Move the game to Atlanta before someone gets hurt

So Bud Grant had to call down to Atlanta to get Grumpy Old Fran to agree to come up to Minnesota for the events celebrating the 50 greatest Vikings. Now what happens when someone with some common sense steps in and orders the game be sent down to Atlanta? Does Grumpy Old Fran call the other 49 guys and ask them to come on down to Atlanta?

Anyhoo, here are today's Four Downs ...

FIRST DOWN:

Bears coach Lovie Smith downplayed the site of the game. But he does have someone from the Bears' organization in town to inspect the playing surface and report back to him and the Bears' front office.

"Every week that we go on the road, we have to trust that the proper authorities have deemed the field safe for the players," Smith said during a conference call with reporters in Minnesota. "We assume that to be the case. I know this is a little different situation. From what we've heard down here, things are going along as planned. We should be good to go."

Smith also said the site is "a big story because [reporters in Minnesota] are making it a big story because you never play outside. We play outside always."

He also said, "You're going to have two teams that are going to play under the same environment and conditions. I don't see that as being an issue in the end. We're not from Florida, so it's not going to be a factor for us."

SECOND DOWN:

It's not the snow or the cold, or whether there's an advantage for one team or the other that's the issue. The issue is playing a game on a field that's not equipped to handle a modern NFL game in late December.

A lot has changed in the NFL over the decades. And one of them is players don't risk careers slipping around on or having their heads pile driven into frozen fields. Or at least they shouldn't have to. The players today are bigger, faster and stronger, so the risk of injury is much greater even under normal circumstances.

Just move the game to Atlanta. Yeah, the Vikings won't be able to trot out their 50 greatest players at halftime, but I'd take that over having Adrian Peterson blow out a knee on a field that's unsuitable for an NFL game.

So what if the Vikings don't have a homefield advantage in Atlanta. The competitive part of the season is over.

Plus, what better way to make a case for a new stadium than to have your last two home games played in Michigan and Georgia?

THIRD DOWN:

Bears QB Jay Cutler said the field is a concern to the Bears' players.

"It's going to be frozen, so it's definitely going to be a concern," he said. "It's going to be hard. We don't have a choice. We don't get a say in it. We just have to show up and play the game and not worry about it. Just prepare as usual."

As for last week's 36-7 beatdown in the snow at home against the Patriots, Cutler said there are no lingering effects.

"We're fine," he said. "We know we're a good football team."

If the Packers lose at New England on Sunday night, the Bears can clinch their first NFC North title since their 2006 Super Bowl season by beating the Vikings on Monday night.

FOURTH DOWN:

I would have made the decision to start Joe Webb this week even before Tarvaris Jackson ended up on IR today. I saw all I needed to see from T-Jack when he played like the old T-Jack while leaving the field with injuries not once, not twice but three times in the loss to the Giants. I'd do an injury settlement with T-Jack right now and send him on his way ASAP.

No offense to Joe, but you know the season has gone awry in catastrophic proportions when you hear a media relations person say to a pack of reporters and cameramen, "Time for two more questions for Joe ..."

Joe's a likeable kid. I hope he plays well, but I think we all know he won't. He'll be understandably overwhelmed and will run until his hamstring starts to bother him. Then Patrick Ramsey will take over five days after signing with the team.

And just think, there'll be two more games to go after that!

As for Joe, he said he's never played in weather colder than 40 degrees. He'd never been in freezing temps until this winter. But he's still excited.

"It's a great opportunity," he said. "Monday Night Football. It doesn't get any better than that."