New Orleans Saints Favored In Title Bout With Minnesota Vikings

NFL News - January 18th, 2010 - Written by John

Late season meltdown?

Hardly.

As subjects of late season fodder for their well-noted hiccups at the end of the regular season, the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings seem to have rebounded nicely and are a win away from the Super Bowl. Winners of big blowouts in the NFL Playoffs games, the top two seeds in the NFC meet on Sunday to decide which team's fairy tale will continue.

Will it be a storybook ending to Brett Favre's career? Or will New Orleans' best season finally result in the franchise's first Super Bowl?

BetUS has it's NFL Betting Odds on the Saints, favoring the home team by four with a total of 52 1/2.

It's hard not to after watching them dismantle the Arizona Cardinals last week. After scoring 51 points in the first round, Arizona was held to only 14 by a surprisingly fresh defense and an offense that operated with surgical precision.

New Orleans turned back the pages and looked similar to it's early season form that dominated opponents in 13-straight wins. Drew Brees threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns, and Reggie Bush put together two dazzling touchdowns. Three receivers had at least one score.

And it certainly helps that the Saints were here before, one win away from the Big Game in 2006 before falling to the Chicago Bears. But that was on the road, and the NFC's top seed will be at home this time around in one of the loudest stadiums in football.

The Vikings benefited from that kind of advantage last weekend when the Metrodome blew up during a 34-3 win over the Dallas Cowboys. But playing the visitor will certainly be a difficult task, no matter what momentum they bring. Only two teams have won in the Superdome this year, and one of them was the Cowboys. The same Cowboys that gave up a career-high four touchdowns to Favre, who appears to have made the right move in coming out of retirement.

"This is what I came back for," he said after the game.

They are in their first conference championship since 2001 after Favre threw a postseason career-high four touchdowns.

Favre has learned to protect the ball and had a career-low interception total (7) this year and has made Sidney Rice a superstar. Their most-recent show netted Rice three of those touchdowns last week and a game-high 141 yards.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

It's tough to decide which side of the ball will prevail. The over/under is 52 1/2 because New Orleans and Minnesota combined for 79 offensive points last week, but their defenses only allowed 17. New Orleans' dominant defensive effort against one of the conference's best offenses was surprising, at it might take a little bit more to hold off Favre. Arizona turned the ball over -- against the Saints, but Minnesota is much more protective of the ball, cased by Favre's meager interception total.

If the Vikings can get the kind of pressure on Brees as it got on Tony Romo, sacking him six times and knocking him down another 10, it could be a long day for the Saints.

But with Bush back in dynamic form, he may be the key in kick returns. Percy Harvin seems to be the unknown because while he was great in the return game for most of the year, he has been quiet since returning from punishing head aches that kept him out several weeks at the end of the year.

He was held to only one catch last week and three carries for 23 yards.

Bush may be playing for a big next year, too. New Orleans will owe him $9 million if they keep him next year, and he hasn't justified that number yet. A big day to push the Saints to their first Super Bowl ever might, though.

STATS AND STREAKS

- New Orleans is one of only five franchises to never make the Super Bowl.

- Minnesota has hit the under in seven of it's last 10 January games, and seven of it's last nine overall. It has also hit the under in six of it's last eight NFC games.

- Favre has thrown 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions in his last three games. He has thrown four scores in back-to-back games.

- The Saints haven't allowed a quarterback to throw for four touchdowns the entire year.