The first time in Vikings/Packers history that Green Bay has shut out Minnesota.

The worst regular season shutout loss in Vikings' history.

Four consecutive losses to our biggest rival.

Seven (yes, 7) total passing yards at halftime.

No completions to a wide receiver until the 2:30 mark of the third quarter.

No third down conversions all game.

No fourth down conversions all game.

And a potentially serious injury to the one glimmer of hope that this franchise currently has going in their favor.

Folks, I've been following this team for 24 years now.  Unless I miss my count, that makes today the 49th Vikings/Packers game I've witnessed since I started cheering for the Minnesota Vikings, counting the post-season.

Never in my entire time of being a fan have I seen such a weak, worthless, pathetic, lackadaisical performance in a Vikings/Packers game than I witness this afternoon.  A week after absolutely destroying the San Diego Chargers, the Vikings went out and appeared to treat it is though it was an inter-squad scrimmage. . .only without the intensity.  I don't know if it was because of the Troy Williamson incident this week or what the deal was exactly, but I can tell you one thing for sure.

Ladies and gentlemen, this team has quit.  Plain and simple.  I'm pretty sure I can count all the players wearing white on that field today that actually gave a damn on one hand. . .and there's a good chance I'd have a couple of spare fingers left over.  I'd like to direct one of those fingers right towards the Vikings' sideline, but this is a family show, so I'll refrain.  In fact, let me see if I can figure out which players out there actually looked like they gave a damn this afternoon.

-Adrian Peterson
-Chester Taylor
-E.J. Henderson
-Chris Kluwe

Yeah. . .that's pretty much the list right there.  As luck would have it, I DO have that one extra finger left over after all.  Unless I count Ryan Longwell. . .after all, the guy did only get on the field one time.

(At this point, I am truly laughing to keep from crying, ladies and gentlemen.

pauses

Okay, good to go.)

There have been Viking teams that don't have anywhere near the talent that this team has that have gone into Lambeau Field and not gotten throttled like this.  Back in 2001, Minnesota went to Green Bay with the immortal Spergon Wynn playing quarterback.  I knew we were going to lose. . .you probably knew we were going to lose. . .pretty much everybody knew we were going to lose.

But at least that team put forth an effort.  And, if you'll recall, they were within a score of the Packers until just after the two-minute warning, when Wynn threw an interception that was taken back for the clinching score.  For crying out loud, that turned out to be Denny Green's last game as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

Let me crystallize that for you. . .the '01 Vikings played harder in a pretty much hopeless situation for a coach that they knew was on his way out than the '07 Vikings played for Brad Childress on Sunday.

That's really, really sad.  The last time the Vikings and the Packers met, the Packers won by a touchdown, and the Vikings had the ball and were driving for the tying score at the end of the game.  Granted, the game might not have been as close as the final score indicated, but at least the Vikings had a chance to win.

Yes, the Packers are a better team than the Vikings.  Are they 34 points better?  Hell no, they're not 34 points better.  They weren't 34 points better than Minnesota in the first matchup, and there's no way that Lambeau Field is enough to make a 27-point difference in the outcome.  Absolutely no way.  This team has the talent to at least play with teams like Green Bay. . .that's been proven numerous times over the course of the year.  We hung with Philly, we hung with Dallas, we hung with Green Bay the first time, we hung with Kansas City, and we hung with Detroit.

On the other hand, right now we don't have the coaching to beat the Golden Gophers.  Shoot, we might not have the coaching to beat Minneapolis North High School.  As Pacifist Viking has already intimated, there's absolutely no way that Brad Childress can come back as the coach of the Minnesota Vikings next season.  Not after this.  Not after getting blown out by your biggest rival in what was, essentially, a make-or-break game for the rest of your season.  Childress has been the Vikings coach for two years.  In his four games against the Packers, he's 0-4.  In college, getting beaten by your rival. . .and, in particular, getting embarrassed by your rival. . .is grounds for termination in and of itself (see also:  Cooper, John).

Yesterday, when it came out that Troy Williamson was going to get his game check after all the hullabaloo that surrounded it during the week, I speculated whether or not the damage had already been done.  I thought I was talking about the damage as far as attracting perspective free agents and things of that nature.  It appears that what I SHOULD have been referring to was the psyche of this team, such as it is, and the fact that this team would curl up into the fetal position against their biggest rival. . .and, verily, look prepared to do so for the last seven games of the 2007 season.

What makes it even worse is that last week, this exact same team showed SO much promise against San Diego.  The run game was working, the defense was spectacular. . .even the passing game was working, as much as a Brad Childress-created passing offense can work, I suppose.  The Vikings totally manhandled a team that was thought to be (and probably is) their superior from a physical and mental standpoint.  To go from that to. . .well, whatever you want to call what we saw out there today. . .simply boggles the mind.

After the Chargers game, I had confidence that maybe this team could get on a run, because I thought there might be some "easier" opponents on the schedule. . .teams like Oakland and San Francisco and such.  After today, there's no reason at all that those teams shouldn't be penciling Minnesota in as an automatic W.  This team might not win another game all year, and teams like New York and Washington will probably destroy us.

Thankfully, it turns out that the injury Adrian Peterson suffered is a knee sprain.

Gee, really Brad?  You don't think so?  You didn't want to put the future of the franchise back into this debacle in the hopes that he might keep your sorry butt on the job for another year by pulling a few games out of the fire down the stretch?

The whole Childress era, to this point, has been a joke. . .and all the outstanding drafts and free agent pickups in the world aren't going to mean a damn thing if this guy is still our coach.  Brad Childress couldn't lead Louie Anderson to a buffet, let alone lead an NFL football team anywhere positive.  I don't want Adrian Peterson being wasted on this guy any longer.

I simply don't even know what else to say at this point.  Things need to turn around soon, and quite frankly I don't think the guy we have in charge now is capable of doing it.  At the end of this season, Brad Childress' contract needs to be terminated.  Let Spielman interview people and bring in a new coach, whether it's a Schottenheimer or a Cowher or a young, up-and-coming mind (and if anyone has suggestions, please add them to the comments thread so I can read up on them), get an honest-to-God NFL QB (since what we have right now clearly won't cut it), and get this team back where they belong. . .to the top of the NFC North.

What a wasted day, ladies and gentlemen.  If you have tomorrow off, like I do, check back. . .I'm sure I'll expound on this further.