We’d love to know what the Vikings did to piss off Mother Nature.

For the third straight week, the team that once prided itself on playing in the elements faces another weather-related complication. On the road in Philadelphia with a blizzard in the forecast, the Vikings may not be playing on Sunday night, after all.

Asked whether the league has decided to postpone the game in the face of potential safety and travel hazards occasioned by a major storm expected to hit Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and other points on the East Coast, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said on his Twitter page, “Not yet. We’re discussing situation. Stand by.”

The “stand by” implies that an answer could come sooner rather than later.

The easier question could be whether to play the game on Sunday night. (Then again, guys like Dave Goldberg already are balking at a postponement, pointing to the Ice Bowl and the AFC title game played in worse-than-dangerous conditions in Cincinnati.) The tougher question would be when to play it? ESPN owns the rights to Monday night, and at a minimum they’d want a big chunk of their weekly payment (roughly $65 million) back if NBC simultaneously is carrying a game on network television, even if the start times are staggered.

Another possibility would be to move the Saints-Falcons game to Tuesday night, but that would infringe on the slate of bowl games. (I know this only because West Virginia will be playing someone in a Tuesday night bowl game, somewhere.) Also, the Saints and Falcons wouldn’t be happy about having one less day in a week already shortened by the Monday night assignment.

Either way, the Vikings-Eagles game needs to be played on Sunday or on Monday. The Eagles remain in the thick of the NFC East chase, and they have a very real shot at the No. 2 seed in the conference.

Either way, it’s going to be an interesting day. Especially since I’m in New York, and the snow finally is starting to fall.