How about that? Saturday night the Cowboys won a playoff game for the first time since I was in 6th grade. Donovan McNabb can dance and air guitar all he wants now, because he'll have plenty of free time to do it. The Cowboys didn't just win though, they made a statement and one that left an impression in my mind. I've been a hard Cowboy critic because I just don't trust them fully. Everytime in the last 15 years that we've gotten our hopes up they've been dashed. I may be wrong, and they may get drilled in Minnesota but this team is playing football at a championship level right now.
The Vikings have been a big national story all year. Of course the return of Favre has helped that but let's not forget Adrian Peterson in the backfield and the emergence of Sidney Rice and rookie of the year Percy Harvin. Early on they looked like they were booked for a date with the Saints in the conference championship game, but both of those teams stumbled down the stretch while the Cowboys rumbled. Remember it's how you finish and what kind of momentum you have going. The '07-08 Giants finished strong and won the Superbowl. A couple of years ago the Rockies got hot and rode it all the way to the world series.
We all know what The Vikes have in Brett Favre. The ultimate warrior, an icon, a legend. Frankly he's also a guy who's played pretty damn well this year. Behind him Adrian Peterson in his third year can be as dangerous as ever. He's been stifled late but we'll get to that a little later on in the story. I talked about their receivers but they have a dangerous WR corps. Bernard Berrian is the typical deep threat. Sidney Rice is the big, strong, posession guy, and Percy Harvin is your classic Slot guy who can run reverses, turn short passes into long gains, and make big plays in the return game. Visanthe Shiancoe has also turned into quite the playmaking Tight End and looks to be Favre's favorite target. Sounds pretty good doesn't it? Think of the Vikings as the Imperial army from Star Wars, the offense is the Death Star but it has a weakness that can be exploited. I never thought I'd be typing this but that weakness is the offensive line. The Left side of the line is as solid as it gets with All-pro's Bryant McKinnie and Steve Hutchinson but the Vikings really miss the play of Matt Birk at center. Rookie Phil Loadholt mans the right side and he is a turnstile. Looking at Loadholt he's huge at about 6'8 330 lbs, but he has terrible feet and has been abused routinely. The Viking wideouts will give this secondary more trouble than maybe any other team it has faced this year, but once again boys and girls pressure is the name of the game. The way Spencer and Ware have looked lately I don't think that should be a problem, so as long as the DB's play as they have been this defense can be stifled. The Cowboys haven't looked bad against the run since week 1 in Tampa (yes I said it Freaking Tampa). Adrian Peterson is still of the elite even though his production has been down. As a guy who owned Peterson on his fantasy team and watched a lot of Vikings, I can say that's because the line got no push and he was hit in the backfield alot. Don't sleep on him whatsoever because he can take over a game all on his own. Still, I think this game will come down to pressure and making the turnover prone QB serve it up a few times.
On Defense The Vikings look pretty good too and they have some strong points. Take for instance the front line. They start in the middle with "The Williams Wall" comprised of maybe the finest DT duo in football of Pat Williams and Kevin Williams. Outside they have former Texas great Brian Robison and the mullet king himself Jared Allen who has been a one man wrecking crew at times. He's amassed some impressive numbers but 8 of those sacks were against The Packers. There's no one real special among their LB's but there are some solid players there. Chad Greenway seems to be a tackling machine when I watch, but Rookie Jasper Brinkley will draw most of the coverage for Jason Witten which is mismatch city. Behind them they have a good but banged up secondary. Former Longhorn Cedric Griffin mans one corner and he's a physical, tough, guy. Griffin will make plays on balls, bump, and tackle. Antoine Winfield is on the other side and he for my money has been one of the best corners in football. That said he's incredibly banged up and on a bad ankle and hasn't been able to run well with WR's. If Miles Austin gets matched up on him we might see some fireworks. Safety Madieu Williams is a ballhawk who can make you pay but not an overly physical player. Obviously you don't want Jared Allen creating sacks and turnovers and you can't run straight up the middle every play but there are ways to attack this defense. As always screens and draws are good as well as crossing routes to take advantage of the lack of athleticism they have at LB. My number one target Jason Garrett has been really good lately so I'll let him continue to roll. I would love for Marion Barber to play with Choice a bit banged up, but I see good things going into this game.
One note before my prediction, I wont be doing a live blog this week because I'll be going elsewhere for a watching party. I was there last week and a certain member of this site thinks I need to be there again for the sake of luck.
Prediction: At this stage I'm not comfortable with predicting a blowout but I think Dallas handles this game fairly easily. 24-14 Cowboys. Defense has been playing way too good.
Cowboys Head to Twin Cities To Battle Vikings