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The Minnesota Vikings face the New Orleans Saints in a rematch of last year's NFC Championship game.
Who: Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints.
When: Thursday, Sept. 9, 8:30 p.m. NBC.
Players to watch: Saints QB Drew Brees, RB Reggie Bush, G Carl Nicks, LB Jonathan Vilma, S Malcolm Jenkins; Vikings QB Brett Favre, RB Adrian Peterson.
X-Factors: The Saints can run five receivers out for passes and the Vikings are playing short-handed at cornerback. Cedric Griffin, a Vikings' corner, practiced some this week, but he is trying to come back from a torn knee ligament. Not a good thing to try and catch up to the Saints stars with that disability.
The Vikings will get a boost with linebacker E.J. Henderson available for this game. He did not play in the NFC title game against New Orleans because of a broken leg. Henderson and the rest of the Vikings have to concentrate one major thing: tackle after the catch. They have to close the gap after Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas, and the others catch those short throws.
Here is another X-factor for the Vikings. What happens with Percy Harvin when the aggressive Saints start taking shots at him? He suffered some migraines in preseason camp. Now he is going to return kicks. The Vikings did a good job of planting the seed for referees to take better care of Brett Favre in this game. Minnesota claimed Favre was guilty of some cheap shots in the NFC Championship Game.
The biggest X-factor for the Saints? That's easy. Do they have a Super Bowl hangover? They sure did some books and TV specials and had a nice time with the title. Sean Payton, the coach, got after his team in the preseason, according to some reports.
New Orleans has some issues on defense it has to resolve. Can safety Malcolm Jenkins be the kind of ball-hawk Darren Sharper was in 2009? The Saints got 39 takeaways last season with Sharper as the main thief, but he is out the first six weeks of the season. New Orleans also lost starting linebacker Jonathan Casillas to injury.
There is going to be some emotion in the Superdome as the "Who Dat" crowd gets revved up to celebrate the title.
Line: New Orleans minus 5.
Pick: Saints 28, Vikings 24
Vikings vs. Saints Preview
Sep 8, 2010 – 3:53 PM
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