FanHouse CharlesGordon

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

In an NFC that is heading into the offseason without a clear favorite, the Minnesota Vikings have almost all the pieces to be the presumptive favorite. They have an outstanding defensive line, an improved secondary and the best running back in the business. They also have a very good offensive line and thanks to Bernard Berrian, the receiver corps no longer is a joke.

In the first half of today's 28-27 win over the Packers, the Vikings lost punt returner Charles Gordon to a nasty leg injury. Gordon fielded a Derrick Frost punt and was immediately snowed by Desmond Bishop of the Packers. His ankle got rolled up under Bishop and, well, the lower part of the leg isn't supposed to turn quite as far as Gordon's did.

Here's a video, courtesy of Pro Football Talk. A warning, if you're not the sort of person who thought "When Harry Met Sally" was a bit too violent, don't watch it.

Gordon broke his leg and will miss the rest of the season.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 7 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Steven Jackson, RB St. Louis (25 carries, 160 yards, 3 TDs) -- The problems in Dallas are apparent, and they deal a lot more with a porous defense than with a questionable trade deal and an injured starting quarterback. Jackson is basically the St. Louis offense, accounting for more than half of the Rams' offense in his breakout performance of 2008. His day was highlighted by a 56-yard dash through diving Dallas defenders and was the crème brûlée on an already exquisite feast. Left for dead two weeks ago, the Rams have reeled off two straight against tough NFC East opponents and are in the only division they might have a shot at winning, thanks in large part to Jackson's incredible performance.

What a crazy game.

You've got an old-school NFC North -- formerly NFC Central -- battle. The black and blue division. Two foes who like to use the "run and defense/smash mouth" method to win football games.

Or not.

Let's try 558 yards passing as opposed to 208 yards rushing. Or think about the 72 passing attempts compared to 54 rushes.

People who bet the "under" in this game could see the writing on the wall before the first quarter was over.

Let's try to sort out this mess of a game, which was by far the most fun game I've seen this season. Obviously my being a Bears fan helped, but there were so many wacky occurrences. Like ...

- The Vikings lost the turnover battle five to one, yet still only lost by a touchdown.

- Gus Frerotte threw four interceptions to a Bears secondary that has been decimated with injuries -- Nathan Vasher, Charles Tillman, and Danieal Manning all missed the game.

- It was Gus Frerotte and Kyle Orton at QB. Glance back up above at those passing vs. rushing numbers.

The Vikings run game might be the league's best, and quarterback Tarvaris Jackson may have all of a sudden figured out how to throw an accurate pass, but maybe one of the best signs of the future success for the Vikings is the team's pass defense's improvement.

Even with Antoine Winfield, the team's best cornerback, sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Vikings secondary has shown steady improvement in recent weeks. They're still giving up plenty of yards (over 250 in each of the past two weeks), but very few points. And they've been doing it with a pair of second-year corners and a rookie.

Second-year starter Cedric Griffin has been consistent, while second-year undrafted free agent Charles Gordon and rookie Marcus McCauley have shown steady improvement this season.

"I feel really pleased that the guys really stepped up their games and really concentrated and responded to the things we were trying to get across," defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said. "Now, we just need to keep it going and make sure that we don't have a letdown."