Winning Extremely Ugly

I spent Sunday afternoon at Bar None, the Vikings/Saints hangout in Manhattan, checking out the Vikings-Lions game. It was the first time I had been back in a few weeks. Despite the fact the Vikes were 16 1/2 point favorites, bum teams like the Detroit Lions always scare me.There's an old saying about there is no one freer than someone with nothing to lose. Well, the Lions were in that position Sunday, and for three quarters they were hanging around the Vikings when they shouldn't have been. And the Vikings only had themselves to blame for it.The final score was 27-10, but Minny should have won by five touchdowns. It really wasn't a close game by the stats. The Vikes had over 500 total yards of offense, against one of the NFL's worst defenses.The Vikings made way too many penalties (13). One cost them a TD on their opening drive in the first, when Jim Kleinsasser was called for jumping offsides. The Vikes had to settle for a field goal.Detroit could do little on offe...