In contrast to the AFC championship game, the NFC championship features the two teams that dominated the conference in the regular season. The New Orleans Saints went 13-3, while the Minnesota Vikings were just a step back at 12-4. Both took care of business in the divisional round last weekend, with the Saints demolishing the Arizona Cardinals 45-14 and the Vikings knocking off the Dallas Cowboys 34-3. They both have great quarterbacks, with Drew Brees leading the Saints and Brett Favre piloting the Vikings' offence, and they both have solid run games. There are plenty of interesting factors to consider in this matchup, so I spoke to some knowledgeable NFL bloggers to examine how it breaks down.
Mark Hooper edits the Fanball Sports Network's Saints website, WhoDatBlog. He said last weekend's blowout win over the Cardinals surprised him, especially considering the poor way the Saints finished the season.
"To be honest, I didn't see that coming," he said. "I expected more of a track meet, and I thought that first play from scrimmage set the tone. I really was thinking the Saints would do their normal slow start then finish strong, but they were cranking on all cylinders from play one. Drew Brees had arguably the best game of his season balancing the running and passing game, keeping the Cardinals on their heels all day. The Saints could do anything they wanted at any time."
Hooper said Sunday's game should be a good quarterback duel. He's been impressed with Brett Favre's performance to date, but he thinks Drew Brees will have the better game.
"Favre had a remarkable game against the Cowboys, tossing long pinpoint passes to talented WRs and escaping the pressure," Hooper said. "I think that game was also his finest performance of the year, and that's saying a lot. I just don't see him being able to duplicate that against the Saints' defence. The Saints have had issues in their secondary this season, but their opportunistic defence and better safeties will make Favre work harder for his scores. Brees just has too much talent and at home will put together a solid game."
Hooper said the running game is more evenly balanced. The Vikings have star running back Adrian Peterson, but the Saints can throw out three talented runners in Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell.
"I see Peterson having a bigger impact than he did against the Cowboys, and I think he may be a big factor in keeping drives alive and third-down situations manageable," Hooper said. "Reggie Bush could be a game-changer, but that's a tossup right now."
Hooper said the matchup Saints fans should worry about is the Vikings' talented wide receivers against the Saints' cornerbacks.
"That's the biggest concern," he said. "The Saints will need to get pressure from their front-four to alleviate the pressure on their corners. If they have to resort to blitzes to slow down Favre, it could be a long day for Saints fans."
Hooper said he thinks the Saints will do enough to prevail 34-31 in a close one, though.
"I don't think you can overlook the Saints' confidence coming off a blow-out win versus the Cardinals (and another aging yet productive QB), and more importantly, the home field advantage," he said.
Dan Zinski is the lead writer at the FanSided network's Vikings site, The Viking Age. He said the Vikings have pleasantly surprised him this year.
"I'm not embarrassed to admit I thought the Favre experiment would be a flop," Zinski said. "I figured he'd stink or his arm would drop off and we'd limp to the finish with Tarvaris Jackson as our quarterback, and not even make the playoffs."
Zinski said the way the team played this year gave him confidence going into the postseason, though.
"Once we made the playoffs, however, I thought we had a good shot to beat whoever we faced in the divisional round, just because we've been so dominant at home," he said. "I was surprised we crushed Dallas as bad as we did, but I wasn't surprised that we beat them."
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1 comments so far (post your own)Who Dat?
It's the Saints
Posted by Pope on Sunday, January 24, 2010 @ 11:12pm