Johnny G’s Conference Championship Picks

It's in the Money

Minnesota Vikings (+4) over New Orleans Saints 6:40pm

What a game this will be. The ageless Brett Favre comes into the Superdome and tries to take down Drew Brees and the Saints. Will the home-field advantage be too much for the Vikings to overcome or will Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre be too much for the Saints to deal with?

Minnesota enters this game with the NFL’s second best offense in the NFL. Interestingly enough, New Orleans enters this game with the NFL’s best offense. Both Quarterbacks are right around 70% with their completion percentage, both threw for just over 4,000 yards, both have extremely impressive touchdown to interception ratios, and they both come off 31 point playoff wins just last week.

With all the talk about all of the offensive firepower through the air for both teams, I firmly believe this game will come down to the running game. Adrian Peterson, who has struggled in recent weeks, is still as talented as any running back in the league, and going up against a rush defense that allows almost 130 yards per game, this could be his coming out party. On the other side the Vikings only allow 87 yards per game on the ground to opponents and just over 200 yards through the air. The Vikings defense is strong enough to shut down the run early, and then sit back and blitz Brees to prevent him from getting any momentum going.

Overall the Vikings have more weapons on both sides of the football as well. With Percy Harvin expected to play despite his migraine situation and Pro-Bowler Sidney Rice, it is an explosive and dangerous combination to stop. Jared Allen should put quite a bit of pressure on Drew Brees throughout the game and hamper the rhythm of this offense. Take the Vikings plus the points here on the road as Favre finally gets back to a Super Bowl at the ripe age of 40.

Other Suggested Selections: Colts (-7.5) over Jets 3pm

Tags: Conference Championship, Football, Johnny G, NFL, playoffs