Patrick Reusse: NFC's most talented team choked away chances

The Vikings showed in a pair of playoff games that they were the NFC's most talented team. They did this by taking apart a Dallas outfit alleged to be red-hot, and by dominating New Orleans in front of its rabid home crowd.

The Cowboys came to Minneapolis off a 34-14 first-round victory over Philadelphia in which they compiled 27 first downs and 426 yards. Against the Vikings, Dallas managed 16 first downs, 248 yards and lost 34-3. The carnage included six sacks that turned quarterback Tony Romo into a quivering hunk of futility.

One day earlier, New Orleans had secured home field for the NFC Championship Game by sprinting past Arizona 45-14. Quarterback Drew Brees selected receivers at will, as the Saints finished with 27 first downs and 418 yards.

Brees put together two early drives against the Vikings on Sunday and was hapless after that. The Saints finished with 15 first downs and 257 yards, feeble for a No. 1-rated offense that had reached 400 yards-plus in 10 of 17 previous games.

"Brees didn't try to throw the ball down the field more than a couple times," said Kevin Williams, the Vikings' All-Pro defensive tackle. "That was the Saints' game plan -- to run or throw short, before we got there."

The "we" in this case was the defensive line that destroyed Romo. This was followed by Sunday's drama, which was often accompanied by analyst Troy Aikman's ridiculous assertion that the Vikings' rush was providing Brees with too much time.

Brees was 5-for-8 for 43 yards in the second half. There was heat from Ray Edwards or Jared Allen on the rare occasions Brees held the ball for an extra count and tried to look downfield. He seemed uncertain for most of the night, a rarity for the Saints quarterback.

The way in which the Vikings manhandled Dallas, the manner in which the defense contained Brees and the offense moved across the Superdome turf -- there's no doubt that at season's end, your beloved Purple had the best combination of ferocity on defense and firepower on offense in the NFC.

The Vikings put this combination on display, and still managed to avoid the Super Bowl for a 33rd consecutive season. The Saints' 31-28 overtime victory gave them their first Super Bowl berth.

That leaves the Vikings fourth on longest-wait list for the Super Bowl, behind Detroit (never), the New York Jets (1968 season) and Kansas City (1969). Cleveland, Houston and Jacksonville haven't played in a Super Bowl but are expansion franchises that came into existence after the Vikings' fourth and final Super Bowl on Jan. 9, 1977.

The Vikings have been in five NFC Championship Games since then:

1977 (season): Overmatched in a 23-6 loss at Dallas. 1987: Last-second, 17-10 losers in Washington to end a grand playoff run. 1998: Crushing, 30-27 overtime losers to Atlanta in the Metrodome's best-ever football game. 2000: Humbled 41-0 losers to the New York Giants.

Two years later, the Vikings were no-shows in the Meadowlands, and that's probably worse than what they were in the Superdome. On this Sunday, they were chokers.

Adrian Peterson choked with two fumbles when he wasn't really popped. Percy Harvin choked with a fumble that gave New Orleans its last touchdown. Brett Favre choked when he didn't reach all the way to stick the ball into Peterson's belly near halftime.

And then, with victory in the offing, Favre allowed a season's worth -- a career's worth -- of savvy to escape. He ignored the crucial yards available for a run out of bounds, he ignored the defender taking off and leaving Bernard Berrian open 10 yards in front of him, and he flung the ball to the Saints' Tracy Porter for an interception, and Lord Brett's second title game choke in three years.

A few minutes later, the Saints were in the Super Bowl, and the athletes making up the NFC's most talented team were flying forlornly to Minnesota, victims of themselves.