And the envelope please...

The PKA award for worse NFL game in the history of the NFL goes to....

Minnesota at Chicago - Dec. 3rd, 2006

Bears win and Vikings fans can say "contrats your team was only slightly less horrible than our team." But that is the bitterness of spoiled Kool Aid talking.

Brad Johnson, had the worst game of his career and his QB rating was 10 times better than his opponent's who finished with an outstanding rating of 1.3. Jim Souhan said it best when he said that Johnson could have switched sidelines and both teams would instantly have been better.

When is the Viking's defense going to stage a mutiny. The offense / special teams have given up 6 TDs in 13 games. If you figure that several turnovers by this offense have put the D in situations that led to TDs they are probably responsible for giving up as many points as the defense.

The hapless, bungling, maladroit, mistake-making and gut wrenching offense is directly responsible for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory 4 times (Chi-1, SF, Mia, Chi-2). I boldly proclaim that if we had even a mediocre offense (read mediocre QB/WR) this team is sitting at 9-3 with a game lead over the 8-4 Bears.

I know that the NFL season has games you win ugly, games you lose that you coulda/shoulda won, games you should have lost, yada, yada, yada. Seriously, look at those games...

• Chicago(H) - We fumble when all we had to do was not and it is either a lock to win or Bears have to go 80+ after we punt.
• SanFran - Niners had been giving up 30+ ppg up to that point and we manage 3.
• Miami - Offense give Miami 2 TDs off turnovers. Defense is not at fault here.
• Chicago(A) - Defense gets you 5 turnovers and puts you in good field position. You keep things even keel and give it back to them 4 times.

OK, I'll be generous to the opponents and say looking at it from the other team's perspective I'll chalk the Carolina and the Chicago-2 game as losses. 7-5 and down 2 games to the 9-3 Bears. These scenarios don't even count GB and home and a winnable game at Buffalo.

But the season is what it is. We are 5-7 and unfortunately still in the playoff hunt. I am a firm believer that the worst records to have in the NFL are anything between 7-9 and 10-6. Even if you make the playoffs at 9-7 (or 10-6) you aren't going anywhere and if you miss it at 7-9 or 8-8 you just put yourself closer to drafting 25th than 10th.

At this point I am cheering for either 4-0 or 0-4. I know that 4-0 puts you at 9-7, but that is likely playoffs and better than 8-8 or 7-9 and not in the playoffs. 0-4 is a top 10 draft pick. An impact draft pick on a team that isn't too far away from 10+ wins looks awefully nice.