There are, what, 168 hours in a week? That means there are 10,080 minutes and a little over 600K seconds. We would guess many of you have spent somewhere in the neighborhood of at least 100,000 seconds this week thinking about the Vikings vs. Cowboys matchup. We have spent that much and more.

We have looked at the matchups. Give the Vikings an edge at quarterback. The running game is about a push. Wide receivers + tight ends are about a push. Dallas' defense has been playing great lately, so give the Cowboys a slight edge there. The Vikings have a better field goal kicker, but Dallas has a very good kickoff man and a better punter. So the special teams battle is probably a wash. In many ways, these are similar teams with some similar strengths.

What it comes down to, and why we like the Vikings by a reasonable margin (31-20 is the score we keep coming up with, though that might be a few too many points each way), is something so slim but so important: 1/4 of a step. That's what crowd noise gives the Vikings' pass rushers, and what silence takes away from the Cowboys' pass rushers. In a game that will be dictated by line play on both sides of the ball, that will be huge. Noise and that extra jump will help the Vikings get to Tony Romo, and that will be good enough on its own for a turnover and a couple of third down stops. The lack of a jump will keep Brett Favre clean enough to hit those rhythm passes and keep Dallas off-balance when Adrian Peterson gets the rock. Home-field advantage favors neither team in terms of playing conditions, but it means everything to Minnesota when it comes to the pass rush. Jared Allen has 9.5 of his 14.5 sacks at home this year. Minnesota had 26 of its 48 sacks at home this year. Of the 34 sacks the Vikings allowed this year, only 11 were at home.

That is our ultimate analysis, and to us the only thing that really matters.