NFL Picks – Divisional Round – Dallas Cowboys @ Minnesota Vikings [Sunday @ 1:00]

Dallas Cowboys (12-5) @ Minnesota Vikings (12-4)

LINE: Minnesota -2.5

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On Saturday, the Cowboys walked all over the Eagles and now have set-up one hell of a battle against the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are 8-0 (6-2 against the spread) at home while the Cowboys are 5-3 (3-5 against the spread) on the road. Will Tony Romo continue his post-season success and silence the critics once again or does Brett Favre take one step closer to the final chapter on his ‘revenge’ season. One part of me wanted to see the Packers meet the Vikings again, but this time in the playoffs and honestly, I wouldn’t care who won because it’d either be an “in your face” from Favre or a “you may have beat us twice but we beat you when it mattered” from the Pack. Regardless, it didn’t happen and the other part of me is extremely glad because Dallas @ Minnesota is going to be a great match-up. The Cowboys are the hottest team in the NFC right now while Minnesota finished off the season with a 44-7 beat-down of the Giants (who beat Dallas twice this year). Without a doubt, the NFC has better match-ups than the AFC and this by all means could be one hell of a game. On the other hand, Romo could choke now that he has no one to prove wrong (he’s won in December and the playoffs), while Favre could go back to his senile ways of throwing into double and triple coverage. Either way, anything can happen on any given Sunday.

DALLAS: Two week ago when Minnesota clobbered the New York Giants 44-7, and you would have never thought the biggest set-back in the Vikings season was when E.J. Henderson broke his femur back in week 12. Prior to paying the Giants, Minnesota had given up 100+ yards on the ground to four straight opponents which is horrible news as they prepare to face the Cowboys, who have ripped off 377 yards in the past two weeks on the ground. The three headed monster of Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice will continue to run the ball effectively which will set up Romo for play-action passes and misdirections opportunities. Romo is playing the best football of his career and when the Vikings have been struggling on defence without Henderson, Romo in that same span has thrown 13 touchdowns to only 2 interceptions. Not only has Romo stepped up and finally played the way that millions of people have expected of him, but he has had the help of Keith Brooking. Yeah, I know you are saying “what the? Brooking is a linebacker?” but what Brooking has done is taking the leadership role over from Romo who could not lead the team and be a focused quarterback at the same time. If you watch the pre-game, Brooking is the one in the middle of the team psyching them up, while Romo prepares himself for the game (much like he should). In the last two months, Dallas has been fabulous at protecting Romo, who has only been sacked more than twice by New Orleans and if the Cowboys can get things going on the ground early and often, it will only hurt the Vikings chance at getting pressure on Romo. What this boils down to is what TheCoach should have known for the Jets-Bengals game, and it’s that Dallas is a better team the Minnesota, they are playing better in the last 4-6 weeks and considering the Vikings couldn’t even rattle Jay Cutler and allowed him to put up his best numbers of the season, only leads me to believe it’s going to be awfully tough to stop Dallas when they’re playing they way they are. The first playoff win since 1996 might just be what Dallas needed to get over the hump.

MINNESOTA: The Vikings were the only team who had a BYE (Colts, Saints, Chargers) to play their starters in week 17 and it’s a good thing they did because they might have been able to get back on track with a 44-7 thrashing of the Giants. Good news when you’re playing a Cowboys team who just won their biggest game since 1996. Dating back to the start of December, the Vikings have lost 30-17 to the Cardinals, won 30-10 over the Bengals, lost 26-7 to the Panthers, lost 36-30 to the Bears and won 44-7 against the Giants… so really, the only impressive win in their last five weeks (and yeah, they were trying every week as they wanted to not only secure the 2nd seed and BYE but maybe even catch the Saints who started to lose themselves) came against the Bengals, who looked horrendous to finish off the regular season. Weeks into the season, I said Minnesota is beating everyone so easily because they have the best O-Line, running back, defensive front and a quarterback who is playing the best football of his career. In weeks 8-12, Favre had great protection and only went down four times in four games but in weeks 13-17, he went down 16 times! 16 TIMES!!! Gat-DAMN! So much for that offensive line blocking DeMarcus Ware on Sunday. Adrian Peterson hasn’t rushed for 100+ yards or more than 3.9 yards per carry since week 10 against the Lions (Steven Hawking could hit the century mark against Detroit). In the past month, the Cowboys haven’t allowed a running back to have 75+ yards on the ground, so much for the best running back being in Minnesota… (Chris Johnson). TheCoach already talked about their defence and the loss of E.J. Henderson so basically it’s up to Favre to single handily beat the Cowboys who are playing their best football in over a decade.

In summary, at the start of the season I really liked the Vikings but something other than injuries has hit this team, they were winning all their games early by 20+ points and maybe when San Francisco almost beat the Vikings it should have been a sign… but the Vikings ripped off many more wins with their only loss coming to Pittsburgh (who at that point hadn’t lost to Oakland, Kansas City and Cleveland). TheCoach has a feeling Minnesota is going to disappoint a lot of fans who will now be the ones wondering “will be ever win?” after having the best season since the year of Culpepper-Carter-Moss. With knowing he’ll being scrutinized for every little thing he does Tony Romo should look even more comfortable than he has and the exact same goes for Wade Phillips who kept his coaching job with his first playoff win last week.

TheCoach’s Prediction:
Dallas 27 Minnesota 17

Also, Be Sure To Check Out:

NFL Picks – NFC Divisional Round – Arizona Cardinals @ New Orleans Saints

NFL Picks – AFC Divisional Round – Baltimore Ravens @ Indianapolis Colts

NFL Picks – AFC Divisional Round – New York Jets @ San Diego Chargers