There has been some talk of "December woes" leading up to Sunday's divisional round game between the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings but, thanks to three straight wins to end the regular season and a wildcard round beating of Philly, it's not tied to the Cowboys.
The Vikings, consistently dominant in the early stages of the season, lost three of their last five, beginning with a 13-point loss to Arizona on Dec. 6. They beat Cincinnati handily before dropping two straight road games to Carolina and Chicago, respectively. If they have any momentum coming into Sunday, it likely drives from the utter beating Minnesota handed New York in week 17, a 44-7 aggravated assault (that, for Cowboys fans, was kind of funny).
Brett Favre, for one, hopes that's the case.
"We needed a game like that," said Favre, per ESPNDallas.com. "Would we have loved to have won those other games and go in without a care in the world? Sure. But it was a wake-up call and hopefully we answered."
Hopeful yes, but Favre sounded anything but certain in his remarks. Both Minnesota and the New Orleans Saints, odds-on favorites to win the conference, struggled late in the season, leaving the playoff picture a jumbled mess going into week 17. Out of the fray, Dallas, who was all but counted out after a loss to San Diego, has emerged as possibly the hottest team in football.
"Well, I hope we can [overcome it]," Favre said. "From the outside looking in, if you had to look at both teams, us and the Cowboys, you’d go, OK, aside from the fact that the Cowboys are playing at the Vikings, who is the hottest team right now? Well, I mean, no duh. The Cowboys are..."
"The last game for us was a good game, fortunately. I was asked the question after that game, 'Does this make you feel better?' It definitely beats the alternative. It did give us a little confidence. We do, or will have to play like we did in that game, or like we had played throughout the season up until those last few games. We have to play that way in order to win this game."
