The Saints lost on Saturday and the Packers lost on Sunday. It was shaping up to be a great weekend. Then the Vikings played. They were playing to close in on home field advantage in the playoffs but they still laid a complete egg. I'm flabbergasted. I don't even know how that happened. All I know is that I'm extremely bitter about it all, so let's just get to the points:

Quarter 1
Vikings 39 Yard Missed Field Goal:
Vikings Defense (+1) - The defense comes up big early in the game forcing a fumble but they don't recover it...I was kind of annoyed by that. But the field position meant the ensuing punt return put the Vikings in really good position to score.

Vikings Special Teams (-1) - Alright, this scoring is getting a bit complicated. First of all, the offense did nothing during this series, which kind of annoyed me. But thanks to a 34 yard punt return the Vikings were already in field goal range. This means all the special teams had to do was kick a makeable 39 yard field goal and they'd get 2 points total (1 for the return and one for the field goal kick). Instead, we have a rare miss by Longwell. (I assume he was too distraught about his friend Mr. Woods' divorce to concentrate on the game.) That miss is a -2, which would negate the defense's +1 and the +1 the special teams would have got for the punt return.

That's all a long winded way of saying the special teams end up netting -1 points for this series.

Quarter 2
Panthers 1 Yard Touchdown Pass:
Vikings Defense (-7) - The Panthers pretty much rushed and passed at will here for 71 yards. It was very disheartening; especially after the missed field goal...and considering it was their backup running back and backup quarterback doing most the damage. One thing that has been the Viking defense's kryptonite for as long as I remember is the short 5 to 10 yard passes. Receivers always seem to be wide open. It works so well I don't know why teams just don't do it all the time against the Vikings. Even Matt Moore successfully dinked and dunked down the field.

Vikings Special Teams (+1) - The special teams blocked the PAT. I actually fooled myself into thinking this would be important to the game.

Vikings 4 Yard Touchdown Run:
Vikings Special Teams (+1) - Nice punt by Chris Kluwe from the Minnesota 44 yard line. Carolina ends up starting from their own 8 yard line.

Vikings Defense (+1) - A three and out by the defense sets up the offense in good field position.

Vikings Offense (+5) - This drive started from the Carolina 41 and ended with Adrian Peterson powering his way into the end zone. He was stopped short of the goal line, bounced back and then ran to the outside to get into the end zone. The Vikings' defense would never tackle as poorly as the Panthers just did.

I figured at this point the Vikings would get their act together and take over this game. Yeah...I can be naive sometimes.
Quarter 3
There were no points scored in the third quarter. Brett Favre got sacked plenty of times and Sidney Rice fumbled away a big pass completion....yeah...that's 15 minutes of my life (plus commercials) I'm not getting back.

Quarter 4
Panthers 42 Yard Touchdown Path:
Vikings Offense (-1) - First off, the Vikings' ineptitude on offense continued when they couldn't get a first down and Minnesota was forced to punt from their 8 yard line. When did this year's offense turn into last year's offense?

Vikings Defense (-5) - Are you freaking kidding me? 3rd and 26 and Matt Moore throws a 42 yard touchdown pass over Antoine Winfield? Really? I said so many expletives Quentin Tarantino told me to tone down the language. As far as I was concerned, when they let that touchdown pass happen the game was over. At least they stopped the two point conversion...I guess.

Panthers 3 Yard Touchdown Run:
Vikings Defense (-7) - Yeah, now the Vikings just gave up. 6 plays, 77 yards, and a 45 yard pass over Antoine Winfield...again! So disappointing. It all ends with Jonathan Stewart getting stopped short of the goal line, bouncing back and running to the outside to get into the end zone. Apparently, the Vikings can tackle as poorly as the Panthers.

Panthers 2 Yard Touchdown Pass:
Vikings Defense (-7) - What more can I say? This was an embarrassing effort by the defense with terrible tackling. Were they tired because the offense was incapable of getting a first down? Maybe...but is that an excuse? I don't know. All I know is that just to make sure this night was as bitter for me as possible, it was Jonathan Stewart who racked up the fantasy points while my fantasy running back, DeAngelo Williams, nursed an injury on the sidelines.

Game Totals:
Offense: +4
Defense: -24
Special Teams: +1

Frankly, I'm surprised to see any of the Viking phases in positive numbers. But when you think about it, the offense netting only 4 points is really putrid. I was tempted to give Brad Childress -3,000 points for having his team so woefully unprepared for this game, but I didn't do it. But if all the drama that resulted from this game affects the next game, he may get negative points then.

Season Totals:
Offense: +252
Defense: -122.5
Special Teams: +7.5
Brad Childress: +1
The Referees: -6
Mike McCarthy: +3
Donald Lee's Inability to Catch A Pass: +4
Brady Quinn's Greasy Hands: +0.5
Kyle Boller's Tendency To Panic: +2
Big Time Pressure On A Young Kicker: +3
Johnny Jolly's Short Temper: +2
Mason Crosby's Inaccurate Kicking Leg: +1
Rey Maualuga's Lack Of Discipline: +1
Shayne Graham Kick Out Of Bounds: +1

Yeah, the stats took a hit this week. Last week the offense was scoring well over twice the amount of points the defense was giving up. That gap is closing now. I'd hate to do totals for the last 3 weeks, even with the Cincinnati game in there.

I've got plenty more to whine about, but perhaps I'll save it for another post.