A lot of people will be tuning in to tonight’s game hoping to see some sideline drama between Chilly and Brett, but I hope they’re not holding their breaths.  Coach and quarterback will both be extra-careful now in making sure any issues that crop up between them are worked out discreetly away from the cameras.

Now that the whole controversy has faded in significance, Viking fans can go back to concentrating on the stuff that matters, like worrying about Adrian Peterson, worrying about the defense and worrying about momentum going into the playoffs.

We would be worrying a lot less about those things had the Vikings not stunk up the whole city of Charlotte the last time they took the field.

The fallout from the Panthers game is still falling, and will continue falling until the Vikings prove their offense hasn’t gone off the rails.  And the issues with said offense run much deeper than just a disagreement between coach and QB over audibles.  The benching of Bryant McKinnie was, finally, a much more revealing incident than the non-benching of Favre, because it pointed up the single factor that the passing and rushing issues have in common:  less-than-stellar offensive line play.

The Vikings were supposed to sport one of the league’s better lines going in, but as the season has progressed, it’s become more apparent that this aspect of the team was wildly overrated.  The pass blocking, solid for a good chunk of the season, has regressed, while the run blocking has remained consistently inconsistent.

As anyone who follows football knows, the star skill players don’t get to show their stuff if the big hogs on the line don’t get a push.  Defensive penetration has been the biggest factor working against Adrian Peterson flashing his All-World talents; it’s not that he can’t find the holes, it’s that the holes just aren’t there.

Brett Favre, meanwhile, has seen his time in the pocket diminish seemingly with each passing week.  Two weeks after getting harassed by the Cardinals, he was treated like a single, gray-haired bowling pin by Julius Peppers.  This week, the opponent is the Bears, a team that hopes to cure its defensive ills by swigging a big dose of feeble Vikings blocking.

The biggest thing working against the Vikings may be the conditions in Soldier Field.  It figures to be windy and cold, and the field, if the past is any indication, will probably not be in very good shape.  As we’ve found out two of the last three weeks, the Vikings’ O-line doesn’t show up very big in outdoor, on-grass situations to begin with, and now they will have to contend with nasty December-in-Chicago weather besides.

There was a time when such conditions would’ve been thought to favor a team quarterbacked by Brett Favre.  Unfortunately, Favre’s reputation as a cold weather quarterback took a permanent hit during the Packers‘ NFC title game loss to the Giants, outdoors at Lambeau with the temperature hovering just above the point where all molecular activity ceases.

A more telling example of what might be in store for Favre and the Vikings can be found by looking at a match-up from a few weeks before that NFC Championship Game fiasco vs. the Giants.  On December 23, 2007, Favre led the 12-2 Packers into Soldier Field to face the 6-8 Bears, on a day when the wind was blowing hard off frozen Lake Michigan.  A clearly uncomfortable Favre was picked off twice by the Bears, the second interception being returned 85 yards by Brian Urlacher for a touchdown.  The final score was Bears 35, Packers 7.

The circumstances going into tonight’s game are somewhat similar.  The Vikings are playoff-bound at 11-3, while the Bears are well out of the race, and have little to play for.  Weather conditions will be far from ideal.  The biggest difference?  The Bears’ defense is less fearsome than the one they sported in 2007, a fact that became brutally apparent in the first Vikings-Bears match-up of 2009, which ended in a 36-10 Minnesota rout, with #4 throwing for 392 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The Vikings are not looking for a 392-yard, 3 TD performance from Brett Favre tonight.  They’d settle for one of those efficient-but-unspectacular performances they saw from Brett early in the season when he still wasn’t entirely comfortable in the offense.

What the Vikings would really love is an Adrian Peterson performance approaching the 224-yard, 3-touchdown one he posted against the Bears the first time he ever played them, back on October 14, 2007.  That would be quite a bounce-back after AD’s frustrating 35-yard effort vs. Carolina.

Not to beat a dead horse, but, if Adrian is going to do that, the offensive line is going to have to play much better than it has the last few times it’s been asked to function away from the warm, turf-carpeted confines of Mall of America Field.

And the Vikings’ defense also has a lot to prove tonight, after falling apart late vs. the Panthers.  They had little trouble containing the Bears’ offense in the first game, when they picked off Jay Cutler twice, and held the Bears to just 43 rushing yards, but that game was indoors where the defensive line seems more able to use its quickness, the linebackers pursue more rapidly and the secondary seems more decisive.

The best thing the Vikings might have going for them tonight is the opponent.  The Bears have seen a bad season degenerate into a miserable one.  Jay Cutler still hasn’t gotten the hang of the offense, and now he doesn’t even have Devin Hester to throw to.  The last time the Bears took the field, the defense was lit up by Joe Flacco for 4 touchdowns.

Of course, we thought last week that we were facing a sub-par team, one that might be ready to pack it in emotionally.  And all they did was thump us.  The difference, of course, is that the Bears have no one comparable to Julius Peppers or Steve Smith.  Jay Cutler would seem several steps above Matt Moore on the quarterback pecking order, but as we saw last week, confidence matters as much as talent.  And Cutler right now seems sorely lacking in the confidence department.

I personally am taking nothing for granted.  Yes the Bears are awful, but they are still a professional football team.  And it’s not like the Vikings are at the top of their game right now.  I expect the Vikings to win, even if they have to win ugly, but if the last three weeks have taught me anything, it’s that anything can happen, especially bad things that make me want to pull my hair out.

As things turned out, there would be little suspense in either game.  The Panthers jumped all over the Giants early, behind noted Viking-killer Matt Moore, and ended up stunning New York 41-9 in their final game at Giants’ Stadium.  The Packers, meanwhile, had little trouble with Seattle, going up 24-3 at the half on their way to a 48-10 dismantling of the Seahawks.

Clearly, there was no hangover for the Packers after that disappointing last-second loss to Pittsburgh last week.

Five of the six NFC playoff spots have now been handed out, pending the outcome of this afternoon’s Cowboys-Redskins game.  Should Dallas win they would clinch, and eliminate the Giants.  Should that happen, the Giants would have nothing to play for a week from today at the Metrodome in the season finale, possibly making life easier for the Vikings should they need that game to sew up the 2 seed (or even, dare I say, the 1 seed?).

Of course, the more immediate concern for the Vikes is that they take care of business tomorrow night at Soldier Field.  If they lose to the Bears, no one will be thinking about seedings, and everyone will be thinking that the Vikings are set up for an early playoff exit no matter where they play.

1.  The Brad Childress/Brett Favre schism talk is good fun, but in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it matters much.  Chilly and Favre certainly aren’t the first coach/quarterback combo to have disagreements.  They’re not the first coach/QB tandem to get into it on the sidelines during a game.  And Favre is not the first quarterback who talked himself out of being pulled from a game.  You can say, “But what about the other times this season when Chilly reportedly tried to pull Favre and Favre wouldn’t go?”  I guess Favre is just good at talking himself back into games.  It only became an issue this time because people noticed the body language between Brett and Brad.  Newsflash:  Chilly and Favre are both stubborn mofos.  You thought they’d get through the season entirely harmoniously?  Nope.

2.  Favre became the headline because of the apparent Chilly dust-up, but Favre actually played halfway decent under the circumstances.  Other guys deserve way more hammering, starting with Bryant McKinnie, who should retire from football and go to work as Julius Peppers‘ bitch full-time.  And no, you will not convince me that Chilly just suddenly decided to yank McKinnie because he was having a bad game.  It’s been building for awhile.  McKinnie just flat-out can’t get the job done.  His pass blocking almost got Favre killed last night, and his run blocking all season has been sub-par, as evidenced by the Vikings’ reluctance to just line up and run left behind him and Hutch the way everyone thinks they should.  McKinnie, I am now convinced, is the weak link on this offense and I am calling for his permanent benching.  Shift Phil Loadholt over to left tackle now and put in Artis Hicks at right tackle.  And yes, I know, moving guys around the line is supposed to be bad.  Tell that to the Carolina Panthers who rolled with replacements at both offensive tackle positions and still got their running back 100 yards and still kept our alleged great pass rushers off their quarterback.  If they can do that, Loadholt should be able to switch to left tackle.  He can’t be worse than Mount Muttonhead, and who knows, maybe he’ll develop some amazing instant chemistry with Hutch and finally give us a chance to run the ball like our reputation says we should.

3.  Everyone needs to lay off Adrian Peterson.  He is not having a bad season.  He is having a great season considering that his offensive line is made up of Mount McMannequin, the possibly over-the-hill Steve Hutchinson, a center who is a disgrace to the good names of Kirk Lowdermilk, Jeff Christy and Matt Birk, Anthony Herrera aka A Guy, and Loadholt who is getting better but still isn’t there yet (a shift to the left could invigorate him and Hutch).  Behind a real line, AD would be knocking on the door of 2,000 yards, and would have about 25 touchdowns.  This team would be up poop crick without a paddle were it not for Peterson.  And yes, I know, he has stone-hands on screen passes.  Well, that’s what we have Chester Taylor for.

4.  We sucked on third down all night, and guess why?  Because someone decided that Percy Harvin should be excluded from the offense.  Three targets and one catch?  Who is he, Greg Lewis?  Okay, you’re right, it’s hard to get the ball to the guy you want when your line can’t pass protect.  That’s why end-arounds were invented.

5.  Ray Edwards isn’t worth the powder to blow him to hell, but he’s still worth four Tyrell Johnsons.  Enough Tyrell…forever.  And what the hell happened to our tackling in general?  When did Ben Leber, Chad Greenway and Antoine Winfield decide to start bouncing off guys?  I remember when this team was one of the best tackling teams in the league.  It wasn’t that long ago.  Now?  It’s like watching oiled-up spastics trying to tackle crazed barnyard animals.  The fourth quarter last night was a disgrace to the very concept of defense.

6.  Know what I wish?  I wish we could take Steve Smith, connect him to a machine and transfer his heart and guts into our players’ bodies.  He has enough in him for every guy on our team with the possible exception of Mount McMoron whose heart is a cavernous void that can never be filled.  We need to make a trade for him in the offseason somehow.  What do the Panthers need?  Would they take Sage Rosenfels, Ben Leber and some draft picks?

7.  Matt Moore kicked our ass.  Just think about that for a second kids.  Matt Moore…kicked our ass.  Our team that is supposed to be at least the second best team in the NFC.  That is supposed to have a shot at the Super Bowl.  Got its ass kicked.  By Matt Moore.

8.  Was this game actually more frustrating than the Cardinals game?  I would say yes.  The Cardinals are a legit team, not a turdball like Carolina, plus, with the Cardinals, that sucker was over by halftime, whereas last night the Vikings still had chances to take control until well into the contest.  Unfortunately, every time we had a chance to grab the sucker, it slipped away.  Missed Ryan Longwell field goal.  Sidney Rice fumble.  Visanthe Shiancoe drop on what would’ve been a first down.  We had good field position all throughout the first half and into the third quarter, and did almost nothing with it.  Hell, the Panthers made so many damn mistakes, with penalties and what-not, the game was practically served up to us.  And we just flat-out did not cash in.  No excuse for it.  The chances were there and we didn’t make it happen.  We deserved to lose.

9.  Yo Jasper Brinkley…it’s called staying hydrated.  Look into it.

10.  Darius Reynaud is a nice return man.