Hard to recall a more anticlimactic NFL victory than the 38-10 romp the Minnesota Vikings inflicted on the Chicago Bears Sunday. It meant the season had mercifully come to an end in this season of tumultuous emotional swings.

The Vikings started 5-0 without Teddy Bridgewater or Adrian Peterson, then they went 2-8 before beating the Bears. The play of Sam Bradford remained a bright spot, as he ended up setting an NFL record with 71.1 percent completions for the season. Granted, the game plan called for short passes becoming the new trend in handing the ball off, so probably 85 percent of Bradford’s completions were for 5 yards or less.

The Green Bay Packers had to survive an exciting and emotional battle at Detroit to beat the Lions 31-24, but the best thing is that the New York Giants beat Washington 19-10 so both the Packers and Lions get to go to the playoffs. It would have been a crime if the Lions could have led the division almost all season, then had the playoffs snatched away from them in the final game.

The Packers are at home against the New York Giants on Sunday, while the Lions go to Seattle to face the amazingly inconsistent Seawolves Saturday night. The Packers-Giants winner then goes to Atlanta, while the Detroit-Seattle winner must go to Dallas.

In the AFC, Oakland plays at Houston, with that winner heading for New England; Miami is at Pittsburgh, with that winner going to Kansas City.

It’s a long way down the road, but wouldn’t Kansas City vs. Atlanta make a compelling Super Bowl?

Bowling ‘Em Over

There were some good bowl games and some horrible bowl games, but the best game of the entire season might have been the Rose Bowl, Monday afternoon, when Southern Cal outlasted Penn State 52-49 in an incredible game with momentum shifts virtually every possession.

Southern Cal quarterback Sam Darnold was 33-53 for 453 yards and five touchdowns and a 161.4 quarterback rating, while Penn State’s Trace McSorley was 18-29 for 254 yards and four touchdowns, but three interceptions by the ball-hawking Trojan defenders, for a quarterback rating of 160.5.

McSorley didn’t have to produce as much because Penn State’s Saquon Barkley carried the ball 25 times and gained 194 yards, scoring two touchdowns and catching a pass for a third, in one of the most dazzling high-pressure performances of this or any season. In fact, his 79-yard touchdown run inspired the great second-half surge by the Nittany Lions. In pass-receiving, Chris Godwin of Penn State caught nine passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns, while Deontay Burnett of Southern Cal had 13 catches for 164 yards and three TDs.

Penn State looked about to be run off the LA Coliseum turf in the first half, when USC scored 27 points, but two late first-half TDs by Penn State cut the deficit to 27-21. Penn State then outscored the Trojans 28-8 in the third quarter to take command at 49-35. But Southern California squelched the Nittany Lions 17-0 in the fourth quarter, with Darnold’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Burnett tying the game 49-all with 1:20 remaining. Southern Cal intercepted a pass with 38 seconds left, and Matt Boermeester split the uprights with a 46-yard field goal as the final seconds elapsed for the 52-49 triumph.

There were other stirring bowl performances, but when all of them were over, the Southeast Conference stood tall. Alabama blasted Washington 24-7, spotting the Huskies the first touchdown, and nothing more. As in, really nothing. That sent Alabama on to face Clemson for the NCAA title on January 9, after Clemson humiliated Ohio State 31-0. As for the Big Ten’s “Big Three,” Michigan also lost, but only when a stirring comeback fell short in a 33-32 Orange Bowl battle with Florida State.

The Minnesota victory over Washington State stood tall for the Big Ten, and Wisconsin overcame previously undefeated Western Michigna 24-16 in the Cotton Bowl. Those two, plus Northwestern’s scintillating 31-24 victory over Pittsburgh were the only three victories for Big Ten teams, while seven others – Maryland, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa and Penn State – all went down. That 3-7 record relegates the Big Ten back to the back burner of major conference powers.

The SEC was 6-6, while the Pac-12 went 2-3

The National Championship game will get no more criticism from me. Alabama proved its merit with a defense that any NFL team could be proud of. I’m not sure the Crimson Tide offense is so impressive, but that’s as good a defense as you will find in college play. Clemson, meanwhile, astounded all the experts by shutting out Ohio State.

I’m also unconvinced that Clemson’s offense is anything special, but the Tigers defense hog-tied Ohio State, outrushing the Buckeyes 205-88, and outpassing them 265-127. Ohio State succeeded on only 3 of 14 third-down plays, while Clemson was 8-17.

After watching so much football, in both the bowl games and the NFL playoffs, I’m exhausted, frankly. But it was nothing short of exhilarating, after all those other games over the last week, to watch Penn State trade big-time offensive thrusts with a red-hot Southern Cal outfit. It was a shame somebody had to lose that one.