Boring? You call a 9-7 game boring?

If you didn't have a rooting interest in the outcome, it's easy to see how the 9-7 victory of my beloved Packers over the Vikings would seem to have been a boring game. I have a rooting interest, of course, but the game was fascinating for a lot of reasons.

• First, the progress of the rookie coaches. When the season began, there was considerable skepticism concerning the hiring of Mike McCarthy to be the new coach in Green Bay. Brad Childress, the Viking head coach, was supposed to have interviewed in Green Bay but the Vikings essentially made him a hostage until he signed with them. It's funny how things work out. On paper, it appeared that the Pack, with inferior talent and a publicly diffident icon at the helm of the team, looked like a tough place to be, especially given the expectations that Packer Backers now have. The Vikings were a 9-7 team last year and were showing signs of improvement under Mike Tice, the rambunctious New Yorker who was run out of town in favor of Childress. Now, the Vikes are 6-9, with the worst offense in the history of the franchise. Meanwhile, the young and modestly talented Packers are 7-8 and still have an outside chance of making the playoffs. I publicly questioned the hiring of McCarthy in this space. Looks like I was wrong and I am delighted to be wrong. Advantage, Mike McCarthy.
• Second, defensive struggles can be fascinating. Since I live in Minnesota, I see a lot of the Purple Helmeted Love Warriors and it has been a treat to watch their defense this year. The two behemoths in the middle of the defensive line, Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, are exceptionally talented players. In Antoine Winfield, they have one of the most fearless football players I have ever seen. Even their linebackers, who were viewed with great suspicion prior to the season, have performed beautifully most of the season. The reason the Packers only scored 9 points last night is that it was damned difficult to move the ball on the Viking defense.
• Third, there's a good open question regarding the other side of the ball. The Packers defense began the year looking absolutely horrible and have had some really bad games against teams like the Patriots and the Jets. But the defense played magnificently against the Vikes, holding them to only 104 total yards and an astonishing 3 first downs. You can make a good argument that the Packers defense has improved a heck of a lot over the course of the season. Aaron Kampman in particular has made himself into a star and it is clear that A. J. Hawk is going to be very good, maybe even Jack Ham good. But you'd also have to look at how terrible the Vikings offense is. Tarvaris Jackson looks like he has some talent, but he was on an incredibly short leash last night. The days when the Vikings would throw the bomb are long gone now. Their receiving corps has been dismal all season and showed almost nothing against the aggressive Packer defensive backs. Troy Williamson is clearly a bust and the Vikings seem to have no idea what to do with the rest of their wideouts. Marcus Robinson has been a very productive player at times in his career, but he was a spectator yesterday.

Conclusions? I'd say this. The Packers are coming along in their rebuilding. The Vikings didn't think they were rebuilding, but they are now. And it's going to be interesting if they can hold that defense together long enough for the offense to catch up. Some of the key players are getting pretty old. All told, I'd rather be a Packer fan than a Viking fan right now. Luckily, I am.