The New Orleans Saints host the Minnesota Vikings at the Louisiana Superdome on Sunday in search of their first ever Super Bowl berth. It can be assumed that the place will be a rockin.

There are a number of factors to consider in determining where the percentage play exists on this National Football Conference Championship Game … the least of which is that the Qoxhi preseason Super Bowl selection was the New Orleans Saints. That’s right, that matters none in handicapping this game, and while this week someone asked me if I wouldn’t like to see the Saints advance because they were my pick in August, I responded with how I felt last week when the New York Jets visited the Chargers in San Diego.

The Chargers were our preseason AFC pick to advance to Super Bowl XLIV, but with our selection last week of the Jets based on current criteria, I didn’t have even a moment thought about how a Chargers win and Jets point spread triumph would be perfect. What was perfect was a Jets win … end of story.

Same goes this week, the only thing that matters in the Saints matchup against the Vikings is what team is in the best position to excel on Sunday … what team is best poised to advance to the Super Bowl … what team has the advantage over the current line which has the homestanding Saints favored by 3½ points.

New Orleans opened the season with 13 consecutive victories, putting them in a very elite group of winning teams. Most often, the teams that remain undefeated in their conferences the longest, the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC and the Saints in the NFC this year, are the same squads that represent their conference in the Super Bowl. But, after winning those 13 games to open their 2009 campaign, the Saints entered the playoffs on a three game losing streak.

No team has ever advanced to the Super Bowl that lost their final three regular season games.

But, before we leap at that stat to back the visiting Vikings, know this, no team that ever lost their last three games also earned their conference’s top seed for the playoffs. The Saints did this year, which is why they are hosting this Sunday’s Championship Game over second-seed Minnesota. Losing games while accomplishing all that is available during regular season play is more a testament to the strength of a team than winning meaningless games at the end of a season.

This year’s NFC Championship Game also provides one of the more intriguing matchups between starting quarterbacks. Drew Brees is making his second Championship Game start for the Saints, he lost to the Chicago Bears three years ago, and Brett Favre will make his first start in a Championship Game as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. Favre also led the Packers to four NFC Championship Games, winning two and losing two. Favre lost his first NFC title game appearance in the 1995 season, a setback to the Dallas Cowboys, and was defeated in his most recent Championship Game appearance in his last game as a member of the Green Bay Packers to conclude his 2007 season against the New York Giants. He twice guided the Packers to the Super Bowl in 1996 and 1997, winning the first over the New England Patriots and losing his second Roman Numeral appearance against the Denver Broncos.

This contest also matches the two highest scoring teams in football this year, the fifth time this has happened in NFL history. While the results for the highest scoring versus the next team in total points scored during the regular season are nearly evenly split, it is worth noting that all five of the teams that emerged from a Championship Game between the two highest scoring teams in football have gone on to win the Super Bowl.

So, Saints fans, want something else to get hyped up about?

You are not just cheering your beloved Saints for their first Super Bowl trip, but a likely Super Bowl win if you get over the hurdle provided by Favre and his Vikings.

Want to know the bad news?

The Vikings come into this game with the better defense and a more balanced offensive attack. I heard one handicapper on television this week predict a Saints win because he expected Favre would try to win it through the air and fail in that attempt. There is a problem with that line of thinking; Favre has not played outside himself this year, has not based the fate of his team completely on his rocket right arm like he did in most years with the Packers and almost exclusively last season with the New York Jets.

Instead, Favre has managed the Vikings to this Championship Game; willing to win while throwing as few as 17 passes, and counting on a punishing ground attack and a defense that both leads the league in sacks and opponents reeling in pain after punishing hits.

Do you think Favre, who has completed 37 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions this season, is going to abandon the reason he has had such success this season with a balanced attack which has allowed him to establish his career best regular season Quarterback Rating of 107.2?

I don’t think so.

The Vikings are the most complete team in football. They have an experienced quarterback, a top ranked defense, reliable special teams, and a running game that has been questioned by some because their leading rusher, Adrian Peterson, has not had a 100-yard effort since a mid-season win over the Detroit Lions. Peterson had a career low 4.4 yards-per-carry this season; he rushed for a 4.8 average last year and 5.6 in his explosive rookie season in 2007.

But, this year Peterson also caught a career high 43 passes during the regular season and scored the most rushing touchdowns in his three pro seasons, 18. This week, Peterson goes against a Saints defense that allowed a generous 4.6 yards-per-carry in 2009, which means this; we have a Vikings strong running game challenged to excel against a defense vulnerable to opposing ground attacks.

I think the guy picking the Saints because he thinks Favre is going to try to win this game in the air, and get burned by interceptions, is missing what I suspect the Vikings game plan will be based on; staying on the field with their running game, to keep the prolific Saints offense watching from the sidelines. Once the Saints defense puts eight in the box to try and stop Peterson, can you think of a better quarterback to expose weaknesses in an overmatched defense?

Ok, maybe you can, but he is playing for the Colts … and Favre and company will have an opportunity to meet that challenge in two weeks when they square off against Peyton Manning in Super Bowl XLIV.

Qoxhi Picks: Minnesota Vikings (+3½) over New Orleans Saints