No one doubts the ability of the NFL's lawyers to win this case in the end. They have the money and the muscle to make that happen, and they appear to have the Collective Bargaining Agreement on their side, too.

So what if the players all play Sunday, and the suspensions are upheld in court sometime next week?

In a scenario that could be more damaging to the Vikings than the Saints (no offense, but the Vikings' playoff chances are more realistic at this point), the suspensions wouldn't be served before the regular season is over. If a team makes the playoffs, that means any suspended players would have to miss their team's playoff opener.

So while this legal victory is significant, it's not necessarily a victory for the teams. I'm sure the Vikings would rather miss the Williamses for Sunday's game against the 0-12 Detroit Lions than for a Wild Card game against, say, Atlanta.