Another week of bad playoff football, unless you love the winning teams (to their credit, the Jets-Chargers game was very exciting, in a mirror of last week), but another week when I’m just getting more and more excited for what’s coming. Because the powerhouse teams that are winning these games by so much - the Colts, the Vikings, and the Saints all put together crushing victories - are eventually going to meet. Are eventually going to come into the same stadium and play against each other and it’s going to be like watching two tidal waves come together in the middle of the Pacific at a hundred miles an hour.
Now, I don’t mean to disrespect the Colts or the Jets. These are great teams with super-talented players who are going to fight it out in what could be a great game; it’s just more iffy. Sanchez might have a clunker of a game and, if he does, there’s no way the Jets can stay with the Colts. So I do think it has the potential to be very good; I just think the Saints and the Vikings are going to meet in that dome in New Orleans and put on one of the best shows in recent memory.
The Saints, behind Drew Brees, have been putting up Madden-like numbers all year; they have the ability to make a big play with each snap. They spread the ball around to fast receivers who can all break it for a score, which just overloads the coverage schemes for the defense. Reggie Bush had one of the best games of his life - maybe his best since USC - against the Cardinals. He may not be an every-down back, but the Saints have plenty of those and Bush is electric catching out of the backfield or returning punts. And the Saints defense, don’t forget, was the third-ranked unit this year. They have Sharper in that scheme and they score a fair amount of points themselves.
The Vikings made their case for the gunfight when they played against the Cowboys. Their defense was in top form, crushing the Cowboy’s offensive line. They sacked Romo six times. They caused three fumbles, two that they took away. They got an interception. And, always the most important, they only gave up three points to the Dallas Cowboys in Texas. Romo never had time and you could see that it got in his head from the way he was yelling at his linemen.
That in itself would make for a good game. A powerful defense against a high-scoring offense. We had it in the Super Bowl in 2007 when the Giants met the Patriots, and it was the best Super Bowl in a long time. But the Vikings, as I’m sure no one has forgotten, have Brett Favre.
The Vikings went for it on fourth and three with two minutes left in the fourth. It was a situation in which they should have either run the ball or kicked a field goal. But they dropped Favre back and threw it into the end zone and Shiancoe made a diving catch for the score. Some people were mad, on the post-game show. They said it was running up the score; they said it was classless. I said it was this:
“Hey, Drew Brees. Here we come.”
They want the Saints to know they can score. And score a lot. Brett Favre has experience and talent and he’s having the (arguably) best year of his life. His quarterback rating against the Cowboys, who were playing pretty good defense here at the end of the year, was a 134.4. He’s been dominant and mistake-free and he’s making the Vikings offense look just as potent as the Saints. They’re setting it up to say that, if it turns into a shoot-out, they can run with the best of them.
I don’t know who is going to win. It’s one of those match-ups in which no one can know. But here’s the thing: if the Vikings’ defense can play like they did today, the Vikings will win. If they can force some turnovers and get Drew Brees off the field and keep Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre on the field, they will win. They will advance to the Super Bowl and give the old man one last shot at it before he retires for real.
But no matter what, it’s quite possibly going to be the best game of the year. Get ready.
BYLINE:
Jonathan Schlosser is a writer and part-time library worker. He has published some short fiction and is working on finding a publisher for his novel. He has a B.A. in Writing, which means that, for a living, he is allowed to put away books at the library. He is also allowed to tell parents to tell their children to be quiet. He lives in Grand Rapids, MI. Email Jonathan at jonathan@zoiksonline.com.
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