The Vikings Sunday clinched the first round playoff bye that everyone assumed was theirs weeks ago, crushing the Giants 44-7 at the Metrodome to finish the season 12-4. Weak as the team looked three of the last four weeks, they were once again their early-season dominant self, ensuring they won't have to take Brett Favre on the road in the cold.
The best part? The team got some vengeance on the Giants, who famously beat them 41-0 in the NFC title game ten years ago this month. The score at the one point in the third quarter was even 41-0; my theory for when they brought in Tarvaris Jackson was that they wanted the score to stay that way.
But the Giants weren't the worst-looking NFC East team Sunday- that was the Eagles, who blew a chance at the division title and a first-round bye in losing to the Cowboys 24-0. Their reward for the loss- they get to play the same team in the same stadium in the first round of the playoffs.
Sure, it looked bad for Philly, and following their six-game winning streak, the Anti-Eagles Radio Movement will have some matrial to work with. But keep two things in mind- the Eagles almost never lose in the first round of the playoffs, while the Cowboys almost never win. And the Vikings looked just as bad the last two weeks as the Eagles did today.