When I was in Vegas, I put money on both the Packers and the Vikings to win the SB. Packers had 20-1 odds, Vikings 8-1. da Bears had 6-1 odds, which I think someone is smoking crack. They won't even win their division.

The Steelers won it last year had 8-1 odds. I think the Patriots were the team with the best odds at 3-1.

Now, get this, so you know me. I never shut up. I keep blabbing and blabbing, including to strangers. So I'm talking to the sports guy about different shit, and then start paying for the Packers. Talking and talking and put money on the Vikings too and mention how I think Favre will be playing for them. He instantly stops talking and plays dumb.

I think they know what's up.

For the Packers to win the Super Bowl, this is what we must do...

The 3-4 HAS to work. If it doesn't, we're in for another long season like last year. On O, my favorite thing (I hate D, but recognize it's kind of an important thing), we need to be more aggressive and we need to run less and pass more. We especially need to be more aggressive in the opponent's red zone.

We need points, points, and more points. We already know Aaron doesn't throw INTs, and his red zone stats resemble some guy by the name of Joe Montana's red zone stats. So throw the fucking ball instead of handing it off.

Pardon my French.

What's more, I like the term "playmaker" because football fans know what I'm talking about. We got 3 on O - Gregorious, Driver and Rodgers. Ryan Grant is not a playmaker. Sorry, but repeating what I saw last year. If you sneeze on Ryan Grant, he falls over. He got tackled a lot by the feet. By the FEET. My God. You gotta get tougher than that, Ryan Grant.

Now for the Vikings to win the Super Bowl, this is what you need to do...

You have to control Brett Favre. Like it or not, if his arm is healthy, he's still a top 10 QB in the NFL. The Vikings with a top 10 QB have as good as a shot as anyone, including the Patriots. Yes, the Patriots are a better team than the Steelers and the ONLY reason the Steelers were in there is because Brady went down. Sorry Steeler fans, but you know it's true. The Patriots would have bitch slapped you and you would have been humiliated in the Playoffs, as you will in '09.

So going back to the Vikings, you have to control Brett Favre. You also have to limit his passes. The Vikings have to be a run first team on O with Favre completing passes. They need ball control. Don't turn the ball over. Just control the football, and eat the clock. The Vikings with Brett Favre have the O to eat a clock.

Time of possession will determine games for the Vikings. Favre has to throw the ball away occasionally, but more importantly, he simply has to complete passes. Let AP carry the O while Favre moves the chains when he's needed.

The thing is, Favre needs to have faith in the Vikings D. The Vikings D last year was 13th in the NFL, but with Favre, it will be a top 10 D which is all they'll need to win the SB. Favre simply keeps the O on the field, and that's what he needs to do.

So, I'm hoping the Packers win the SB. If we don't, I hope the Vikings do. Either way, I'll have money to take Mrs. Z on another cruise. If my people got it wrong and Brett Favre is not a Viking in '09, well, sorry my Viking friends on this board. You're not going to win a SB with Tarvaris or Sage. It's just not gonna happen. Booty isn't ready and is years away from even being seriously tested.

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I think this is an awesome analysis and I'm going to move it to the NFC North section! I don't know what to add to this, since I'd be hard-pressed to disagree with any of it. Like an insurance company, Vegas almost never loses -- they pay vast sums for information to keep bettors at negative expected value, because that's what it takes to be a winner at games of odds. Similarly, I always say, if you want to know what's going on in other countries, read economics journals -- they HAVE to know.

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The only thing I'd add to Zombie's analysis is Percy Harvin.

If he is healthy, I think he'll have as much an impact on the Vikings offense as Berrian did last year.. With the supposed addition of some Wildcat offensive plays due to AP and Harvin's talent, I think the Vikings offense maybe better than alot of people are thinking.. With or without Favre. I feel the only thing that will determine the success of the offense will be how the new offensive line gels (with the departure of Birk, and the addition of Sullivan and the rookie monster, Loadholt).

Otherwise, good job on the talking points.

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Looking over at PP.O from time to time, I think that Harvin might be slightly overrated, though.

Don't get me wrong, he's a great young player. He might do something special things. Still, though, he's a rookie receiver. They tend to have some developmental parts to them. Plus, he's been used all over the field. I have yet to see Childress use a player to his fullest potential.

Not saying that he won't be good, just that he might not be the instant gamechanger some are looking for him to be.

Yeah. I agree, he totally could be overrated by some.

I think alot the optimism he garners is from his explosiveness that he's shown in OTAs, and since the media relays that to us fans, we get kinda giddy too.

I think the majority of said optimism is also due to the thought of new offensive plays being implemented into the Vikes playbook, almost exclusively for Harvin. Freakin' Adrian Peterson didn't have that. From what I've seen, the excitement from the OTAs is very similar to a Rookie of a Year that wears a purple 28 jersey.

But, alot of the mainstream media overlooks Harvin.. Hell, alot of the time they don't even MENTION him. I, for one, am excited to see the type of explosiveness he'll bring. I've heard he's got Moss-like talent, but in a hybrid body. We'll see.

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Favre needs to become Elway. Take the back seat and let the running back drive you to a title. Regardless of where you rank these quarterbacks I think we can all agree that Davis was the primary weapon for Denver in their Super Bowl days and Peterson is a bigger weapon than Favre.

I personally don't think the Vikings are that close. I think their defensive backfield is a tad overrated.

I think their offensive line is going to be pretty poor this year. I think McKinnie is slowly wearing down and the loss of Birk is huge. The right side already had problems.

I would take Atlanta, Philadelphia, and N.Y. Giants over Minnesota.

So I'm in no way comparing them to those great Bronco teams, but in terms of Favre/Elway and Davis/Peterson, I think the comparison can be made. Whether or not Favre can put his ego and feelings aside and take the back seat is something to be determined.

I personally will have to see it to believe it. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks especially when the trainier is Brad Childress.

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It's clearly anybody's division except Detroit's.

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I wouldn't count out Detroit either, remember 1-15 Miami 2 years ago to 11-5 last year. You may call the players bad but hey they are getting paid alot of money so they must be some pretty good players.

Calvin Johnson, Simms, Foote and Petersen as lbers and a good running back so they do have some weapons.

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They brought in Marquand Manuel and Stewart Schweigert to play safety. And I bitch about our safety play.

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If i remember they also drafted the best safety and TE in the draft and possibly the best qb of the draft.

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