NFC North

Mark your calendars

The NFL announced the regular season schedule for the entire league today. Taking a look at some of what they did:

- The schedule for the Vikings works well with the baseball postseason. The Vikings have a bye on October 9, a road game at Chicago on October 16, a home game against Green Bay on October 23, and a road game at Carolina on October 30. The Green Bay game coincides with Game 2 of the World Series, and could be switched with the game at Green Bay on November 21. If that were to happen, it would leave the Vikings with five straight weekends without a home game, including a bye, from October 2-30, and Green Bay would have road games four straight weekends, November 13-December 4.
- The Packers finish with two straight at home, while the Bears and Lions are on the road the final two weeks. The Lions I can understand, since their home field is the site of the Super Bowl.
- The Packers get five national TV appearances, including one stretch with three straight.
- The Bears get two national TV appearances, back to back.
- The Lions get two national TV games, Thanksgiving Day against Atlanta, and a Sunday night game at Green Bay.
- The Vikings get two national TV games, a Monday night at Green Bay and a Sunday night game on Christmas Day at Baltimore.
- Randy Moss at the Metrodome? 2007.

Week	Sunday	Minnesota	Green Bay	Chicago	Detroit
1	9/11/05	Tampa Bay Sun 12:00	Detroit Sun 3:15	Washington Sun 12:00	Green Bay Sun 3:15
2	9/18/05	Cincinnati Sun 12:00	Cleveland Sun 3:15	Detroit Sun 12:00	Chicago Sun 12:00
3	9/25/05	New Orleans Sun 12:00	Tampa Bay Sun 12:00	Cincinnati Sun 12:00	BYE
4	10/2/05	Atlanta Sun 3:15	Carolina Mon 8:00	BYE	Tampa Bay Sun 12:00
5	10/9/05	BYE	New Orleans Sun 12:00	Cleveland Sun 12:00	Baltimore Sun 12:00
6	10/16/05	Chicago Sun 12:00	BYE	Minnesota Sun 12:00	Carolina Sun 12:00
7	10/23/05	Green Bay Sun 12:00	Minnesota Sun 12:00	Baltimore Sun 3:15	Cleveland Sun 12:00
8	10/30/05	Carolina Sun 12:00	Cincinnati Sun 12:00	Detroit Sun 12:00	</b>Chicago Sun 12:00</b>
9	11/6/05	Detroit Sun 12:00	Pittsburgh Sun 3:15	New Orleans Sun 12:00	Minnesota Sun 12:00
10	11/13/05	NY Giants Sun 12:00	Atlanta Sun 3:15	San Francisco Sun 12:00	Arizona Sun 12:00
11	11/20/05	Green Bay Mon 8:00	Minnesota Mon 8:00	Carolina Sun 12:00	Dallas Sun 12:00
12	11/27/05	Cleveland Sun 12:00	Philadelphia Sun 3:15	Tampa Bay Sun 12:00	Atlanta Thu 11:30
13	12/4/05	Detroit Sun 12:00	Chicago Sun 12:00	Green Bay Sun 12:00	Minnesota Sun 12:00
14	12/11/05	St. Louis Sun 12:00	Detroit Sun 7:30	Pittsburgh Sun 12:00	Green Bay Sun 7:30
15	12/18/05	Pittsburgh Sun 12:00	Baltimore Mon 8:00	Atlanta Sun 7:30	Cincinnati Sun 3:05
16	12/25/05	Baltimore Sun 7:30	Chicago Sun 4:00	Green Bay Sun 4:00	New Orleans Saturday 12:00
17	1/1/06	Chicago Sun 12:00	Seattle Sun 3:15	Minnesota Sun 12:00	Pittsburgh Sunday 12:00

New member here..Bears fan..hope to see a lot more people in this community as the season gets closer...

Anybody ready for the draft yet?

"They ought to do like Notre Dame and refuse the bid."

- Sports pundit Jim Rome, on the Vikings' 3-7 going into the playoffs

Today is what it comes down to. Who would have thought on October 24 that the Vikings would go into today without a playoff spot sewn up? Who would have thought that about Detroit or the Giants? Or that the Panthers would rise from the dead? Or that on Christmas Day, the possibility existed that the Vikings or Packers would end up playing at Arizona in the first round of the playoffs? ARIZONA?!? Or that the Vikings would face a test similar to the test they had December 28, 2003 against the Cardinals for their regular season finale? Or that San Diego would rise from the ashes to win a division championship, affter Eli Manning publicly stated before the draft that he would not play for the Chargers?

What a weird season this has turned out to be, and the regular season concludes today.

The only meaningful games are:

1:00 ET games:
Miami at Baltimore
Minnesota at Washington
New Orleans at Carolina
NY Jets at St. Louis
Pittsburgh at Buffalo

4:00 ET games:
Atlanta at Seattle
Indianapolis at Denver
Jacksonville at Oakland

Everyone's fate will be determined, starting in about an hour.

It's hard to believe that Reggie White has died, the victim of a heart attack. He was one of the best defensive lineman I can remember, and he will be missed

The reports I am hearing indicate Onterrio Smith is apparently out today due to the flu, and Antoine Winfield will be used primarily in nickel situations.

The Vikings were, IIRC, 3-1 during Smith's suspension earlier this season.

OK. For the Vikings and Packers, it becomes very simple. The winner on Friday is the division champion.

If the Vikings lose, the Vikings are in as a wild card if both Carolina and St. Louis lose, or if they beat Washington on January 2.

The Packers are in the playoffs. They have clinched based on head-to-head wins against both Carolina and St. Louis, with the three-way in play because the Panthers and Rams played each other this season, and a conference-record advantage over New Orleans.

In the meantime, the Ricky Williams story on 60 Minutes is turning out to be quite interesting.

Looking at some of the news surrounding the game between the Vikings and Lions, KFAN reported that Detroit QB Joey Harrington woke up with the flu this morning, and if he is ineffective on the first couple series, expect to see him pulled.

NFC North fans in the Twin Cities get a treat today. Channel 9 will have the Vikings and Lions at noon CST today. Meanwhile, Channel 4 will have Houston at Chicago at noon CST and Jacksonville at Green Bay at 3:15pm CST.

Around the league: Steve McNair of the Titans, last year's co-MVP, is out for the rest of the season with a bruised sternum; ithe has talked of retiring after this season.

The word is that Emmitt Smith took his swipes at Dennis Green in the Arizona media, and Green was none too happy about this. You have to wonder if Green is examining the resumes of the media there, looking for Minnesota connections.

The Vikings' home opponents for the 2005 regular season will be Green Bay, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and the same-place team from the NFC West. The Vikings will play on the road against Green Bay, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Carolina, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and the same-place team from the NFC East.

Assuming indefinite continuation of the current rotation, the next time each out-of-division team is due in Minnesota:

NFC EAST:
Dallas: 2010 (possible 2008, 2009)
NY Giants: 2010 (possible 2008, 2009)
Philadelphia: 2007
Washington: 2007

NFC SOUTH:
Atlanta: 2008 (possible 2006, 2007)
Carolina: 2008 (possible 2006, 2007)
New Orleans: 2005
Tampa Bay: 2005

NFC WEST:
Arizona: 2006
St. Louis: 2005
San Francisco: 2009
Seattle: 2009

AFC EAST:
Buffalo: 2010
Miami: 2010
New England: 2006
NY Jets: 2006

AFC NORTH:
Baltimore: 2009
Cincinnati: 2009
Cleveland: 2005
Pittsburgh: 2005

AFC SOUTH:
Houston: 2008
Indianapolis: 2008
Jacksonville: 2012
Tennessee: 2012

AFC WEST:
Denver: 2011
Kansas City: 2011
Oakland: 2007
San Diego: 2007

EDIT: Revised NFC West to reflect results of 2004 regular season.