Week 17

Jim Kleinsasser was the Minnesota Vikings lone captain. I wish that he could have experienced more wins in his final season of football.

Thank you, Jim Kleinsasser, for a very memorable Minnesota Vikings career.

Often you can tell the energy of a team through the effort of the special teams. The Vikings special teams were flying around the field. So was the defense. There was a lot of energy. Too bad the offense frequently didn't match it. Losing quarterback Christian Ponder early and runningback Toby Gerhart late didn't help. 17-13 Chicago. 3-13 on the season.

Usually I try to put records and milestones second to wins but I found myself wanting Chicago to have the ball. The more offensive plays for the Bears the more chances defensive end Jared Allen had to break Michael Strahan's season sack record of 22.5. Allen had 3.5 in the game to end the season at 22.

Jared Allen was a beast the entire season. His effort on every play was unreal. In a sad Vikings season Allen was a game after game highlight. His interception, in coverage, of Philip Rivers in week one was an incredibly athletic play. It was only a hint of what he would do the entire season.

Here's to Jared Allen on a Vikings record 22 sacks and an unbelievable season.

A catch and run by Percy Harvin on the Vikings' first offensive play lest them with a nice 2nd and 1. An early jump by Anthony Herrera turned that into 2nd and 6 and a punt two plays later. This sort of thing has happened way too often the season. Five yard penalties don't seem like a much but they can easily flip an edge to the offense right back to the defense.

I sure hate when TV comes back from commercials, shows the kickoff and goes right back to commercials. Always have. Always will.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers sure haven't put up much fight the last half of the season. I don't think today is going to be a fun day for head coach Raheem Morris.

Its amazing to see Baltimore Ravens nose tackle Haloti Ngata move. This is a 350lb man that moves like one about half his size.

The Cincinnati Bengals played like a team that wants to make the playoffs. I'm not sure that any of the contenders for the AFC West did the same.

The Tennessee Titans wanted it too.

Ndamukong Suh proved again that he's an idiot. When you poke fun at an opponent its best that you win the game. Suh really needs to let his play do the talking. Right now that level of play is nowhere near the level that he thinks it is.

Vikings receiver Percy Harvin is wasting no time. He's already calling for the team to get together for offseason workouts. He's a super football player. Now he's emerging as a team leader.
"We're going to grind this offseason."

Minnesota has the third pick in the 2012 Draft. Following Indianapolis and St. Louis. Right now, I like, in order of preference, USC tackle Matt Kalil, LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne and Oklahoma St. receiver Justin Blackmon. By draft time other players could filter into the conversation. With the Colts likely taking Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck at worst two of those three will be available for the Vikings. The Rams and Vikings picks could become very attractive to a team that's hot for Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. The Vikings has to grab a left tackle in this draft. Those usually come in the first couple of rounds.

Vikings fullback Ryan D'Imperio has really improved this season. He played linebacker at Rutgers and his development at a new position has been one of the few highlights this season.

Cincinnati and Denver made the playoffs despite losing their final games. Its always annoyed when people refer to this as backing into the playoffs as if it was by some stroke of luck. Teams make the playoffs based on their wins. It doesn't matter when they come as long as they do.

New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz is a heck of a football player. The Giants need a play and Cruz makes it. I'm more impressed each time I see him play.

The Cowboys looked like they going to crawl back to Dallas without a fight. Instead they made it a game and then let it get away again.

I like the way Dallas linebacker Sean Lee plays football. He's a good one that's going to get a lot better.

Yesterday was the most animated that I've seen Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier on the sideline. This was a very difficult season but I love the way he kept the team together. The record certainly doesn't show it but they never quit fighting. That's difficult to do when nothing seems to go right. Of the thirteen losses they had a chance to win in all but three. Two of those were to arguably the best teams in the league in Green Bay and New Orleans. The other was to Chicago before they lost quarterback Jay Cutler. Frazier and his team will be better next year.

Congratulations to all 12 teams that are still playing.