SWAMP DIVISIONAL ROUND - NFC GM 2 - NO @ MIN***

***NEW ORLEANS SAINTS @ MINNESOTA VIKINGS***

The last game of Divisional weekend features the Minnesota Vikings as they host the New Orleans Saints in what will be the site of this year's Super Bowl. The Vikings are trying to become the first team ever to play a Super Bowl in their own stadium, and I think they have a good shot to do so. First things first, they have to fend off future Hall of Fame QB Drew Brees and this explosive Saints team. This Viking defense is the best in the NFL with the Jaguars as a close second. At home today where they are 7-1 this season I fully expect them to thrive off of SKOL nation and stifle the Saints offense that seems to be fizzing out a bit. These two squads faced off in Minnesota to open the season and the Vikings won the game 29-19 but that game was a completely different situation, obviously. It also featured many different faces as Sam Bradford was the QB for the Vikings and Rookie RB Delvin Cook was making his debut. For the Saints, the storyline was more centered around their RB at the time veteran Adrian Peterson making his return to Minnesota to face his old team and the New Orleans Rookie phenoms RB Alvin Kamara and CB Marshon Lattimore were unknown to most and not yet the potential NFL Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the year. Since then, a lot has happened. QB Sam Bradford went down with an injury and journeyman backup QB Case Keenum made every last bit of his new opportunity count as he played out of his mind and led Minnesota the rest of the season, going 12-3 as the starter as the Vikings finished with a 13-3 record, winning the NFC North Division and finishing 2nd place in the conference. I have to admit, like many others I doubted Keenum early on and kept waiting for him to come back down to Earth. I don't think it was until Thanksgiving Day as I sat there with my Lions ticket watching him impress the hell out of me by standing in the pocket and delivering absolute dimes while simultaneously getting crushed after the throw. I remember thinking 'wow, he's actually legit' as he made me a believer in that game by noticing the little things he was doing that are all must have components of playing QB in the NFL successfully. After the Lions and myself took that L, I started thinking that maybe Keenum was this good all along after all and maybe he just started off in the wrong systems early on in his NFL career. I mean the kid was a stud in college at Houston, it really isn't so farfetched to think that he actually IS capable of being a successful QB in the NFL and fully capable of making a SB run on a team with a number one defense like the Vikings have. I mean if his name wasn't Case Keenum, we would be talking about him as a possible MVP candidate this season, he's been that good and because of the bad runs to start his career on the Rams and Texans, he has had this negative stigma about him at least in my eyes. While I do think it is possible for him to come down from the clouds at some point, I don't think it will be this season because the man and this team are on fire.

The Vikings have had the luxury of the bye week to rest and recharge the batteries while plotting ways to take out this Saints team who I believe are hurting at this point and running on fumes as most Wild Card teams are at this point. Last week the Saints lost another key piece in their OT Andrus Peat which is a HUGE factor for the self dubbed 'boom and zoom' run game that the Saints have been thriving on all season long. Last week the Panthers laid out the blueprint on how to stifle the double headed monster of a running game that RBs Ingram and Kamara bring. The only difference here is, that the Vikings have a much, much better secondary than that of Carolina and Drew Brees won't be able to bail them out with his arm against Minnesota as easily as he did last week against the Panthers secondary. With all the hype surrounding Minnesota hosting the Super Bowl and potentially having their home team play in it, I fully expect the Purple People Eaters to be an absolute force today and that place to be BUZZING with energy that this defense will feed off of. With guys like DT Everson Griffen and the energy he brings, I think they will smother Brees and this Saints offense all game long and not let up for a second. I actually can't wait to see what Head Coach Mike Zimmer and his team have schemed up to stop the Saints from marching. On the other side of things I believe that Keenum will play just fine today and connect with his WRs Diggs and Thielen who are the perfect pair to try and expose the talented corners of Crawley and shutdown Rookie Lattimore. They are the quick twitch type of WRs that can create space with their speed and I also believe that TE Rudolph will make his usual appearance in the endzone as the Vikings surge to the NFC Championship and continue their quest to the Super Bowl. VIKINGS-5