You've Got To Back Somebody: Week 13

So you’re flipping through your Sunday Ticket package during a commercial break and you stumble upon the Saints-Niners game. Quick! Who do you root for?

Don't know? Well, have no fear, because I have the answer for you. Let me present my first ever guide for who to root for on Sunday (the team the Vikings want to win is in bold).

Minnesota (5-6) @ Chicago (9-2): Just thought I’d start out with an easy one to get it going. Don’t want to pull a hamstring or something because I didn’t warm up.

New York (A) (6-5) @ Green Bay (4-7): Another obvious one. And, in case you were wondering, the Packers are out of the playoff chase. I still hope they lose badly and Farve throws three to four picks. I also wouldn’t mind if he got hurt again, but only if it were something that was guaranteed to make him miss a game.

Arizona(2-9) @ St. Louis (5-6): Not a hard choice, but definitely not an easy team to root for. Can’t say I expect to be backing the winner of this one.

San Francisco (5-6) @ New Orleans (7-4): At this point, it would be best for the Saints to run away with the NFC South. That, combined with the fact the 49ers are the only wild card contender that holds a head to head tie breaker over the Vikes, means that a Saints win would go along way towards eliminating a competitor that has the edge on the Purple.

Atlanta (5-6) @ Washington(4-7): A loss by the Falcons would severely damage their conference record, and would also drop them to 5-7. If the ‘Skins can pull it out at Fed-Ex, the Falcons would have to win out to make the playoffs, since a 6-6 record in the NFC isn’t going to be good enough to win a tiebreaker with another 8-8 team (like, say, the Vikings).

Dallas (7-4) @ New York (N) (6-5): Backing the Cowboys is another example of rooting for a division leader to run away with their division. Also, it’s better for the Vikings if the Giants lose, since it will mean they won't lose a game on the team in the last playoff spot, might pick up a game and also makes it more likely the Giants will finish at .500, giving the Vikings’ a little more room for error.

Carolina (6-5) @ Philadelphia (5-6): This one is probably the hardest game to pick between the teams. The Vikings are tied with the Eagles, and the Panthers are a game ahead. The Vikings hold the tiebreaker over the Panthers, due to their victory in Week 2, but won’t necessarily hold a tiebreaker over the Eagles if they finish with the same record (it depends on who the Vikings lose to). So at first glance, it might appear that the Panthers are the best choice here, on the theory that it would help eliminate the Eagles. I think, however, that with Jeff Garcia under center, the Eagles are much more likely to drop two or three of their last four than the Panthers are, and so it would be better for the Vikings if the Eagles won. To be honest, this game is a win-win / lose-lose for the Vikings, so it might just be best not to back a team here, lest you pick the wrong one and your blood pressure goes up or something.