Playoff game like a family reunion

NEW ULM -- This playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints could be like the family reunion where three cousins that haven't been seen in a while let the cat out of the bag that when favorite Uncle Elmo is described as "no nonsense" it refers to his choice of long underwear instead of his disposition.

The cat in this case is the "system" installed years ago by Vikings coach Dennis Green, proving the old adage that close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Minnesota has spent a number of seasons looking awfully sharp heading toward the altar before tripping over the ring bearer and allowing another suitor to wed the Super Bowl.

The cousins go by the names of Jake Reed, Andrew Glover and Terry Allen, all former Vikings who became familiar with the system, but were eventually informed by big daddy Green it was time for them to move out of the house and find Sainthood.

This is not to infer that their intimate knowledge of the VIkings system will necessarily help. Knowing Betty Crocker doesn't mean you can bake a cake. But it certainly can't hurt an overachieving team like the Saints, who consider themselves the little train that could going against the big train that has ended the past three seasons running off the tracks as they approach the tunnel.

Of the three, Glover appears to harbor the most bile towards his former team, followed by Reed, who was the odd man out in the present receiving corps, and then Allen, who is the furthest removed and has been with enough teams since his Minnesota days he carries road maps instead of crossword puzzles.

Glover has also contributed the most offense to the Saints, with 21 catches for 281 yards, while Reed has just 16 receptions, (no count on the number of drops, bumbles, or mutterings of "gee whiz") while Allen has proved the only ball he'll be cradling next year will contain numerous dimples and come complete with a tee set.

But New Orleans isn't supposed to be here. Before the season, the odds of Saddam Hussein being the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention were greater than the Saints chances of making the playoffs. When they started the season 1-3 and saw running back Rickey Williams and quarterback Jeff Blake go down with season ending injuries, their only two "name" players, you may have been able to calculate the odds on a calculator if it contained fresh batteries and was under natural sunlight.

But lo and behold, here they are, beating last year's NFL champs, the St. Louis Rams, 31-28, for the first playoff win in the Saints 34-year history. In Minnesota, there was a perceptible sigh of relief that the Rams wouldn't be around to mess with the Vikings a second time this year.

However, should the Saints win, Vikings fans might blame the Rams as much as the Saints. The Saints were up 31-7 midway through the fourth quarter when the Rams made a furious rally, scoring three TD's in seven minutes. New Orleans may have learned enough from that near choke job to give them the concentration needed to stop another offensive monster like the Vikings.

This leads to another question: If some scabby offensive unit like the Saints score 31 points against a defensive jugger-not like the Rams, what will they be able to do against the, ahem, defensively challenged Vikings?

The Saints quarterback, second year pro Aaron Brooks, has been described as a skinny Daunte Culpepper, which is better than being described as a tall Doug Flutie, a fast Scott Mitchell or a more accurate passing version of T. J. Rubley. Brooks will not have to avoid a Vikings pass rush, since they don't have one.

Culpepper, injured or not, will have to avoid a Saints pass rush featuring three players with more than ten sacks, 68 for the year. Add in Joe Johnson, the NFC defensive comeback player of the year, and seven out of eight wins on the road, and maybe the Rams don't look so bad after all.

The Vikings need to get the offense moving again, especially running back Robert Smith, who has spent the past three games as silent as John Randle. Get Cris Carter and Randy Moss involved early and often and pray Culpepper stays ambulatory. Bubby Brister has as much sparkle as the leftover cold duck from New Year's Eve.

The Vikings defense will have to find a way to rattle Brooks. (Have we heard this before?) The distance between the secondary and the Saints receivers does not need to be measured in nautical miles. Three to five yards will do. The Vikings linebacking corps will be required to keep ground gains to less than five yards a pop: three will do nicely.

Vikings owner Red McCombs is on record saying home field advantage will be the difference this week. Just the Vikings and 60,000 close family members. Here's hoping the long lost cousins only get kissed with helmets. Vikings by 3.