NFC Divisional Playoff: Vikings 34, Cowboys 3

PREGAME
A revival of one of the NFL's great postseason rivalries coming up in the Homer Dome. It'll be time for Adrian Peterson to prove he belongs at the top of the NFL heap. The Vikings need him to set the tone today, put up good running numbers and HOLD ON TO THE BALL. If they can keep Favre from trying to do too much, which has been the key to their success this year, they'll be set.

I really don't care for Dallas' matchups when they're on offense. Their pass protection looked pretty leaky last week; Jared Allen will be all over that. And they would seem to be in trouble if Antoine Winfield accounts for Miles Austin successfully, especially given Jason Witten's recent funk. Will Roy Williams step up if Dallas needs him? Will the three-headed RB attack put the Vikings on their heels? Will Joe Buck and Troy Aikman be sober this week?

FIRST QUARTER
Did Rebecca Grant say "Twin Cities" during the tight purple top update, er, "Verizon Football Zone Update"? 'Cause that wasn't what I heard.

Just to show I'm paying more attention to Rebecca Grant than her, well, Twin Cities, she wore red yesterday and the team that wears red, Arizona, lost. Uh-oh, Minnesota.

The Cowboys receive the opening kickoff and Kevin Ogletree returns a very short kick to the 28. They're out to the 45 after converting a 3rd-and-inches with the ol' 90-flip, to Miles Austin. Cowboys pick up a blitz on first down; Dallas picks it up well but Tony Romo still has to throw the pass away. Austin with a 9-yard catch in front of Bennie Sapp. Vikings are getting NO pressure on Romo so far, and on 3rd-and-1, he hits Patrick Crayton in the left flat and down to the Viking 34. The next play looks like a screen pass; Minnesota blew it up with huge pressure from both ends. And Ray Edwards, whose hair is on fire so far, gets Felix Jones in the backfield for a big loss. 3rd-14.

Heh. Edwards was the DE Dallas actually double-teamed that time. HE STILL BEAT IT, sacked Romo and forced a fumble, recovered by Kevin Williams. Viking ball at the 35.

Adrian Peterson drops a pass on a circle route for Minnesota on 1st down, then tries the right side for 3. On third down, Demarcus Ware somehow makes it to Favre untouched - Chester Taylor didn't stay back to block him - and takes him down for a sack and a 3-and-out. Vikings punt. Ware acted like he was dinged after that play; keep an eye on that.

Yeah, Ware's head ran into Bryant McKinnie's backside. Dallas claims he's fine. Jones around left end for 8. Good blocks from RT, RG and TE get him a hole to bounce out to midfield. NO RUSH from Minnesota, Romo hits Jones in the flat, Felix fakes Cedric Griffin out of his jock for another 10-yard gain. Marion Barber up the middle for 4. Romo blows the exchange on 2nd down but Kyle Kosier luckily kicks it out of the way and Dallas recovers. Dallas also cluster, um, bombs, 3rd down, as Jason Witten tips a pass intended for Austin, who's like a foot behind him. Austin makes the catch but doesn't get the first down. Wade Phillips opts for a 48-yard FG instead of going for it on 4th-and-1. Guess what Shaun Suisham does.

Yep, there's still no score. Vikings ball at the 38.

After Peterson again fails to get anywhere on 1st down, Favre beats a Dallas blitz with a quick pass to Sidney Rice, who stretches for a 1st down at the 49. Favre beats another Dallas blitz (last week's TMQ said the Cowboys never blitz; nice analysis, Easterbrook) on 2nd down with a 47-yard sideline bomb to Rice that Gerald Sensabaugh never had any idea was coming. Even after Rice caught it. Even after Rice scored! What the hell was Sensabaugh doing? Does he know? Does he know the Vikings don't have the ball now? Does he know what day this is?

Vikings 7, Cowboys 0.

Ogletree only to the 18 with the kick return, but Witten gets wide open and gets them to the 32. They move the chains again with a short pass to Martellus Bennett. Jared Allen flies in and blows up a screen. Bennie Sapp trips up Barber to force 3rd-and-9. Romo converts that with another completion to Witten. Dallas can get across midfield. They just get into trouble when they cross the Viking 40.

Hey, there's Leslie Frazier on the Vikings sideline. Let's hope he took preparations for this game more seriously than he took that head coach interview in Seattle last week.

End of first quarter: Vikings 7, Cowboys 0.
SECOND QUARTER
Romo starts the quarter hitting Austin inside the 30. OMG, A JIMMY KENNEDY SIGHTING. I forgot he was still in the league. Romo rolls right, and there's so little pressure on him, it looks like the Cowboys are playing the Rams. He hits Bennett at the 10. Wildcat nonsense gets Choice a couple. Excellent play by Pat Williams, because Marc Colombo destroyed the DE with a devastating cut block. And now the Ray Edwards Show continues; he beats Colombo clean and sacks Romo back at the 15. 3rd-and-goal. 4-man rush panics Romo and he throws it away. Kevin Williams nearly got there on a stunt. Suisham hits(!) from 33 to put them on the board.

Vikings 7, Cowboys 3.

Buehler bombs away for a touchback. Kudos to Jerry Jones for being the one guy in the NFL who can figure out that it's hard to get beat on special teams when you can kick very, very deep.

Favre steps away from pressure and hits Jim Kleinsasser with a dink for 14. Dallas jumps offside on the following 3rd-and-short, but Peterson takes a swing pass for 19 to make it mute, as we say in Missouri. They screen to Taylor with a blitz coming for another first down. Peterson gets 11 on a 2nd-down draw. Ball at the Dallas 15. From there, classic Favre for the TD. Play-action bootleg left, he ducks under Marcus Spears flying at him, and hits Rice down the middle inside the 5 and in for a TD.

Vikings 14, Cowboys 3.

Minnesota's killing the Dallas blitz; maybe Wade Phillips had better dial back a little.

Hoo boy, a throwback on the kickoff return loses Dallas 5. Walt Anderson gives Dallas 15 back on a taunting penalty. A decent call, but have I really not seen Mike Carey or Ed Hochuli call a game yet this postseason? What's up there? At least we haven't seen Jeff Triplette.

Cowboys at their 29. Jared Allen flies in to stop Jones for no gain and get his name called for the first time today. Allen then beats Jason Witten easily and splatters Romo from the blind side, forcing a fumble that Ben Leber recovers. Romo's third fumble of the day, and cue the blowout music.

Why the hell is Jason Witten trying to block the best pass-rusher in the league one-on-one there? Bernard Berrian gets Minnesota 1st-and-goal at the 8, bouncing a quick slant back outside. Dallas, though, stuffs Peterson (only 25 yards so far) on 1st down; Keith Brooking breaks up a swing pass to Taylor on 2nd down, and after a Viking delay of game, stops ANOTHER SWING PASS TO TAYLOR at the 6. Dallas secondary kept them in the game right there. Ryan Longwell chips in 3 for Minnesota.

Vikings 17, Cowboys 3.

Dallas at their 22 and in need of a TD drive. Doug Free has replaced an Flozell Adams at LT due to a calf injury. Witten was supposed to be helping him on that last sack/fumble but somehow wound up having the whole job. Romo makes a huge play to spin away from pressure and hit Witten at the 34 for a 1st down. Vikings started a little slowly but their d-line has owned the line of scrimmage in the first half. JIMMY KENNEDY tackles Barber for a loss. One more TFL than he had his entire Rams career. Witten digs a low pass at the 40 at the 2:00 warning, after which it'll be 3rd-and-4, Dallas.

Romo rifles a pass for Austin between 4 Vikings, way too hot for him to catch, and Dallas is punting again. Fair catch at the 8, and Dallas better damn sure prevent a score here.

Anthony Spencer stuffs Peterson for a loss at the 7 and Dallas calls timeout. AP barely gets one more outside right and Dallas calls another timeout. Despite being up 2 TDs in a home playoff game, the Vikings fans sound restless at Peterson's mediocre first half. They surprise Dallas with a draw to Taylor, though, and he gets across the 20. 1:10 to go. Spencer quickly gets to Favre with another blitz coming (hey, TMQ, I thought Dallas never blitzes!), and we're probably kneeling out the half now. No, Favre scrambles and tries to hit Harvin over the middle, but the rookie blows a sliding catch, giving the purple gang 3rd-and-14, :27 left. Buck and Aikman are ripping Brad Childress for that play; I'll bet 5 bucks that was Favre's call. Vikings wind up punting with :23 to go. Dallas does not come after the punt, which Crayton muffs at the 36. They'll have 13 seconds to move about 35 yards. (I'm way ahead of ya, Joe Buck.)

Useless out route to Crayton incomplete. Wouldn't even have gained first down. Romo steps up and hits Witten on the far sideline for 10. :04 on the clock. Bombs away? Vikings rush 4 - Romo has to whirl away from Allen, who destroyed Free, then he has to whirl away from Kevin Williams, then he just slides at the 30 with nothing but purple around him. Kind of this game in a nutshell, really.

Halftime score: Vikings 17, Cowboys 3.

Cowboys' pass protection has really gotten them into trouble today. It was bad enough with Adams, let alone without him, with the very green Free at LT. They need to move Romo around in the pocket, especially away from Allen. Hit Minnesota with more draws and quick plays. Some no-huddle would be great. Try to wear the Vikes down. They've got to find some ways to get heat off Romo. Would be great for them if Austin could get off the milk carton, or if Roy Williams could even get in the grocery store.

Dallas' D could be more help, too. Peterson hasn't done squat on the ground, but the problem is they haven't gotten to Favre, who's picking them apart to the tune of a 142.7 passer rating. The blitz isn't working that well, Wade Phillips. Drop more guys into coverage and let your playmakers like Ware and Spencer get up in his face and make some plays. Dallas' best chance to get back in this thing is by forcing Favre to make mistakes.

THIRD QUARTER

Gaines Adams RIP.

Buehler starts the second half with the usual touchback. 3rd-and-3, Walt Anderson does an awful job getting the play stopped after a false start, allowing Favre to get drilled by Bradie James. Orlando Scandrick gets away with a hold of Percy Harvin on 3rd down as Dallas gets a crucial 3-and-out by hook and by crook.

Jones bounces outside left behind Leonard Davis' pull for 17, then pops for 9 off the right side; here come the Cowboys. Didn't I say they needed to run more, kind of? Barber goes up the middle for 7-8 yards, and Dallas is quickly at the Viking 23. But Edwards blows up a 90-flip to Barber for MINUS 7. Bad match of play and personnel there by Jason Garrett. That's a Felix Jones play, not Barber's. The Vikings actually blitz a couple on 3rd-and-14, and Chad Greenway brings Romo down. Again, they need to get Romo on the move. Suisham scrapes the outside of the upright from 49 and Dallas may be done.

Vikings at their 39. Favre overthrows a slant to Berrian that Michael Jenkins nearly picks off. Jay Ratliff lets them off the hook by holding the center. Spencer fails to blow up a Harvin end-around for a gigantic loss as Harvin gets away for a 14-yard gain. Ball at the Dallas 37, but the Vikings pretty much die from there. They false start, Peterson continues to get little on the ground (14-40), and Scandrick cartwheels Rice for a short gain at the 35. Chris Klewe nails the classic coffin corner kick, though, pinning Dallas at the 2.

That may have been the first coffin corner kick I've seen in 30 years.

Dallas 3-and-outs, gaining only 1 yard on a Barber carry. Tyrell Johnson forced Austin out on the 3rd-down attempt. The Vikings start in Dallas territory after the punt. They ran into Mat-yes-seriously-with-one-t McBriar, but that was only good for a 5-yard penalty. Did Walt Anderson say Dallas declined the penalty? Bizarre decision, given Minnesota's field position.

Now Dallas is repunting, though Buck says -Minnesota- took the penalty. HUHNH? He continues to insist Minnesota took the penalty when noting their field position got about 20 yards worse. Is Buck drunk again?

Vikings at their 40 after DALLAS accepted the running-into-the-kicker penalty. Favre throws behind a wide open Harvin for an incompletion on first down.

THE VIKINGS COULDN'T DECLINE THE PENALTY ON THE PUNT, BUCK, YOU FUCKING MORON, THE PENALTY WAS ON THEM!!!!!!!

Pardon that interruption. Peterson gets no gain on 2nd down and Ratliff breezes by RG Anthony Herrera to sack Favre. I'll say this, Minnesota has played like complete shit this second half.

Ten minutes later, Buck finally figures out that Dallas took the penalty on the punt. Just in time for Minnesota to punt it back. At least he's 1-for-4 in announcing what happened on the play.

Cowboys now at their 20. Jones takes a swing pass for 4. Johnson and Pat Williams string out a sweep on 2nd down and take those 4 yards back from Felix. Look at Pat Williams outrunning Felix Jones. Was there a triple cheeseburger on the field. On third down, Romo pump-fakes and inexplicably throws an interception DIRECTLY TO Ben Leber. Just lofted it right to him. That wasn't a pump fake; JIMMY KENNEDY jumped and made Romo pull the ball back down. A horrendous play by the Cowboy QB either way, and he can probably start getting ready for another offseason with TMZ.

End of third quarter: Vikings 17, Cowboys 3.
FOURTH QUARTER

Looks like the marquee matchup of the weekend is going to turn out to be crap, and we're relying on the Jets to make this playoff weekend even remotely interesting. The Vikings are EXTREMELY conservative after the INT, gain only a yard and go for the FG. Longwell extends the lead.

Vikings 20, Cowboys 3.

Jones gets the call on the kickoff return but doesn't even make the 20. Romo barely escapes pressure and shovels one Favre-style to Witten for 9. Witten's wide open for 23 more at the 48. Edwards has been in and out since the 2nd quarter with a knee problem. Here's Dallas in the no-huddle, about a quarter too late. Kevin Williams flushes a chicken-with-his-head-cut-off Romo into KENNEDY. An actual sack by JIMMY KENNEDY? I'm sure that's one more than his entire Rams career.

Dallas officially announces they've given up the game and therefore the season by punting. It's the 4th quarter and you need three scores, morons!

Vikings at their 14. Peterson drives a Dallas pile backward for 6 and possibly his longest run of the day. No, he had an 11-yarder. Harvin motions into tailback position and goes off left tackle for 7-8 more and a 1st. 11 minutes to play. Two plays later, Favre rolls right and hits Rice at midfield. Cowboys bring a big blitz on 3rd-and-4, Favre throws his blitz route, a long lob up the near sideline for Rice, who pushes off Michael Jenkins and hauls the pass in for a 45-yard TD. Rice's third TD of the day.

Game over.

Vikings 27, Cowboys 3.

Dallas at their 27 with 7:30 left, the game basically in FU-mode. One-handed catch by Witten for 8. 2nd down pass incomplete as Minnesota keeps the heat on Romo. STUPID DRAW PLAY to Jones LOSES YARDAGE. Jason Garrett must have been on the phone making a tee time. Chad Greenway makes a sweet open-field play to stop Witten short on 4th-and-4.

This one's over. Straight to the finish.

(Updated to add a 4th-down TD pass to Visanthe Shiancoe with 2:00 left. I may not like Dallas, but that's pretty much classlessly running up the score, and we've got a bitter rivalry budding here.)

MVP: Rice had three TDs, but like the Colts last night, the Vikings dominated this game with their defensive line, and representing them, Ray Edwards wins today's game ball. He set the tone for this game early, playing with his motor cranked all the way to 11. He's credited with three sacks and also had the tackle-for-big-loss on Jones. Gotta love it when your line has stars like Jared Allen and the Williams "brothers", and it's the least-known of the d-line starters coming up big in a playoff game.

Looking ahead: RamView's postseason record "improves" to 4-3 with this win, but now's where I make the big mistake and change an original pick. My gut thought the Vikings would run too well in the Superdome for the Saints to beat them in an NFC title matchup, when actually, their running game has been crap for about eight weeks now, Adrian Peterson or not. And not having Antoine Winfield at full strength, an injury situation I wasn't aware of, is a situation we should fully expect Drew Brees to exploit. New Orleans' o-line is playing much better than Dallas' to boot. Also, Brett Favre in a road dome in a playoff game. Remember the 2001-02 playoffs? The pick for the NFC side of the Super Bowl is the Saints.

Dallas is yet another team in this year's playoff that doesn't look like needs to add much to remain successful next season. Offensive line should be priority number one, and Lord, look out for Jerry Jones with an open checkbook in a season with no salary cap.

Hopefully Jets-Chargers will be remotely interesting; that starts in about 40 minutes.