Vikings Win. . .In A Manner Of Speaking

Pyrrhic victory (PIR-ik VIK-tuh-ree) n. A victory that is offset by staggering losses

The term "phyrric victory" is named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who did battle with the Romans in the Battle of Heraclea in 280 B.C. and the Battle of Asculum in 279 B.C. In both battles, the Romans suffered greater casualties than Pyrrhus' army did. . .however, the Romans had a significantly larger base from which to draw troops. So, in essence, Pyrrhus' victories came at too high a price, as he even went so far as to say that another such victory would be his undoing.

That's pretty much what we saw today at FedEx Field in Washington, D.C., as the Minnesota Vikings fought like hell when it would have been easy to roll over, and got themselves a 33-26 victory over the Washington Redskins. The victory guarantees that they will a) not be the single-worst team in Minnesota Vikings' history in terms of win-loss record, and b) no longer eligible for the top overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

As far as I'm concerned, if people want to lament the loss of draft position and all that other good stuff, that's fine, they can do that, but I'm not feeling that at all, personally. When it comes to my sports teams and what not, I can tolerate losing. . .I can not tolerate quitting. And say what you will about this team, for the most part, they have fought their asses off all season long. These guys are professionals, ladies and gentlemen. They don't have any desire to "Suck for Luck" or "Fall Flat for Matt" or what have you. A lot of these guys aren't going to be in Minnesota next year, so who the Vikings draft isn't going to affect them anyway. I, personally, like Vikings' wins way more than Vikings' losses. Just the way I'm wired, I guess.

So all the discussion we've had for the past week about potentially selecting Andrew Luck and all that other good stuff? Yeah, it's all meaningless now. . .sorry about that.

But we're ignoring the elephant in the room right now. We'll find it after the jump.

As of right now, the Minnesota Vikings are saying that Adrian Peterson's knee is "sprained." If Adrian Peterson's knee turns out to be "sprained," I will be more shocked than the average Maury Povich guest after hearing the words "You are not the father." There are sources that are saying that they think that Peterson tore his ACL. Quite frankly, at this point, I hope it's just his ACL and that he didn't hit the same ligament trifecta that Daunte Culpepper hit back in Carolina in 2005.

(Still working on confirmation of the rumor that, after Peterson was placed on the cart, Jabari Greer tried to grab at his leg, while a group of wandering Saints' fans shouted, "Come on, man, it's football. These things happen." If that story develops any further, we'll let you know.)

(No, that didn't really happen, but really. . .would it shock you if it had?)

Adrian Peterson's 2011 is done, ladies and gentlemen. His 2012 could very well be done. This is a potential franchise-changing injury for the Minnesota Vikings. Sure, the Vikings have a guy in Toby Gerhart that looks like he could potentially be put into a featured role, and he's done an outstanding job this season after getting off to a slow start as a rookie. . .but he's not Adrian Peterson. We'll have a lot more to talk about on this subject going forward as well. Apparently Peterson has an MRI scheduled for this evening, and as soon as we know anything, we'll try to get it up here.

On the play after Peterson was taken off of the field, Christian Ponder took a helmet-to-helmet hit that would have drawn a 15-yard penalty had said hit been absorbed by Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, or Tom Brady, but because it was "just" Christian Ponder, who gives a damn, am I right? Ponder was on the field for one more play, and then went back to the locker room to get checked for a concussion. Earlier in the game, he took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Redskins safety Reed Doughty that was flagged, likely because it was so damn obvious that anybody would have thrown a flag on it. I'll be surprised if he plays next week against Chicago, quite frankly.

That will mean another start for Joe Webb, who looked pretty good out there this afternoon (as good as a guy that only threw five passes can look, I guess), and more fuel for the fire of the potential quarterback controversy that will, no doubt, be the biggest topic of the off-season for Vikings fans everywhere.

Also, we can't fail to mention the fact that Mistral Raymond, the Vikings' sixth-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft out of South Florida, did something that no Vikings' player had done in five hundred ninety-two minutes and thirty seconds of game time. . .he intercepted a pass. Sure, Rex Grossman missed Santana Moss by about five yards and hit Raymond right between the 4 and the 1 on his jersey. . .that doesn't always mean an interception. (Look no further than Jamarca Sanford on the first pass of the ball game, if you don't believe me.) The Vikings had gone nine games, three quarters, seven minutes and thirty seconds without an interception, a stretch of 298 pass attempts, before Raymond got the first interception of his NFL career. Congratulations to him on that.

So, the Vikings got a victory for us on Christmas Eve. Some people are going to be happy with this, some people won't be happy with this. Me, overall. . .I'm happy. But, I will close with a quote that I've used a few times over the course of this site's history.

"Sometimes when you win, you really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win, and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic mechanism, from which one extracts what one needs."
-Gloria Clemente (Rosie Perez), White Men Can't Jump