FanHouse PatWilliams

This is a good thing, this ruling that came down Saturday in the StarCaps case. You may not see it that way if you're a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, who now face the first four games of their season without their Pro Bowl defensive tackles. Or if your team is the New Orleans Saints, who've likely lost their starting defensive ends for those first four games.

But if you're the kind of person who thinks pro athletes (and, by extension, the children who admire them) should be discouraged from taking drugs to cheat at their games, you have to look at today's development as a positive.

As you may recall, five NFL players were slapped with respective four-game suspensions late last season -- though they never served them while their legal claims were being heard in court. Friday, a federal judge dismissed the claims of the players -- Kevin Williams and Pat Williams of the Vikings, Charles Grant and Will Smith of the Saints, and unsigned Deuce McAllister.

Those five players -- well, four if McAllister doesn't sign somewhere -- will be forced to sit out the first quarter of the season for their respective teams.

The Vikings should know by the time training camp begins whether they'll be missing two of the keys to the defense when the season begins. A U.S. District Court judge set a June 15 trial date for Pat and Kevin Williams lawsuit against the NFL.

The Williamses are suing because they were facing four-game suspensions for testing positive for a diuretic. The diurectic is banned by the NFL because it can be used to mask steroid use. But in this case, the players are claiming that they didn't know that the Starcaps they were taking contained the banned diruretic, and the supplements they were taking were used to try to make weight.

Stay on top of all the postseason action with FanHouse's NFL playoff coverage.

The Minnesota Vikings have just announced game-day inactives for their Wild Card game against Philadelphia.

After a week of hope over the health of defensive tackle Pat Williams, who has missed two games with a broken shoulder blade, the Vikings have announced Williams is inactive.

The big question heading into the 3:30 pm EST kickoff is whether Eagles coach Andy Reid will try to take advantage of this. Long known as a pass-happy play-caller, Reid does have the talent in the backfield to exploit the Vikings defensive front, which has missed Williams each of the last two games.

His absence may also hurt the effectiveness of the Vikings' other linemen, who aren't used to getting tons of attention from blockers on running plays.

It's also worth noting that starting end Ray Edwards is out, meaning Brian Robison starts opposite Jared Allen.

As we get ready for the Wildcard Weekend matchup of the Vikings and Eagles, Dan Zinksi from The Viking Age and Derek from Iggles Blog were nice enough to offer some insights on their teams for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.

Sportz Assassin: How do both of you feel about how your teams are playing heading into the playoffs?

Dan Zinksi (Viking Age): I would've been happier if the Vikes hadn't needed a 10-point comeback against the Giants' second-stringers to win their last game. I think they're shaky. I think Tarvaris Jackson's performance was a bit of a mirage, since a lot of it came against some bad pass defenses. I get nervous every time Adrian Peterson touches the ball now, because he keeps fumbling. I don't think they're exactly going into the playoffs with momentum.

Derek (Iggles Blog): I'd feel a lot better if the Eagles had won that "must win" game against the Redskins two weeks ago. These guys are clearly playing some good football right now, but I still think they're short a couple of guys needed to make a Super Bowl run.

A broken shoulder blade sounds like a pretty severe injury, but Vikings defensive tackle Pat Williams is trying to prove that it's just a three-week speed bump for him.

Williams is planning to be back on the field Sunday when the Vikings face the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs. According to Big Pat, he no longer has any pain, although he has to show that he's regained the strength in the shoulder.

Even if Williams' isn't at 100 percent, he's one player who can help the team simply by getting on the field. Williams is big enough that even with one arm, he'll help clog the middle and force the Eagles to junk their running game. Williams' return would be especially important because there is a good chance Minnesota will be without starting defensive end Ray Edwards, who injured his knee against the Giants.

If Edwards is out, the Vikings will have to rely on Otis Grigsby and Brian Robison. Robison is a better pass rusher, while Grigsby may be a little bit better run defender, but neither of them can equal Edwards' all-around ability.

C'mon, Tom Coughlin. We -- Bears fans -- need you to do the right thing. You've even written a book in which it was stated that NFL teams should all play hard for all 16 games. Now, today, I see that you are starting David Carr over Eli Manning, and I'm perplexed.

It would be easy for me to sit here and discuss the virtues of playing hard all 16 games and how that overtime win at home last weekend still wasn't enough momentum for the playoffs -- not to mention the fact that the Giants will have a bye next week anyway and that everyone keeps discussing how hard they played in Week 17 last year.

I'm not gonna do that. Instead, I'm going to tell you that the Chicago Bears are not near the playoff team the Minnesota Vikings are at this point. The Giants should be wanting a victory this weekend over the Vikings -- and hoping for a Bears win as well -- because the Vikings could be a scary NFC Championship game foe. That third week in January is one game for the chance to go to the Super Bowl.

In that game, do you wanna see:

The AFC and NFC Pro Bowlers were announced a short while ago, and why make some pointless comment you are sure not to laugh at when we can just give you the rosters instead? Here goes.

Bad news Monday for the Minnesota Vikings.

One day after a 35-14 mudhole-stomping of the Arizona Cardinals that left some of us (myself included) thinking the Vikings had the look of a potential Super Bowl contender, a big cog to the team's highly-touted defense is on the shelf.

Defensive tackle Pat Williams, one-half of the famed Williams Wall, suffered a broken scapula that will keep him out from two to six weeks. He was playing only thanks to a court order that put off an NFL suspension that would have kept him and fellow tackle Kevin Williams out for the rest of the regular season.

Jimmy Kennedy, signed by the Vikings when they thought they may lose both starting tackles to suspension, should see increased playing time with Pat Williams out.

This certainly doesn't have the impact that losing both Williamses would have had, but it could not come at a worse time for Minnesota. The Vikings need one more win to seal up the NFC North title, and they have to deal with the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday at the Metrodome. It won't be easy to do that without a key part of their top-ranked run defense.

Great news for Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints fans. Maybe.

A federal judge has blocked the suspensions of five players, including Vikings Pro Bowl defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams. The five were banned for the last four games of the NFL regular season after testing positive for a banned diuretic over the summer and eventually having their appeals heard and denied.

The legal process started Wednesday, when the Williamses (not related) took their case to a district court in Minneapolis. There they convinced a judge to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the suspensions and allowing the two to return to practice.

Both tackles have returned to practice, and actually were at the Vikings' facility Friday instead of at the hearing over this latest legal action.

Thursday, the NFL Players' Association sued on behalf of the Williamses and the three affected Saints players, which include defensive linemen Charles Grant and Will Smith, along with running back Deuce McAllister.