Disclaimer: Yours truly was a little footballed-out after the alma mater's homecoming game and a friend needed help moving, so there was no chance to imitate a throw rug in front of the TV for a Sunday of NFL football. Still, the Minnesota Vikings inexplicably won, so attention must be paid. Some of my best friends are Chicago Bears fans, and the one-upsmanship via e-mail and MSN has already begun now that the Bears and Vikes are 2-0 heading into their matchup next Sunday at the Metrodome. Actually, Neil and I were already getting into it as early as the middle of last week. Since the Bears were playing Detroit, there wasn't much to think about other than whether or not they would cover the spread.
The Bears winning their first two was expected -- it was Green Bay and Detroit, for pity's sake. The Vikings? Not so much, but if this keeps up, Vikings Nation (yes, there is such a thing) will soon be raising pagan shrines in Brad Childress' honour.
Sorry. The mind does run a little wild when after a win like the one the Vikings had on Sunday. At first blush, they had little business beating the Carolina Panthers 16-13 in overtime on a Ryan Longwell field goal. However, the Panthers left the game there for the taking, failing to score the touchdown that would have put the Vikes away, then practically giving away the win when Chris Gamble made that ill-conceived lateral on a punt return that turned into a fumble, setting up Minnesota's tying touchdown on a trick-play pass from a kicker to a third-string tight end.
(How many office pools and parlays were screwed up by Gamble's goof, by the way?)
So yes, while the Bears were beating out a merry tune on the dregs of the NFC Norris, the Packers and Lions, the Vikings have defeated two '05 playoff teams, for what that's worth in this era of parity. (Carolina and Washington are both 0-2 now and neither managed an offensive touchdown in its other loss.)
This could be rationalize-it-away thinking to avoid being set up for disappointment, but the Vikes are going to be a long shot to knock off Chicago. There's no getting past that suspicion that unless the Vikes can get catch some breaks -- a couple big special teams plays, Brian Urlacher being sidelined by chicken pox -- the Bears should win.
All shots at thin-skinned Bears fans notwithstanding, Chicago is good (at least by NFC Norris standards). The Vikings gave up five sacks on Sunday -- Julius Peppers was all over the place , collecting three of them --and Chicago's defensive front seven is probably harder to handle than Carolina's.
No matter how much the cheerleaders in the press box want to go on about Brad Johnson's grace under pressure and ability to take a big hit, that only goes so far. As for running the ball, Chester Taylor is fast proving a durable back, which is good enough for the Vikes right now. (Quantity beats quality when it comes to running the ball, according to the stats geeks.)
On the other side of the ball, the Bears' O-line is anchored by a perennial Pro Bowler, Olin Kreutz, and having him at centre will make make it harder for Napoleon Harris, who had 10 tackles from the middle linebacker spot on Sunday, to repeat that kind of performance against Chicago. As for the passing game, Rex Grossman looks like a NFL quarterback all of a sudden, and he's going against a Vikings secondary that hasn't made an interception in the first two games.
Don Pierson, the Chicago Tribune's fine football columnist, is calling this one 20-13 for the Bears. That seems like a solid call, although he didn't specify whether the Bears would get both touchdowns from the defence, or one on defence and the other on special teams. Just kidding, Bears fans.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
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