Could Williams Suspensions Save Packers Season?

The Vikings haven't made the playoffs since 2004 when they beat the Packers at Lambeau Field. I remember that game vividly, as I was there thanks once again to my good buddy Double C (if there is one thing I am purposely trying to do like Bill Simmons, it's randomly inserting the nicknames of my friends in my posts). If it wasn't for a two-hour 24 season premier later that night, it might have been one of the worst days of my life.

But if you would have told me then that the Vikings wouldn't make the playoffs for the next three years, that may have eased my pain a little bit. And if you would have added that the Vikings would be in a position to win the NFC North in 2008 before they lost two of their best players, well that would have been nice too.

The interior lineman duo of Pat Williams and Kevin Williams that have helped the Vikings become so good at stopping the run have both been suspended four games for violating the league's anti-doping policy. As in, the four games that are remaining in the regular season. The four games the Vikings are trying to win as they hold a one game lead over the Bears and a two game lead over the Pack.

In the next four weeks, the Vikings are going to face Brandon Jacobs, Michael Turner, Tim Hightower, and whoever the Lions throw at them without the Williams boys. As someone who hates the Vikings with all my heart, I have no problem with this latest development.

Will this be enough to derail the Vikings playoff hopes? ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert doesn't seem to think so. Then again, Seifert used to cover the Vikings for ten years and lives in the Twin Cities area (he says that doesn't make him bias, but it does, it always does). It might not be enough for the Packers to catch them - they still have to likely win out and then pray - but this is a blessing for the Bears, who are just one game back.

Like I told my brother the other night, I could handle a Bears Super Bowl victory in my life, that wouldn't be the worst thing. But if the Vikings ever won the Super Bowl? That'd be worse than the Cubs winning the World Series.

But yeah, I don't mind this suspension news one bit.