Teams share big plays but win in different ways

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome,
Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 10

AT A GLANCE: The Cardinals continue their improbable run with a trip to Minnesota, where they’ll meet the highest-scoring team in NFL history. Jake Plummer and Randall Cunningham will meet in a battle of big-play quarterbacks.

Two offenses with a flair for the dramatic will square off in this NFC divisional-playoff game. The Vikings, who finished the regular season with an NFL-record 556 points, should be well-rested after a week off. The Cardinals are still riding the emotional high of their 20-7 wild-card win over Dallas, during which they recorded their two longest plays of the season, both of which led to scores.

While they share an element of explosiveness, these teams have come by their wins in vastly different ways. Minnesota won its 15 regular-season games by an average of 17.5 points, while seven of Arizona’s nine regular-season wins were decided by three or fewer points. In fact, the Cardinals’ 7-1 record in such games is the best single-season record in close games in league history.

Though the two franchises have split their 16 lifetime meetings, the Vikings have won five of the last six, including three straight. Last season Minnesota beat the Cardinals 20-19 in Arizona on Eddie Murray’s 38-yard field goal with 10 seconds left. Against the spread, the Vikings have covered in five of the teams’ last six meetings.

WHEN THE CARDINALS HAVE THE BALL:

The Cardinals’ want to establish the running game with Adrian Murrell. However, Murrell is not a great free-lancer and needs a lot of help from the offensive line to make plays. While the front five is improving (Arizona’s rushing average per game increased more than 23 yards from last season, and it allowed 28 fewer sacks), it still has a ways to go. SS Robert Griffith and MLB Ed McDaniel will play big roles in Minnesota’s run defense. Griffith is arguably Minnesota’s best tackler, and the team likes to use him on run blitzes. McDaniel earned his first Pro Bowl bid this season.

OT’s Lomas Brown and James Dexter will be put to the test by Minnesota sack artists John Randle (10 1/2 sacks) and Derrick Alexander (8 1/2). The Vikings will move Randle around a bit, but he spends most of his time at defensive end. Look for the Cardinals to double-team Randle often.

Though they want to get their ground attack going, the Cardinals live and die by the arm of Jake Plummer. The second-year signalcaller has shown a knack for making things happen on the run, and it will be up to Randle and Alexander to keep him in the pocket and let DT’s Jerry Ball and Tony Williams clean up. Keep an eye on Viking weak-side LB Dwayne Rudd. He has the speed and big-play ability to track down a scrambling Plummer.

Arizona has reliable receivers in Rob Moore (6-3, 203 pounds) and Frank Sanders (6-2, 197), both of whom have sizable height advantages over Viking CB’s Jimmy Hitchcock (5-10, 187) and Corey Fuller (5-10, 208). However, Hitchcock has had a spectacular season, picking off seven passes — three of which he returned for touchdowns — and defending a team-high 30 passes.