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 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

The Minnesota Vikings (9-1) are hosting the Chicago Bears (4-6) in this week’s matchup.  The Bears have been playing awful as of late, and the Vikings defense are going to look to knock the Bears out of the game early.  Jared Allen and the front line should attack Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler, who has been an interception machine this season.  If the Vikings can rattle Cutler early, he will most likely get emotionally rattled and probably start throwing the ball all over the place.  This has been the story of Jay Cutler this season, someone Bears’ fan were labeling their savior coming into this season.  The Bears have virtually no running game, so if the Vikings can get Cutler to play even half as bad as he has been lately they should have no problem beating them.

The Bears’ defense has been solid this year, trying their best to keep the Bears in games.  The Bears’ offense turns the ball over too much though and it has been wearing their defense down.  They give up 122 rushing yards per contest, so Adrian Peterson should have a big day.  The Bears’ defense is better against the pass, but Brett Favre has been great this year and I expect similar play out of him.  Favre has been a rival of the Bears for nearly 20 years now though, so you never know how much the extra motivation will help the Bears defense.  Still, this Bears team is falling apart and I think the Vikings should not have a problem in this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Minnesota Vikings 31, Chicago Bears 17

The Minnesota Vikings (8-1) were not very sharp last week and played down to their weak opponent, the Detroit Lions.  They had a season high 13 penalties and only won by 17 against a team they could beat by 40.  I expect them to come out with a lot more energy this week against the Seattle Seahawks(3-6).  Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson should have no problem against a Hawk’s defense that gives up 338 yards per game.  The Vikings should easily eclipse that number and could blow the Seahawks out.  It would be nice if they could build a big lead and let their 40-year-old quarterback rest his aching thigh and hip injuries.

The Vikings defense should not have a problem against Matt Hasselbeck and the Seahawks passing game.  Hasselbeck will not get enough time to go downfield, as Jared Allen and the Vikings’ front line will be able to get a lot of pressure on Hasselbeck.  Hasselbeck has been trying to force some things lately as well, throwing 3 interceptions in his past two games, so the Vikings should look to get some turnovers.  Julius Jones is out for the Seahawks, and Justin Forsett will be starting his second week in a row.  Forsett had a very strong game last week, rushing for 123 and a touchdown on 17 carries, so the Vikings need to be prepared for him getting a lot of carries.  This shouldn’t be a close game though, and the Vikings should crush them.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Minnesota Vikings 38, Seattle Seahawks 17