Proving once again that anything can happen in an NFL stretch run, four teams that seemed safe to make the playoffs are scrambling for their postseason lives today.
The reclamation of Tarvaris Jackson continued Sunday at the Metrodome with the resilient quarterback using his finest performance of a trying season to lead the Vikings into the NFL playoffs.
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf sprinted onto the field in jubilation after Ryan Longwell's game-winning field goal, and other staffers hugged and celebrated the team's first division championship since 2000.
Ryan Longwell booted his 20th career game-winning field goal to lift the Vikings to a 20-19 victory over the Giants, and the Eagles needed three more things: a win over Dallas, a Bears loss in Houston, and a chartered plane to the frozen tundra of Minneso
Brian Dawkins dropped to the turf, after his second strip of a Dallas Cowboy in two drives resulted in a second successive fumble return for an Eagles touchdown, and a third-quarter lead big enough to stretch from South Philly to Minnesota.