Vikings 20, Lions 16: The Only Important Part of the Phrase "Winning Ugly" is the "Winning" Part

It wasn't pretty.  Hell, for the first half, it wasn't even remotely fun to watch.  But when the smoke cleared (or the dust settled or the fat lady sang or whatever metaphor you want to go with), the number on Minnesota's side of the scoreboard was bigger than the number on Detroit's side of the scoreboard.

And, since they don't give style points in the National Football League, that's really the only thing that matters.  Fans of other teams will talk. . .believe me, it's coming. . .about how the Vikings "only" beat the Lions by four points and all sorts of other crap.

Let them.

Green Bay is no longer relevant to the NFC North race, the playoff picture, or anything in the 2008 NFL season outside of where they'll be selecting in the 2009 NFL Draft.  Honestly, they've got nothing to say, and nobody that should be interested in hearing them say it.  So the Packers beat the Lions by 23 points.  They're also 5-8 and scheduling tee times at a golf course near you.

The Bears remain one game behind us.  Again, behind us.  It's officially a two-team race in the NFC North, and as of now, we still control our own destiny.  The Bears have a short week coming up and have to face a Saints team that's on a roll (and that we've already beaten).

But we can't worry too much about them. . .our boys have a matchup with the (soon to be) NFC West champion Arizona Cardinals to focus on, and what's sure to be another eventful off the field week in Minneapolis.

Yes, we won ugly. . .but the only thing that matters is that we won.  If opposing fans want to get into style points, they can go ahead.  They can just continue doing it from the position they're currently in.

Which, in case any of them have forgotten, is behind us.

The roll call for the open thread will be after the jump.