly a night to remember as a large crowd turned out at Professor Thom's to see if the New England Patriots could indeed run the entire NFL regular season table and defeat the New York Giants.

What they witnessed was simply one of the best nights in NFL history, and one of the best games of the 2007 season.
And the champagne can now stay on ice in Miami. Uncorked.

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

OK, I was wrong.

In a simply stunning and amazing game, the New York Giants, a 12-point underdog, won Super Bowl XLII by upsetting the previously unbeaten New England Patriots, 17-14, at Glendale, Arizona.

Eli Manning etched his name in the NFL record books by leading the Giants on a long drive that ended with a TD pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left to give the Giants an incredible victory. The drive reminded me very much of Joe Montana's historic drive in the final minutes to beat the Cincinnati Bengals nearly 20 years ago. Manning was voted the game's MVP.

You may remember that the Giants beat the Bears in Chicago last week, 21-16. They won it when the Giants scored a TD with just under two minutes left. Since that game was finished, I have heard tons of complaints from Giants fans, in both the papers and on radio, about how Tom Coughlin nearly blew it by scoring the touchdown.

Yesterday I saw a letter in the sports section of the New York Post about the game, a week after it was played:

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.

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:

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

While everyone is talking who is going to be going in the first round, I am going to talk about some guys that aren't getting a lot of press that could very well make an impact at the next level.

Image: Brandon Marshall

The NFL Football season is one quarter over and it's time to start adjusting your fantasy football rosters. By now we can start identifying trends in performance and injuries and we need to do some tweaking to our rosters to stay competitive.