While the AFC Championship Game might be a contrast of styles and attitudes, the NFC Championship certainly seems to be one that is laced with similarities.

Both the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings are franchises with bitter defeats, and long suffering fan bases.  Minnesota has been to four previous Super Bowls, and dropped all four.  The Saints have never been to one in their existence.  Both teams light up scoreboards and rack up so many yards of offense, the Superdome may need a new set of counter displays by the time the game reaches its inevitable conclusion.

Both teams love to throw the ball, and two of the best quarterbacks in the game this season, Drew Brees and Brett Favre, will be gunslingers like in the Old West when this one gets underway.  Here's hoping that the game will be a bit more competitive than both teams' contests last week, where New Orleans rolled over Arizona 45-14, and Minnesota hammered Dallas by a count of 34-3.  This game has all the potential of looking like an old AFL or even an arena league game, with footballs flying through the air constantly and teams seeming to score at will.

That doesn't mean there aren't differences between the two teams however.  The Vikings do like to run the ball with Adrian Peterson, while the Saints lack a franchise back.  They prefer to go with the multiple pronged attack of Reggie Bush, Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas in a rotation.  Minnesota has a punishing run defense, but that doesn't really help against New Orleans, who throws more than they run.  Jared Allen, Pat Williams, Kevin Williams and company form a fierce defensive front that reminds many Vikes fans of the Purple People Eaters of the 1970s. 

New Orleans will need to neutralize Peterson, something that teams have done with a fair amount of success in recent weeks.  He hasn't hit the 100 yard plateau since week 10 of the regular season against Detroit.  If Peterson is locked down, it forces Favre and his 40 year old body to drop back more often, opening him up to hits and potential turnovers.  The Bears did a good job of this in the next to last week of the regular season, sacking him three times, forcing a fumble and hitting him like a pinata at a kid's birthday party.

Once Peterson is locked down, the biggest factors for the Saints to neutralize are blossoming star wide receiver Sidney Rice and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe.  Rice caught three TD passes from Favre last week against Dallas, and has a major size advantage over someone like Jabari Greer.  Darren Sharper may be tasked with working on Shiancoe while shadowing the middle of the field.  Rice caught 83 balls for 1312 yards and 8 scores after catching just 46 balls for 537 yards and eight scores his first two years in the league.  Shiancoe grabbed 56 passes for 566 yards and an impressive eleven scores.

Minnesota will need to get pressure on Brees in order to have success.  The problem is, Brees was only sacked 20 times in the regular season.  The Saints have a good, tough offensive line who protect Brees and open holes for the running back by committee squad (4th in the league in pass yards per game, 6th in rushing, 1st in overall team offense.)  It's going to take an inspired effort by the Minnesota defense and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier's schemes to slow down, much less stop the Saints freight train. 

The toughest part for Minnesota is that the Saints have so many weapons to work with.  Seven Saints receivers caught at least 35 passes in 2009.  Marques Colston is a solid receiver, while Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson can stretch the field.  Jeremy Shockey is sound in the middle of the field and gives the Saints offense an injection of attitude. 

In a battle of the #1 and #2 scoring offenses in the league, Canucklehead and I differ in thought process about as much as Tim Horton's varies from Krispy Kreme.  He is of the state of mind that the Vikings will prevail, due to "Favreamania" running wild.  As for me...I think it's time for the Bayou Warriors to get their moment in the sun.  I think the diversity of the New Orleans offense and the schemes of Gregg Williams do just enough to get the Saints to Miami.

We're rolling with the Saints in this one, in a barnburner, 38-34.