Turnovers and one very costly penalty cost the Minnesota Vikings the NFC Championship against the New Orleans Saints yesterday.  Brett Favre had the biggest turnover, which basically cost the Vikings the game.  With under a minute to go and just outside field goal range, Favre rolled to his right and committed one of the biggest sins a quarterback can do:  throwing across his body to the opposite side of the field.  The throw floated in the air too long and the Saints’ Tracy Porter easily picked it off to send the game into overtime.  Favre wasn’t the only one to blame down the stretch, as the Vikings had a penalty for too many men in the huddle and it pushed them out of field goal range right before Favre’s costly interception.  The Vikings played very sloppy football and did not take care of the ball.  They had 6 fumbles as a team, losing three of them, and Favre threw two interceptions.  Favre finished with 310 yards, 1 touchdown,  and 2 interceptions on 28/46 passes for a QB rating of 70.0.  Although Favre was not sacked, he was pressured all game and the Saints roughed him up with 6 hard QB hits.  Adrian Peterson had a big game, but he too struggled to hold on to the ball with 2 fumbles.  None were lost though and AP finished with 122 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 25 carries.  The Vikings’ offense racked up a ton of yards (475 yards) but they lost the turnover battle 5-1, which cost them the game.

The Vikings defense held the Saints explosive offense to only 257 yards, but all of the turnovers gave the Saints offense some great opportunities.  Also, the Vikings defense could not stop the Saints in the red zone, as they went 3-3 in red zone situations.  Drew Brees was held to 197 yards, but he had 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions on 17/31 passes for a QB rating of 106.5.  The Vikings defense actually played pretty solid, and if it weren’t for all of the Vikings’ turnovers they probably would have won pretty easily.  The Vikings still should have won this game, despite all of the turnovers.  When you have that many turnovers though, things are bound to eventually go the other team’s way.  The Vikings should be disappointed they missed out on a trip to the Super Bowl, but they should be proud of a very strong 2009 season.  Now the big question:  Will Brett Favre finally retire?

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 proved they are one of the top teams in the NFC with the beat down they gave to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Round over the weekend.  Favre looked like vintage Favre, dodging pass rushers and firing bullets down field for touchdowns.  He and Sidney Rice have found some great chemistry together and they hooked up for some huge plays against the Cowboys.  Favre had 4 touchdown passes, and 3 of them went to Rice.  Favre went 15/24 for 234 yards, while Rice caught 6 balls for 141 yards.  Adrian Peterson worked hard for 63 yards on 26 carries, helping the Vikings control the clock.  The Vikings offense is clicking at a great time.

The defense was perhaps even more responsible for the win than the offense.  They were all over Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who was leading one of the hottest teams in the NFL with a lot of confidence.  Well, Jared Allen (1 sack, FF) and the Vikings defense harassed Romo all game, sacking him 6 times.  Ray Edwards had 3 of those sacks, which tied a Vikings record.  The Vikings defense forced 3 turnovers, with 2 fumbles and 1 interception.  They also kept a Cowboys running game that rushed for 198 yards a week earlier, to 92 yards.  This was a great all-around effort by the Vikings and its looking like they have a great shot at the Super Bowl.

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