The number-one scoring offenses duels with the number-two scoring offense as the New Orleans Saints play host to the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship match on Sunday, January 24, 2010.

The Saints (-190) are 3.5-point NFC championship odds favorites over the Vikings (+160) and the total is 53.

For most of the season it looked like these two teams were destined to meet here and neither team has disappointed.

Vikings quarterback Brett Favre is looking for a second Super Bowl that would be an exclamation mark on his already great legacy.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees is looking to cement his reputation as one of the league’s best quarterbacks with his first Super Bowl.

Favre may be slowing down a bit, but he showed against the Cowboys that he can still pick apart a defense and his experience might prove to be the edge the Vikings need.

Minnesota may have a bit of an edge at quarterback, but the Saints have a more balanced corps of receivers and running backs. You don’t get the second best scoring offense without having some play-makers though and the Vikings have more than their fair share.

New Orleans runs a high-risk high-reward defense that gives up some big plays, but can turn a game around with a key interception.

There aren’t going to be the same number of opportunities for the New Orleans ball-hawking defense against a veteran quarterback like Favre who threw just seven interceptions all season.

Jared Allen leads Minnesota’s number one pass-rushing unit with 14 .5 out of Minnesota’s 48 sacks and Ray Edwards, who was injured in the Dallas game, looks like he’ll be ready to go as he practiced on Friday.

They’ll be going against a New Orleans front line that only gave up 20 sacks on the season, so it won’t be easy to get to Brees.

These are two great teams and it’s going to be a fun game to watch, but home field is going to be a huge factor in this game. Saints fans are loud and Minnesota has struggled on the road going 4-4.

It’s just one game and anything can happen, but it’s hard to figure how a team that’s dominated at home and looked timid on the road like the Vikings can all of a sudden change in probably the loudest building in the NFL.

The Saints balanced attack is just going to keep racking up yards while the Vikings go through stretches where they’re able to move the ball just as well as the Saints and then disappear for a couple of possessions.

One mistake by Favre and New Orleans should cover.

That was a good weekend of football. We saw some really good, close games and some thoroughly dominating offensive and defensive performances leaving us with one Cinderella team, the Jets, one Cinderella story, Favre and the Vikings, and two teams that delivered after promising regular seasons.

NFC Divisional Games

The Saints made the Cardinals look bad. I felt this game had blow-out potential, I just wasn’t sure which way it would go and the Saints poor play down the stretch had me leaning away from the Saints.

Way to prove me wrong.

I loved how the Vikings completely dismantled a hot Cowboys team. The combination of good preparation, the right game plan and a veteran quarterback like Favre who can bring it all together makes Minnesota a threat to any team.

As good as their respective offenses played, much of the credit has to go to the defenses who were in lock-down mode. It will be interesting to see whether it’s the veteran savvy of Favre or the overwhelming force of Drew Brees and the other Saints stars that gets the upper hand on the defenses.

Early NFL conference final odds have the Saints favored by four points. I don’t want to under-estimate the Saints after underestimating them last week, but I’m going to have a long hard think before betting against the Vikings.

AFC Divisional Games

The Chargers-Jets game played out almost exactly as I expected, although I didn’t account for the Jets ability to wear down opposing defenses and thought they’d be up early. The Jets aren’t going to play any pretty games, or at least they aren’t going to win them, but it’s nice seeing a team buck the trend to pass-heavy offenses and succeed.

Too many coaches are like sheep always building teams that emulate the most recent Super Bowl winners when there’s more than one way to win.

I also got the Ravens-Colts game right except that the Ravens surprised me with how much they passed. When the Ravens got the early field goal, it felt like Manning just decided that there was no way the Ravens were going to outplay the Colts and immediately quelled any doubt.

The AFC Final odds favor the Colts by 7.5. It’s a lot to cover and you know the Jets will play them tough, but the Colts are better equipped to deal with the Jets than the Chargers who really didn’t match up well.