Breaking down the Falcons and Vikings


Breaking down the Jets and Broncos


Falcons out to stop unstoppable Vikes


Focal Point: Shanahan vs. Parcells


Focal Point: Anderson vs. Vikings defense


N.Y. Jets at Denver


Atlanta at Minnesota

Last week, all four home teams won playoff games -- after having a week off. Which is why you never laugh at teams talking about the importance of home-field advantage in the playoffs.

	Dennis Green's Vikings hope to reach their first Super Bowl in 22 years.

This week, the home teams are Minnesota and Denver, both unbeaten this year on their own turf, with the Broncos riding an 18-game winning streak at Mile High.

Naturally, the home teams are favored.

Atlanta (plus 11) at Minnesota

"They were 14-2 and nobody else was in the NFC," Vikings coach Dennis Green says of the Falcons. "That makes them the best team we've faced all year."

Maybe.

The Falcons are a solid team with some veterans who have been this far, notably Cornelius Bennett and Eugene Robinson. Jamal Anderson gives them the means to control the ball and keep the nearly unstoppable Minnesota offense off the field.

But can they win?

The noise at the Metrodome forced Green Bay into five illegal-procedure penalties on one series in their game there this year. And it clearly rattled Jake Plummer and Arizona.

Atlanta doesn't have the passing game to get caught too often in third and long, which is what those penalties do. And the Falcons' best cornerback, Ray Buchanan is 5-foot-9, which means he concedes eight inches to Randy Moss.

The Falcons have had a nice season.

It ends here. Vikings 37, Falcons 20.

New York Jets (plus 9) at Denver

The Jets really are a pretty decent team, even if Bill Parcells likes to have people think that they're a bunch of stiffs that he's willed into the AFC title game. The Jets also match up against Denver pretty well, especially on offense, where Keyshawn Johnson, Wayne Chrebet and Dedric Ward can win one-on-one matchups with the Broncos secondary and Curtis Martin should be able to run.

Upon closer inspection, the Jets are a lot like Parcells' 1990 Giants, although those Giants were better on defense and not as good on offense. The relevant thing is that they won the NFC title game in San Francisco 15-13, then upset Buffalo in the Super Bowl.

There will be more scoring in this one.

Denver toyed with Miami's defense last week, and the Dolphins' unit is better than the Jets. They also get a huge advantage from the crowd, probably the loudest outdoors in the NFL.

Thus the key. If Vinny Testaverde can stay as unruffled as he's been most of the year, the Jets have a chance. If not, they don't.

Vinny will be OK.

But ... Broncos 35, Jets 31.

Last week: 3-1 (spread); 4-0 (straight up).

Playoffs: 4-4 (spread); 5-3 (straight up).

Regular season: 120-115-5 (spread); 155-85 (straight up). Combined: 124-119-5; 160-89.