“Cry Eagles Cry!” Bears clinch Bye as Vikes stun Philly

PHILADELPHIA—The Bears now know they will have a bye in the opening round of the NFL Playoffs and have clinched at least the #2 seed,and remain alive for the #1 seed after getting some help from a Division rival Tuesday night.Considering everything else the Minnesota Vikings have endured this season, it was silly to think two extra days sitting around a hotel room would bring ’em down. No way a determined rookie quarterback named Joe Webb was going to let that happen. Webb threw for 195 yards and ran for a touchdown in his first career start filling in for an injured Brett Favre, and the lowly Vikings stunned Michael Vick and the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles 24-14 in the NFL’s first Tuesday game since 1946.Adrian Peterson ran for 118 yards and a score, helping the 14-point underdogs knock Philadelphia out of contention for a first-round playoff bye. The Eagles (10-5) could’ve secured a first-round bye with a victory over the Vikings (6-9) and Dallas and with a loss by either the Bears or Atlanta next week. “We don’t deserve it after that performance,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “Every phase was terrible. We didn’t coach well enough. We didn’t play well enough. I’m disappointed in myself. It’s embarrassing.” Now the Eagles are locked into the NFC’s No. 3 seed and will host the No. 6 seed on Jan. 8 or 9. Their final game against the Cowboys is meaningless in the standings, so it’s likely Vick and most of the starters will rest.Two days after a winter storm forced a postponement, there wasn’t even a snowflake visible at the Linc. The game was switched from Sunday because of a howling storm that dumped about a foot of snow in the area — perhaps a good idea considering Philadelphia’s history of snowball-throwing fans.But 42 years after fans got a bum rap for tossing snowballs at Santa — the man in the costume said it was playful pelting — the Eagles said snowballs didn’t factor in the decision to move the game.