Minnesota Vikings @New Orleans Saints<\/strong><\/p>\n Sunday, January 24, 6:40 p.m. ET We know what\u00a0 we get with the New Orleans Saints: football\u2019s most explosive offense. Few if any teams can hurt opponents in as many different ways as the Saints can. Drew Brees has been remarkably accurate, placing balls in receivers\u2019 hands all over the field, and a different one of his targets seems to bust out every week. Sometimes it\u2019s Marques Colston, unstoppable on jump balls; other times Robert Meachem or Devery Henderson or both get open for huge downfield gains. Even Jeremy Shockey chipped in with a touchdown last week. The Vikings\u2019 pass defense, which allows a pedestrian 218.4 yards per game, has a tough challenge in the Superdome.<\/p>\n Much publicized this year was New Orleans\u2019 increased commitment to the run, which made the offense that much more versatile and unpredictable. Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell led New Orleans to the No. 6 rushing attack in the NFL. With Bell banged up, Reggie Bush got back on the map last week. He carried five times for 84 yards and a breathtaking 46-yard touchdown run in which he made several defenders miss. The Vikings already had a lot of work to do in the film room this week just to prepare for Brees and the Saints\u2019 power running game. Now they have to prepare for Bush on the outside? It\u2019s almost unfair.<\/p>\n That said, the Vikings\u2019 run defense should be up to the task. It ranked second in the NFL and features the league\u2019s most unstoppable pair of tackles in Pat and Kevin Williams. More often than not, Minnesota\u2019s front seven wins the battle against opposing rushers. That means the Saints will likely rely on their potent passing game. After all this talk about New Orleans\u2019 fantastic offense, we haven\u2019t touched on Minnesota, which quietly ranked second to New Orleans in points scored this year. Ageless Brett Favre, who threw 33 touchdown passes and added four more last week, can put points on the board in a hurry. Young wideouts like Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin are just as explosive as the Saints\u2019 receivers. A player to watch this week is Adrian Peterson. He\u2019s supposedly football\u2019s best running back but he sure hasn\u2019t looked like it of late. He averaged just 2.4 yards per carry in Minnesota\u2019s win over Dallas last week, hasn\u2019t run for 100 yards since Week 10 and has just one run longer than 16 yards in his last eight games. He simply has to be better.<\/p>\n I think he will. The reason: the Saints\u2019 run defense has struggled badly in the second half of the season. Even it its decisive win over Arizona last week, it let Tim Hightower rip off a 70-yard run. Minny will be tough to stop if Peterson and Chester Taylor have daylight. Also, though the Saints force plenty of turnovers, their pass defense has been just so-so.\u00a0 It specializes in capitalizing on errant throws and Favre hasn\u2019t made many this season.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no denying that bettors have a tough choice this week \u2013 especially since the Louisiana Superdome may provide football\u2019s biggest home-field advantage \u2013 but I like the Vikings. Their offense is almost as good as New\u00a0 Orleans\u2019 and they play better defense. Should be a close one.<\/p>\n Gambling Trends:<\/strong><\/p>\n Minnesota is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing New Orleans
\nSportsbook favorite: Saints -3.5<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/banners.bmaker.ag\/images\/book_football_250_250_2.gif?cmpid=13385_1315\")
<\/a> New Orleans\u2019 O-line didn\u2019t allow a sack last week but faces a much tougher challenge in the NFC Championship game, as Pro Bowler Jared Allen and the Vikes have the NFL\u2019s leading pass rush.<\/p>\n
\nMinnesota is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing New Orleans
\nThe total has gone OVER in 4 of Minnesota’s last 5 games when playing New Orleans
\nThe total has gone UNDER in 7 of Minnesota’s last 9 games
\nNew Orleans is 14-3 SU in its last 17 games
\nThe total has gone UNDER in 4 of New Orleans’s last 5 games
\nThe total has gone UNDER in 4 of New Orleans’s last 5 games at home
\nThe total has gone OVER in 4 of New Orleans’s last 5 games when playing Minnesota<\/p>\n