Join me as I live blog this game on The Score – Link

*This live blog is accessible through web, iPhone/iPod Touch (Details) and/or Blackberry (Details)*

PREVIEW

The Minnesota Vikings are just one win away from clinching the NFC North. Brett Favre has had a season to remember but there is still a ways to go before this fairytale ends. A step towards the final goal comes tonight as the Vikings go on the road to face the defending NFC Champion Cardinals.

Brett Favre v/s Kurt Warner is the underlying story in this one. The two veteran leaders in the game. Warner sat out the loss last week as he was recovering from a concussion but the Cardinals have won 6 of their last 8 games. Their offense is still among the most dangerous in the league and they can load up the points in a hurry. Boldin has stepped up in recent weeks racking up 261 yards over the last 3 games to form a 1-2 punch with Larry Fitzgerald (75 catches, 826 yards, 9 TDs). If both these guys can get going tonight then it will be a long night for the Vikings.

The Arizona offense should be okay and the end result will unfold based on how their defense holds up. It is no easy task to stop one of the NFL’s most balanced offenses. A heavy dose of Adrian Peterson added on to the task of defending Farve connecting with Sidney Rice. Thus far, no team has had an answer for the Vikings when they are rolling with all their weapons. Rice has been phenomenal over the last 6 games and ranks 3rd in the NFL with 964 receiving yards to go along with 4 TD’s. Farve is statistically having one of the best season of his entire career. (crazy eh??) He has completed 70% of his passes for 2,874 yards with 23 touchdowns and just 3 picks with a QB rating of 112.1. I haven’t even touched on what Adrian Peterson does for this team but basically it becomes a pick your poison situation for opposing teams.

Arizona has played down to weaker opponents this year and stepped up for this big games. Tonight is one of those big games and the Cardinals should come out fired up. Though they have home field and a nice streak in their favor, Minnesota may just be too much for them to handle on this night.

My Prediction: Minnesota Vikings 34 – Arizona Cardinals 31

1. Falcons and Patriots – I picked the Falcons because I couldn’t get myself to root for the Pats. Why? I don’t know. Why do some people hate Lakers or Yankees? It may be the Epic Fumble Fail from the Bills – Pats game – or the fact that Tom Brady had people shot at his wedding. Somebody tried to convince me on Twitter, that Tom Brady is kind of girls’ favorite, but I didn’t buy it. C’mon, he always looks so bored during the games, with his cold stares and perpetual screaming at his receivers! I wouldn’t let anybody scream at me! Unfortunately, either the screaming helped or his bored face was just a poker bluff as Pats pulled out the win 26-10, which meant 0-1 for Kat’s picks.

2. Saints and Bills – I have made it no secret that the Bills are my team, I really like them. Did a little research, saw several games already and read a huge Football Preview magazine, so I knew, what we were facing. Drew Brees appeared as a fantasy football player’s wet dream, so I figured he would be scoring loads on the Bills. But as the Saints’ defense wasn’t the best I trusted that we might out-shoot them somehow. (Do you say ‘out-shoot’ like in basketball?) So I expected lots of touchdowns, and lots of fun. And I simply believed that I could just WILL the Bills into victory. Non-surprisingly Saints scored a TD in first 2 minutes and not long after that Bills got theirs. That was fantastic – they basically faked a field goal and planted a TD on surprised Saints. And then, I felt that something clicked, when my mild interest in the game started turning into love… Of course it had to turn into bitter tears in the end, as it was also the last good moment for the Bills, who decided to fold after that. Although they stopped the magical powers of Brees, they had no answers for the running back Pierre Thomas. Or should I say – flying back, cause it looked like that. Terrell Owens didn’t catch a single thing for the first time since his rookie season and Fred Jackson’s 71 yards didn’t help very much. Saints 27-7, Kat 0-2.

3. Colts – Cardinals. I don’t really like the Colts, so I didn’t root for them. But, after watching them for the second time, I figured out that Peyton Manning is simply a wild beast. I wonder if they only release him for the games and cage him in-between, because he is scary. He threw for 4 TDs! C’mon! Colts 31-10, Kat 0-3.

For the games I didn’t actually watch, Sunday looked like this:

1. Lions over Redskins 19-14. Well, Lions deserved a win, finally.

2. Packers over Rams 36-17. Packers are my second favorite team. Poor Aaron Rodgers had been sacked about 10 times heading in. Good for them.

3. Vikings over 49ers 27-24. Wow, saved by Grandpa Favre’s heroics and his TD pass with 2 seconds left. I saw the end of this game and it had the basketball buzzer beater quality. Freak-tastic!

4. Jets over Titans 24-17. I liked the Jets in this match-up. They are likable, Sanchez is likable. Look at this rook – he started his first 3 games and won all of them, like nobody else before. I was informed via Twitter that Jets were like 14-0 in the first quarter, then my source became quiet, so I guess the Jets blew they lead. But they held on long enough to pull out the win.

5. Eagles over Chiefs 34-14. Eagles are a better team, even without McNabb. Vick didn’t even have to put any significant numbers on the stat sheet. Talking about Vick, I found this in Sports Illustrated: ‘An animal-rescue group will donate five bags of dog food to a Washington D.C. shelter for every time Michael Vick is tackled when the Redskins play the Eagles next month.’ Beware, Mike!

6. Giants over Bucs 24-0. Giants are pretty good, Bucs are not. But to completely shut them down? Wow.

7. Raven over Browns 34-3. Browns are a really bad team. But, hey you can always cheer for Cavs when you’re form Cleveland!

8.  Jaguars over Texans 31-24. Jaguars wanted their first victory and Texan’s horrible defense delivered it to them.

9. Bears over Seahawks 25-19. Cutler debuted miserably, so he had to show up to redeem himself.

10. Bengals over Steelers 23-20. Not having Troy Polamalu and his curls must really suck for Pittsburgh.

11. Broncos over Raiders 23-3. No Cutler, no problem. Orton can make it – Denver is 3-0 already.

12. Chargers over Dolphins 23-13. Dolphins suck. 0-3 for the third time in six seasons.

For Monday night I am picking the Panthers over Cowboys. I cannot like anything George Bush thinks is good.