Peer Pressure Works!

 NFC – Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints

This might not be the most exciting matchup in terms of shock value (anyone with a functional cerebrum saw this coming about half a season ago), but it is the two best teams in the conference squaring off, and that’s usually fun to watch.

Minnesota and leader/crotchety old man Grampa Favre can probably put up some numbers on the Saints. I actually think that New Orleans’ blitz packages will give them a more consistent pass rush than Dallas had last week (then again, the occupants of a ward full of quadriplegics could probably accomplish that goal), but they’ll give up more on the ground to Purple Jesus, He of the Book of Fumbles.

New Orleans is pretty much next to impossible to cover, simply because they have approximately 62 receivers who can make plays if you don’t lock them down. So pass rush is key, and the Saints have a better pass blocking line than the Dallas boys (big and fat is as helpful to pass blocking as it is to a healthy heart). I don’t see Jared Allen (a man who really should be driving long haul in a plaid shirt with the sleeves torn off, using the CB call sign of ‘Jimmy Vegas’) teeing off like they did on Tony Romo last week. I don’t really like Romo, but even I felt badly for him. Had they focused on his mom in the stands at some point, you would have seen her wincing…not because her son was in pain, but because those hits were actually shattering HER pelvis.

I’ll take the Saints, as the Vikings have to deal with a raucous, noisy crowd on the road. Plus, New Orleans owner Tom Benson had Dubya in his luxury box last week…that crazy bastard will foment a Republican-led revolution that ends with the National Guard shooting the Vikings of they should win.

AFC – New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts

The most astounding piece of Jets new this week? Rex Ryan apparently eats 7000 calories a day. That would explain why he looks like Gumby after a few Jacko bleach treatments.

The Jets shouldn’t be here, but they are. They’ve won two games in impressive fashion. However, with Shaun Ellis now reduced to one good hand and a shattered lump wrapped in what looked like 63 rolls of medical tape, and numerous other guys messed up pretty good, they aren’t exactly in a great position this week.

The Colts are pissed off. This is their chance to show everyone that with their starts in the game, they can stomp a mud hole right through the Jets. They’re angry, they’re motivated, and they’re capable of actually pressuring the passer. A pressured Mark Sanchez does not a poised Mark Sanchez make. They also have a semblance of a running game, something San Diego couldn’t say.

I’ve got the Colts winning this one, at least in part because I think they have a chance against the Saints or Vikings, while the Jets would be crushed. I don’t need to see another Super Bowl ass kicking.