NFL – The Minnesota Vikings defeat the Philadelphia Eagles

It has been 64 years since the last time the NFL held a football game on a Tuesday. It seems just as long since the time the Vikings starting quarterback, Brett Favre began his strike of 297 consecutive games as the starting quarterback. This season the Vikings are missing that spark of magic, that unexpected brilliance that Brett Favre showed during the previous season, right when most critics believed that it was too late for the veteran player to keep on going. But that was all gone by the time the season kicked off.

The season has been filled with ups and downs, well, mostly downs for the Minnesota Vikings. With a 6-9 overall season and a 1-4 performance in the NFC North, the Vikings have not shined much. The Vikings haven’t been much brilliant either when playing against the spread. As of press time the Vikings are 5-10-0 ATS, for a 33.3% of success when it comes to the NFL wagering lines. So unless you made a whole deal of point buying, the Vikings were probably not among your best picks of the season. But that was all going to change when the Vikings played the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday.

The Minnesota Vikings were a 14-point underdog for their game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Handicappers were considering that neither Favre or Tarvaris Jackson were going to be able to start and that a rookie quarterback, Joe Webb would have to go face to face against the Eagles’ Michael Vick on his first game ever as a professional.

Yes, of course Michael Vick had a brilliant start, but his performance during the second half of the season has been far from optimal. If you take into consideration his numbers during the first six games of the season and compare them to what he has been showing at the last 6 games of the season, you will notice how much his performance has dropped. Lets consider for a moment that for the first 6 games Vick had no interceptions, 2 fumbles and was sacked only 15 times. On the contrary, in the last six games Vick has recorded 6 interception, 9 fumbles and has been sacked 19 times.

So sure, the Eagles quarterback is not atop of their performance so 12 or 14 point spread on the Vikings might had sound a bit harsh. But what happened during the game was nothing short of an epic upset. The rookie quarterback completed 17 of 26 passes for 195 yards and ran for a touchdown. Adrian Peterson ran for 118 yards and completed a touchdown. That was just enough to push the Philadelphia Eagles out of a first round of the playoffs bye.

At 10-5 for the season the Eagles could have secured an extra week of rest had they defeated the Vikings. Somehow, the same team that last week defeated the New York Giants coming from a 21-point deficit with only 7 minutes to play was nowhere to be seen in the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. As a matter of fact, the fans were walking out of the stadium by the time the two-minute warning went off.

The same team that almost made it to the Super Bowl last year has had to deal with many issues this season. They have had to make it pass many injuries, the whole on and off the court implications that having Brett Favre as your starting quarterback implies, the collapse of their stadium roof and the firing of head coach Brad Childress. But there is really not much left for the Vikings this season; this is as good as it its going to get for this guys. Better luck next year.

NFL – Minnesota Vikings fell to the Chicago Bears on Sunday

The Minnesota Vikings fell 27-13 to the Chicago Bears, and now the Vikings which fell to a 3-6 record for the season, could be on its way to missing the playoffs. At the end, whatever it is that you were expecting from the Vikings’ performance on this regular season (lets not forget that they had brought up Randy Moss and had a healthy and veteran superstar quarterback) this is certainly not it. Moss only lasted a month before getting into an argument with head coach Brad Childress, and find himself playing for a different team the following week. And then, once again, Brett Favre began to deal with injuries and many interceptions per game, which ended up in unnecessary defeats.

The Vikings owner, Zygi Wilf, has publicly shown his support for head coach Brad Childress, who despite not handling the issue with Moss gracefully and certainly not putting together a very effective team, is still going to be guiding the Vikings from the sidelines.

What we are not really sure is where is Childress in respect to Brett Favre. Here is the thing: Favre is an outstanding player, but he is also 41 years old, has played every game since the 4th week of the 1992 NFL regular season. And he is now aching a bit. He has been struggling a bit recently. He is suffering from two broken bones in his ankle and tendinitis in his right arm. Yes, he has thrown over 500 touchdowns and has completed over 70,000 yards. And yes, he holds much every record worth holding as a passer in the NFL. And he is still out there every week, trying to prove something that frankly he has already proved a long time ago.

And here is where Childress should step up. He needs to decide if it is worth keeping Favre playing, or if it is time to be the coach who ended Favre’s 294th consecutive start. Because on thing is certain, the Vikings are not winning. The Vikings are not working their way into the Playoffs, and Brett Favre is in pain and not playing at hist best.

Favre’s elbow flared up in week 5, when the team fell the New York Jets 29-20. When the Vikings then lost to the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field, he revealed that there was a big chance that his two fractures in his ankle might sideline him for week 8’s game. Favre started against the New England Patriots and the Vikings lost 28-18. They completed a decent comeback with a 27-24 win in overtime to the Arizona Cardinals, which came as a breath of fresh air to the franchise. But, even then, many specialists had claimed that the Vikings were among the weakest 3-5 teams in the nation.

They were right. Their conference rival, the Chicago Bears had a great game and intercepted Favre 3 times during the game. He is suffering from pain, and as if he didn’t had to worry about his health and his performance on the field, he is also under investigation for allegedly sending improper messages and pictures to a New York Jets’ female worker. It’s probably time to retire. Perhaps this year he will finally but end to what has been a formidable career.

NFL – Minnesota Vikings will play New England Patriots on Sunday

Rumor has it, and if its not true it the story is still worth telling, that the Minnesota Vikings quarterback, the legendary Brett Favre brings in more drama before the big day then Lady Gaga. And this week is no exception as a reportedly injured Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings take a go at each other this Sunday afternoon. Favre and no other then the resilient Tom Brady will go head to head once again. One Issue, Brady is younger, perhaps fitter and throws fewer interceptions per game, and key-here, he is healthy. Brett Favre is suffering from an injured ankle and just last week with his two last untimely interceptions cost the Minnesota Vikings their game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

And then there is the X factor. Specially if you are into wagering on the NFL. There are a couple of issues you must take into consideration for this game. As the week progresses, the rumor that Favre might not be able to play (forget about been fully recovered, as it seems that as long as he can jog a bit over that ankle he will go out and play) has pushed this wagering line all over the place. The Minnesota Vikings were a