With and Without him

Wins are wins, but "Great Wins" come in two categories:

1) The game is close throughout. The teams trade the lead several times. Spectacular plays are needed, whether they're an awesome third down catch or interception/kick-off return for a touchdown. A great example would be if the Vikes had won last week at Pittsburgh.

2) Your team completely, entirely, and utterly dominates the opponent in every facet of the game without remorse. The losing team is left questioning whether they were ever meant to play football. The losing fans do not remember the game, be it from the untold crushing of their competitive spirit or the untold amount of alcohol they consume. A good example would be last week's Atlanta-Chicago game, where Atlanta made Jay Cutler look even more petulant. Yeah, I didn't know it was possible either.

I could easily go on, but suffice to say that today was not a "Great Win." The Packers never had the lead after the first quarter, and the Purple seemed on their way to an elusive Great Win over the cheeseheads. Brian Robison had other thoughts. After the Packers decided to squib every kickoff (thanks Percy, you're the best), the backup defensive end enjoyed carrying the ball so much he did not go down immediately upon fielding it. Needless to say, DEs aren't given the ball for a reason. Brian fumbled, and the Packers scored off the turnover.

After that moment, the Vikings D could not generate the pressure they had, and Aaron Rodgers knew what to do with the extra time. So disappointing after such dominance in the first half (forgive me for being without a number, but it was less than 100). I don't know what else they can do. Different calls, higher effort, whatever. The second half defense has seen a let-down in every game against a competent opponent except for Pittsburgh last week.

It's got to stop, because the offense isn't goint to remain this hot. Last week (yet again) the offense was unable to get it done. This week the defense did not. Maybe one of these weeks, they'll both show up for sixty minutes. Then again, maybe neither of them will.