Hoping to rebound from their devastating Sunday Night loss to the Cardinals, the Vikings went home and met the Cincinnati Bengals in a Week 14 duel. After a scoreless first quarter, Minnesota took first blood as kicker Ryan Longwell nailed a 41-yard field goal. They increased their lead later in the quarter with quarterback Brett Favre finding wide receiver Sidney Rice on a 9-yard TD pass. Cincinnati responded with quarterback Carson Palmer finding wide receiver Chad Ochocinco on a 15-yard TD pass, however the Vikings quickly scored two field goals by kicker Ryan Longwell (from 23 and 44 yards out) to put the Vikings up 16-7 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Vikings scored the period's only points as running back Adrian Peterson got a 1-yard TD run. In the fourth quarter, Cincinnati tried to rally with kicker Shayne Graham nailing a 22-yard field goal, but the Vikings put the game away with running back Adrian Peterson's 3-yard TD run. With the win, the Vikings not only improved to 11-2 on the season, they also secured a playoff berth for the second consecutive season and improved upon the record from the previous season (10-6). Their "magic number" decreased to one, meaning that either a Green Bay loss at Pittsburgh or a Vikings win against Carolina on Sunday night would make Minnesota repeat division champions for the first time since 1978, when they won six consecutive NFC Central titles. Also, if the Eagles lost against San Francisco, the Vikings would also clinch a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.

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