The Vikings finally earned their bye week after a whole lot of drama and some thanks to the Cowboys. I'll gloss over the Vikings rampage over the Giants but given recent events we have to feel a bit better going into the bye week. We get the week of rest to watch the Cowboys/Eagles and Packers/Cardinals rematches, and the seeding of the contenders seems to have fallen favorably for The Purple.
Consider the #6 Eagles v. the #3 Cowboys - I'm scared to death of the Eagles but as the #6 seed, we won't have to see them under any circumstance unless it is in NFC Championship at the Dome. I'm less scared of the Cowboys and if they win, we will host them in 2 weeks at the Dome after they have dealt with winning back to back wars with Philly.
#5 Packers at the #4 Cardinals - the Packers are a scary team right now but we have beat them twice and they will be on their 3rd straight week on the road if they were to arrive at the Metrodome. I think the Cardinals are toast and have no shot against the Packers next week but if they find a way out of that jam, I think we will be a LOT better equipped to take them on at home this time.
If the Eagles win (I think they will) and the Packers win, we get the Packers at the Dome again and I think we can handle them (many will disagree). Now the suddenly sliding Saints will have to face an excellent road team in the Eagles and I give the Eagles a decent shot to beat a team that won't have won a game in a month. That means we will get the NFC Championship game at home and as we blogged last week, that would be absolute salvation for a Vikings team that has simply stunk on the road down the stretch.
Say the Cowboys take down the Eagles, I like that matchup for us following the bye week and that would mean the Packers travel to the Big Easy and they will also have a decent shot against the stumbling Saints. If all goes well, that means Vikings v. Packers for the NFC Championship at the Metrodome on January 24th. I can hardly contain myself thinking about this. If there is a dream Vikings victory that doesn't involve the Super Bowl, this is it.
Returning to Earth, the Saints are a great team and they will be favored by at least 4-5 points over either the Packers or the Eagles. If they can deliver and assuming the Vikings continue to be studs at home, we will have to play the NFC Championship on the road in New Orleans. This is the part I can't just can't get comfortable with. I know the game is in a Dome and we seem to like playing indoors (the Vikings are an amazing 10-0 in Domes and 2-4 outdoors), but we have been REALLY BAD away from Minneapolis since Halloween weekend.
So can we beat the Saints in New Orleans? I hope so. But hope isn't a strategy and all the evidence says we will struggle if that's the matchup. Hey, maybe we can pull off another one of these:
In the meantime, I will try to enjoy the moment. The NFC Championship game at home is a real possibility. C'mon! How about a little justice for the old time Purple Fans? Just one time.
