NFC North title on the line

The Minnesota Vikings are still able to control their own playoff fate . . . if they can beat the New York Giants this afternoon, they win the NFC North. If they lose, they can still claim the NFC North if Houston beats Chicago. This would have been an academic exercise if the Vikings hadn't staged a fumblethon benefit performance last weekend for the Atlanta Falcons (seven fumbles in one game . . . just short of a dubious record).

It'd be far better for Minnesota to win their own game, as they've not had a lot of help from other teams in this regard: "The games that we've had have been nailbiters throughout the season . . . Even when we're rooting for another team, it's a nailbiter. It's like we kind of rub off on other teams when they're trying to win games for us. This whole year we've had games that are all-time see-saw games that can go either way" (Darrin Sharper).

There are opportunities for the Vikings in this game, especially as New York has the luxury of playing their starters for as long as they want to . . . having locked up a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The game matters far more for the Vikings, so they're going to be playing their first string players for the entire game (or, in the wildest fantasies of Purple fans, until the game is far enough out of reach for the Giants to win).

For the superstitious, December 28 isn't the best day for the Vikings to play critical games:

On Dec. 28, 1975, Drew Pearson mysteriously separated himself from Vikings cornerback Nate Wright, scored the touchdown at Met Stadium that eliminated what might have been Bud Grant's best team, and prompted a cretin to toss a bottle at Armen Terzian's skull.

On Dec. 28, 1996, the Vikings traveled to Dallas to take on the proud but fading Cowboys in a wild-card playoff game, and lost 40-15.

On Dec. 28, 2003, Mike Tice required only a victory over the lowly Cardinals in Phoenix to qualify for the playoffs, and he thought he had one until the Cardinals scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes, with Nate Poole making the winning catch as time expired.

Update: Well, the game went down to the last second, but Ryan Longwell booted the winning field goal, so Minnesota will host the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the NFC playoffs next Sunday. The Bears also lost their game in Houston, so the Vikings would have qualified, but it's certainly much better to get in directly from their own efforts, rather than "backing in".