Spread: Vikings by 2 1/2
Hash marks: These teams haven’t faced each other in the postseason since January 2000, when Jeff George was the Vikings’ quarterback and Robert Smith was running with the ball. . . . The Cowboys had eight games this season in which their offense topped 400 yards; the Vikings did it six times.
The Cowboys win if: Their resurgent defense, which closed the regular season with back-to-back shutouts, can get to Vikings QB Brett Favre. The Cowboys have 146 sacks in the last three seasons combined, tops in the league during that span. Favre was sacked 14 times in the Vikings’ four losses this season (3.5 per game), compared with 20 times in their 12 wins (1.7 per game).
The Vikings win if: They can get Adrian Peterson going in the run game. Peterson hasn’t rushed for more than 100 yards in a game since a Nov. 15 win over the Lions. In the seven games since, he has averaged more than 4 yards a carry in just one game — the regular-season finale against the Giants, when he carried the ball just nine times.
Cowboys player on the spot: If it’s the postseason, it’s QB Tony Romo on the hot seat. Romo has taken plenty of criticism for his previous struggles in December games and the playoffs, but he couldn’t have looked any more calm and collected than in the win over Philadelphia last weekend. He completed passes to eight different receivers against the Eagles.
Vikings player on the spot: Favre brought out the best in WR Sidney Rice this season, but this is Rice’s first dance on the big stage. He’s not the most physical player in traffic, and there tends to be a little more rough stuff in the postseason. But Favre attempted at least 30 more passes to Rice than any other player in the Vikings’ offense this season.
Bet you didn’t know: The Vikings’ defensive linemen accounted for 38 of the team’s 46 sacks this season, the highest total of any defensive line remaining in the playoff field.
Key matchup: Vikings LT Bryant McKinnie vs. Cowboys OLB DeMarcus Ware. Ware has been an absolute terror since leaving the field on a backboard when he suffered a sprained neck against the Chargers. But it would be no shock if the Cowboys chose to flip Ware to the other side of the formation from time to time to take on Minnesota rookie right tackle Phil Loadholt.
The call: Cowboys 31-27
Jeff Legwold, The Denver Post
