Jackson Free Press

In the NFC, the second-seed Minnesota Vikings -- having heartily knocked the Dallas Cowboys out of their collective saddles to end the Boys' late-season win streak -- are headed to the La-Brees-iana Superdome to face the number-one seed New Orleans Saints.

On Saturday, the Saints appeared to have an answer for critics and worried fans -- who might have thought they peaked too early in the season during their amazing 13-3 run -- when they handed the Cardinals three quarters of scoreless play, with the final a definitive 45-14.

Things didn't look good after the first play from scrimmage, when the Saints gave up a 70-yard touchdown run, but for the 59 minutes that followed, The Saints looked like the team that dismantled the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and New England Patriots during the regular season -- healthy, physical, motivated. While the Saints defense continued to have some "give" -- Arizona gained nearly 360 years during the contest -- they also owned the turnover ratio, with ball-hawk Darren Sharper recovering a fumble (caused by Randall Gay) and getting an interception (called back on a penalty), while big defensive lineman Will Smith also got an interception.

And whether or not signing Deuce McAllister to the playoff team gave them the edge they were looking for, there's no doubt that the Saints enjoyed a career-level effort by utility back-fielder and self-described playmaker, Reggie Bush.

The wrap-up from commentator Michael Strahan during the Fox post-game show on Saturday was a simple, one-word, "Wow!"

The Vikings bring a disconcertingly punishing defensive line to the Superdome next Sunday, along with a generally productive running game (despite being held in check against Dallas) and, perhaps, professional football's greatest X-factor -- 40-year-old quarterback Brett Farve. With the win over Dallas, the Vikings are now 13-0 in Minnesota this year -- which means the four games they've lost this season have all been on the road. (Two of the three games the Saints lost this year, however, were in their own dome.)

And, of course, there's a mitigating factor that's particular to Farve -- while the Superdome crowd won't be doing much to help Farve make himself heard at the line of scrimmage, Louisiana is close enough to home for him -- as a Mississippi native, he grew up a Saints fan, with fond memories of Archie Manning's tenure -- that he'll have his share of fans in the stadium.

Speaking of Mannings, an improbable run for the New York Jets got started when Peyton Manning sat out part of their 15th regular season game, resulting in the Indianapolis Colts' first loss -- and a statistical opening for the Jets to gain a wild card berth. Then, they actually got that berth. After winning their Wild Card game, the Jets hung on to win the divisional playoff game in San Diego on Sunday, relying on a slow-and-steady offense and a stalwart defense, which ultimately hushed the often boisterous San Diego attack.

The Jets better beware, however, as the Colts rely on an uncanny ability to bore other teams into laying down and playing dead against their relentless and somewhat monotonously superior game plan. Kinda like the Borg, but with fewer lasers.

Predictions for the first-ever NFC championship game held in the Lousiana Superdome? Feel free to use the space below. As for me, there's NO way I'm jinxing it. I'm keeping my predictions to myself.

But as was clear from the Fox commentators today after Minnesota put away Dallas to advance to the NFC championship game, a whole lot of football fans are looking forward to what may well be a high-energy clash of flashy offenses and extraordinary personalities, particularly given the authority with which both teams dispatched their opponents this weekend.

(updated Sunday @ 11:47pm by the iTodd)

Previous Commentsshow

How could a "real Mississippian" (remember that thread???) hope for anything more than this set-up. Farve next and then Peyton in the Super Bowl. You can only hope for two high-scoring nail-biters with Breesus walking on water at the end. How could it be any better? We'll all have near heart attacks, drink 3 times the amount of beer as usual and be happier than possums in a poo-patch when its all over. Happy New Decade indeed.

prentiss reeves

Jan 17 2010

Chicago Tribune notes that the key matchup might be Favre vs. Sharper and then picks the game for the Vikings, if just barely.

Todd Stauffer

Jan 18 2010

They're Canadians; they spell their words like that. A lot of words that end in -er here would be -re there, like theatre (theater) and centre (center).

golden eagle

Jan 18 2010

I was kidding, Golden. Shoulda put a smiley on it. ;-)

Todd Stauffer

Jan 18 2010

most encouraging thing that came out of Saturday's performance by the Saints was a return to that "much better" defense that Greg Williams was supposed to have crafted with acquisitions like Darren Sharper and schemes designed to get some pressure on the QB by sending some blitz packages and relying on good cover guys (like Jabari Greer) to keep them safe from the deep ball. Per Jeff Duncan from the T-P: [i">"We saw a lot of predictors say it was going to be a high-scoring shootout, " Sharper said Sunday. "We were kind of excited about the fact that we held such an explosive offense to 14 points. I think we reminded a lot of people how good we were and how good we can be. To come out and play the way we did is a big confidence boost for us."

Todd Stauffer

Jan 18 2010

I really hated to see the Dallas Cowchips lose so badly. He, he. Queen, Queen. ITodd, ITodd. Golden Eagle, Golden Eagle. I got well this weekend! The Vikings cured me this weekend.The Cowchips stunk just like their name implies. I want the Saints to win the most this weekend because of their long losing history. However, I like Favre and would be glad to see one of our boys other than Archie Manning win it all. I even like the Manning boys but not more than Favre. Peterson never really got loose to break the big run against the Chips but it didn't matter, so if the Saints can stop him and do a better job on Favre they could win. Reggie Bush finally went his butt up the field and not just across it. I was disappointed and even hurt that the Chargers didn't win. The Jets are too young to be in this position. Besides, I don't like the Jets' ugly uniforms. The only thing green I like is money.

Walt

Jan 18 2010

Looking over some of the press on the Saints win, I just saw an interesting stat that was buried in the fact that the Saints used four different running backs on Saturday -- those four backs gained a total of 170 yards in rushing. While Bush was dazzling in the game, the truth is that there were a *lot* of solid runs but up by the backfield, something that bodes well for next Sunday's game. If the offense can establish the run against Minnesota's dominant defensive line (no mean feat), it'll set them up for a passing game against a reasonably soft secondary. Or, in a typical West Coast offense fashion, it may end up being the other way around -- establish the pass in order to get off some runs. (I hate that plan, I always hate that plan, but Peyton knows more about this than I do.) Here's a fun analysis on the Saint-Vikings line comparisons, incidentally. Who is Jermon Bushrod? Movie fans -- remember the "blind side"? Assuming Brees brings the A-game that's capable of putting up 45 points (if he doesn't, the Saints are in trouble) the key match-up may just be Darren Sharper and Brett Farve. They were once teammates (at Green Bay) before Sharper went to Minnesota, a team that didn't re-sign him this year. The Saints took a chance on the aging safety (he's 34 -- the shame!) and he's turned into a ball-hawking machine. Farve has an amazing ability to look off defensive backs, and Sharper likes to play the QB's eyes. But Farve also has that...thing...he does -- the one dumb throw a game. If Sharper ends up with a ball in floater in his chest in the middle of the field after a particularly raucous 13th Man performance by the Superdome crowd, then we'll know who won this matchup.

Todd Stauffer

Jan 19 2010