The Minnesota Vikings have to travel to the Superdome to take on the New Orleans Saints in tomorrow’s NFC Championship game.  The Superdome is one of the hardest places to play and the crowd will be rowdy since the Saints are trying to make it to their first Super Bowl.  Good thing for the Vikings that they have one of the best quarterbacks ever in Brett Favre, who has plenty of experience in hostile playoff environments.  Favre had a great game with 4 touchdowns in last weeks in the divisional round, but I think they will try and run the ball more this week for two reasons.  First off the Saints do not have a good run-defense and are gave up 122 rushing yards per game this season.  The second reason is the Vikings will want to keep Drew Brees and the high-scoring Saints’ offense off the field as much as possible.  If they can get Adrian Peterson going and control the time of possession, it will make a world of difference for the Vikings defense.

Speaking of the Vikings’ defense, if they can get some hits on Drew Brees and pressure him, it will limit the Saints’ opportunities for big plays.  They are great at making some game-changing big plays down the field, so if Jared Allen and the defensive line can get some sacks it will keep that from happening.  They need to worry about Reggie Bush too, who played some of the best football of his career last week.  He can hurt you in many ways, as he runs the ball well out of the backfield, is great at making things happen out of screen plays, and is an explosive punt-returner.  The Saints are loaded on offense, so the Vikings are going to need one of their best defensive efforts of the year.  I think this will be a close game, but with the Saints having the home-field and such an explosive offense I am going with them.

PREDICTION:  Minnesota Vikings 28, New Orleans Saints 31

Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings have had plenty of rest heading into their Divisional Round game against the Dallas Cowboys.  Hopefully for the Vikings’ sake their is no rust from the rest and their fresh legs help them.  They are going up against a Cowboys team that is very hot, winning four straight, including a convincing 34-14 win over the Eagles in the Wild Card round last week.  Jared Allen and company will need to get some hits on Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo, because when he has time he can be as good as any quarterback in the league.  Romo is pretty athletic and uses his legs well, so the Vikings can’t let him roll out and make some big plays down the field.  Marion Barber and Felix Jones can be a dangerous duo in the running game, but the Vikings were one of the best teams in the league at stopping the run so I think they should be able to handle them.  Romo has been playing some of the best football of his career and the Cowboys are clicking at the right time, so this will be a big challenge for the Vikings defense.

Brett Favre looked like he was really starting to break down a few weeks ago, but he finished the season with two solid games.  Add the fact that the 40-year-old Favre has had two weeks to rest up and heal all of the ailments that come with a long 16-game NFL season.  The Cowboys defense is playing some great football, and they will be coming at Favre hard, so the gunslinger has to be careful with the ball.  Favre is known for making some risky passes, and if he does that in this game I think the Cowboys defense will make him pay for it.  Although the Cowboys run-defense is very strong, I think the Vikings should give the ball to Adrian Peterson as much as possible.  Peterson is still the best back in the league to me, despite not having a 100+ rushing yard game since week 10 of the regular season.  If they can get Peterson back to the AP everyone was used to seeing in Minnesota, busting through the hole and breaking tackles for big runs, then the Vikings will win.  However, the Cowboys have been playing such good football and are the hottest team in the league right now, so I think they may be too much for the Vikings to handle.

PREDICTION:  Minnesota Vikings 24, Dallas Cowboys 28

The Vikings need a win and a Eagles loss or tie to be the #2 seed in the playoffs.  With that in mind I look for the Vikings to play all out tomorrow against the Giants.  The Vikings will probably be more run heavy than usual tomorrow with Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor getting the workload.  The Vikings will probably keep the passing game short in a effort to protect Brett Favre for the playoffs.  That means that Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian and Visanthe Shiancoe better tighten up their chin straps tomorrow.

The Vikings need to get after Eli Manning tomorrow because they are having problems in the secondary.  That’s not good when you’re getting ready to deal with Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, Hakeem Nicks and Kevin Boss.  Ahmad Bradshaw has a broken bone in each foot and Brandon Jacobs is out so the Giants won’t likely be able to do much on the ground.

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 27, GIANTS 20

The Vikings can make their move tonight as they can still gain the #1 seed in the NFC.  The Bears are unlikely to put up much of a fight tonight as the Vikings punished them 36-10 just four weeks ago in Minnesota.  The Vikings will likely look to kill the Bears will early in this football game with the running game led by Adrian Peterson.  The Bears are allowing 128.5 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry this season so A.P. could be in line for a huge game tonight.  The Vikings should also get Brett Favre back more involved in the offense tonight. 

The Bears’ offense scares no one so the Vkings’ D should have a field day tonight.  The pass rush should be able to force Jay Cutler into a few bad decisions resulting in turnovers.  The Vikings will likely key on stopping the Bears’ passing attack because there running game has been weak all year long.  Matt Forte has been a huge disappointment for them this season and he won’t do much against the Vikings tonight. 

PREDICTION:  VIKINGS 30, BEARS 10

The Minnesota Vikings (10-2) are hosting the Cincinnati Bengals (9-3) Sunday and it should be a good football game.  The Vikings are coming off a tough loss to the Arizona Cardinals where Brett Favre finally looked human and threw two interceptions.  The Bengals have been winning games lately, but the games have been pretty close considering the opponents were such teams as Detroit and Cleveland.  The Bengals do have a dangerous offense though, with Carson Palmer and Chad Ochocinco always a threat for a big play and Cedric Benson running the ball well.  The Vikings do a great job pressuring quarterbacks though, and when Palmer is pressured a lot he tends to throw some interceptions.  They will need to slow down Benson though, because the Bengals run the ball a lot.

The Vikings offense is going up against a pretty strong defense.  The Bengals defense holds teams to 82 rushing yards and 212 passing yards on average.  They have not gone up against a QB-RB combination like Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson though.  Both need to make sure they don’t turn the ball over though, as Peterson has fumbled way too many times this year and Favre is coming off a two interception game.  I think the Vikings will find a lot of success though as they are at home, so they should win.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Cincinnati Bengals 23, Minnesota Vikings 30