'98 Vikings vs. '09 Saints

but the Saints’ head coach Sean Payton scares me

I’m not going to arrogantly suggest the Vikings won’t have a chance against the Saints. That would just be delusional. However, I like my Saints chances at this point. When you guys get Winfield back, I think your pass D will improve and that combined with the your run D and pass rush could provide problems to Brees. We’ll also be getting back our two starting CBs in Greer and Porter just in time for the playoffs. With Sedrick Ellis returning from injury last night, our run defense was noticeably better than it was during the four games he missed. RBs were gashing us for big yardage, but I expect that will be limited in future games with Big Sed back in the lineup. The line plays as a much better unit when he’s there. His replacement during those four games was Anthony Hargrove, who is a recently converted DE.

If we stay relatively healthy, I like our chances either in the Superdome or in Minnesota. The one constant this year is Sean Payton’s and Gregg Williams’ ability to come up with creative game plans each week to combat their opponents. I think they kinda relaxed against the Rams and Panthers and almost got beat. I hope they don’t do that against the Skins. For the big games like last night and the playoffs, me thinks they’ll find whatever way necessary to surprise their opponent and win. Still, Brett Favre is downright magical this year, so you won’t catch me saying the Vikings would have no chance. It’s impossible for me to not like that guy. One thing is for sure, the Vikings would play better against the Saints than the Pats did last night. I think both teams are relatively even right now except the Saints have the edge on offense with their multitude of weapons and the Vikings have the best D-line in the league. Also, the Vikings kicking game is wayyyyyyy better than ours. Longwell has been money all year and most Saints fans now want Carney benched in favor of Hartley.

Wow! I can’t believe you guys were actually rooting for the Pats in your open game threads. Well, I guess I can. I would have done the same if the situation was reversed. Only, I wouldn’t have resorted to name-calling. The “Aints?” Come on, guys. That was so 30 years ago. Sorry the Saints disappointed you. :-)

I was thinking the same thing last night as I battled insomnia — maybe we could do to the Saints what the Falcons did to us in ‘98? The parallels are there, right down to Carney’s missed FG. I can practically picture in my mind Allen beating the tackle and reaching out batting the ball out of Brees hand at the end of the 1st half…..

…as I’ve always liked the Saints as one of my backup teams for when or if the Vikes fall flat during any specific season. I’m happy for New Orlean’s fans but I’m bummed that we finally put together another great team, only to be overshadowed by the Saints unexpected splendor. Sigh.

Still, all things being equal (play on words intended), I think we’d have a very exciting match-up vs. the Saints if we both made it to the NFC Championships. Whoever would win such a game would be the team I’d pick to win the SB. :)

If you pick things apart a bit, it’d go like this (imho):

Defensive Line – Vikings
Secondary – Saints (though I see our Vikes improving in this area)
Offensive Line – Vikings by a smidge
Special Teams – Vikings by a smidge due to better kicking and Harvin’s capabilities
Offense – Saints by a smidge (slightly better running stats and higher scoring average)
X-Factor – Vikings (Harvin)

So it’d be a pretty tough game for either team and it will probably just come down to home-field advantage, which it seems likely the Saints will possess when the time comes. Sigh.

Still, all things being equal (play on words intended), I think we’d have a very exciting match-up vs. the Saints if we both made it to the NFC Championships. Whoever would win such a game would be the team I’d pick to win the SB. :)

The winner gets to play Indy. How is this team being overlooked as one of the best in the decade. Its one thing to get a large lead and have a game get out of hand. Its another to make a comeback week after week. Whoever plays this team will be no huge favorite.

The Vikings have a defense that can punch the Saints and their high-powered offense right in the mouth.

Yep. That reminded me of the Williams Wall, with Jared Allen on one end and Ray Edwards on the other, backed up by EJ, Greenway, and Leber… That’s a fair punch in the mouth. And that’s what we’ll need to do to counter Bree’s high-powered air attack.

is in order for the vikes to win, they need to be able to pressure Brees without a blitz. He is just too good to not be able to find the check down on a blitz. If we can do this and not turn the ball over more than once…we win. If we can’t get pressure and not turn the ball over…we lose.

And I kid with him that Sean Payton is Mike Martz v 2.0. In reality they looked scary good the other night. But NE looked equally opposite and awful. ;-)

The saints play like the 98’ vikes and we play like the 98’ falcons. I guess we know how that went.

So sad, but so true.

I see this is a weakness in the Saints vertical attack. Brees is very good on the vertical, he strikes deep and fast… and gives the ball over to the other side. There’ve been a number of very high-scoring teams that coulda shoulda gone to the Super Bowl and won it (anyone remember Dan Fouts and Air Coreyell?), but it didn’t happen. Consistently, it didn’t happen.

Favre’s bread and butter is ball-control. I think that in a matchup, he’ll own the clock for much longer than Brees, he’ll control the pace of the game and he’ll wear out the opposing D, and keep our own D that much fresher. That’s going to the key because our D is very high-energy and I think they were wearing themselves out early when they were on the field too much. A fresh Jared Allen is something that Brees is not going to like.