For the fans of all but four teams it is a time to transition from the weekly battle with fanatic emotions that bring one to the brink of a heart attack, to the more reasoned look forward at free agency and the draft. Congratulations to the Cardinals, Eagles, Ravens, and Steelers for still having a shot at Super Bowl 43.

  I've yet to decide who to root for - will definitely watch the games because the NFL is the best sports event on TV.  Who would've thought 3-of-the-4 teams with bye weeks lost. For the second year in a row the NFC has a #6 seed marching through the post-season.

  The Cardinals played like crap in December then somehow turn it on in the play-offs and beat Atlanta at home and stomp Carolina on the road. Watching the Cardinals I was amazed at how much talent they have on their roster. Between Dennis Green and Ken Whisenhunt, the Cards have put together a nice roster and could be good for years to come. Since they've never been to a Super Bowl before, I'll likely pull for the Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh - Ken Whisenhunt against the team who passed on him as their head coach.

  John Harbaugh has done a great job as a rookie coach in Baltimore. Still, as a die-hard Viking fan I will pull for coach Mike Tomlin and Mewelde Moore, who used to be my favorite Viking the last 3 seasons. (Maurice Hicks was sure a disappointing replacement for Mewelde.)

A Last Look Back At Wildcard Weekend.

  Philadephia 26, Minnesota 14... My hats off to the Eagles who were the better team. It was a hard-fought game for 3.5 quarters. The Vikings looked fired up, especially on defense. The stadium was loud, the officiating was good - no Vikings penalties the entire first half.

  Minnesota has the talent at the top of the roster equal to and in some cases better than the Eagles. However, in roster positions 16-45 the Eagles were better. To repeat as NFC North Champs next year the Vikes will need to stock the back end of the roster with players good enough to compete for starting jobs. For example, the Eagles have two-time Pro Bowler Lito Sheppard as their fourth CB. We have Marcus McCauley/ Benny Sapp.

  Troy Aikman made the statement, "If Donovan McNabb were the QB for the Vikings and Tarvaris Jackson for the Eagles, the Vikings would be winning the game." Perfectly said and amazing how one position can so totally affect a team's fate. There continue to be a large number of TJack supporters and I just don't know how you can overlook a 45.4 QB rating in the biggest game of your life.

  Tarvaris is simply not an elite NFL QB prospect. Childress may have ruined him by the way he has used Jackson in his 3 years. Tarvaris looks okay when there is no pressure on him. He comes off the bench and wins at Detroit, then throws 4 TDs and gets NFC offensive player of the week after the Arizona game.

  Getting booed at home has caused him to feel pressure in the Metrodome. He tries not to make mistakes, looks indecisive, and looks inaccurate leading to more boo's. He claims it doesn't affect him but it has to. I think if he has a future as an NFL QB, he needs a change of scenery. I don't blame the fans - if I were at the game I'd boo his mediocre play as well.

  When the Eagles scored on the 71-yard screen play to Westbrook to take a 23-14 lead with 6:37 left to play, you could just sense the air go out of the stadium. No one felt Tarvaris could pull out a victory. He proceeded to complete 1 of 11 passes before Birk tossed a snap off his ankle. Some of those incompletions were ugly throws into the chests of defenders or to open space.

  I wonder if Childress considered putting Frerotte in at the 6:37 mark. Probably not, there has not been many signs of deep-thinking by our head coach.

  Kudos to Leslie Frazier for being a deep-thinker and excellent defensive coordinator. He has had to deal with a lot of injuries this year, the biggest being the loss of E.J. Henderson in week 4. Against Philly he lost Darren Sharper. The Viking defense has played well in all 17 games this season. The Offense and the Special Teams have been inconsistent and sometimes putrid but the Defense has been excellent.

  In my next post I will begin ranking the roster as I see it. #1 is easy - Adrian Peterson is the best Viking player. With 4 All Pros and 6 Pro-Bowlers, the top of the roster is loaded.

  As a sidenote, the Vikes draft at #22 and I would just love to see them get Hakeem Nicks, WR from North Carolina. Bernard Berrian is a good receiver - just not a #1 receiver. He is a #2 and plays similar to Jake Reed used to be a #2. Even when Randy Moss came here he was not the #1 receiver - Cris Carter was. A #1 gets open reliably and moves the chains.

  Hakeem Nicks is a #1 receiver. In the Meineke Car Care Bowl against West Virginia he had 217 yards receiving and 3 TDs. He made an around-the-back catch that was one of the best catches I've ever seen.