New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings Preview

Adrian Peterson Looking To Carry The Load

Vikings Fans Are Looking For Revenge

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    It has been more than seven months since the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings battled for the NFC championship.
saints_fans95.jpgScott Threlkeld/The Times-PicayuneIt will be an emotional game for the New Orleans Saints and their fans Thursday night.

Since then, barbs have been traded, criticisms levied, taunts fired.


Minnesota Vikings Coach Brad Childress accused the Saints of taking cheap shots at quarterback Brett Favre.

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe called out Saints safety Darren Sharper for dirty play.

Sharper, in turn, hinted that the Saints would be targeting Favre's ankle.

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Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said his defense could continue to send messages to opposing quarterbacks, "starting with No. 4 (Favre)."

Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, meanwhile, called Williams' remarks "meathead comments."

The trash talk and verbal volleys only add to the anticipation for Thursday night's regular-season opener between the teams at the Superdome.

It's one of the most-hyped rematches since Ali-Frazier.

NFL Kickoff?

More like the NFL Tick-off.

And it might be more physical than the Thrilla in Manila.

Saints' players spent Sunday afternoon downplaying their newfound rivalry with the Vikings. They stressed this will be just another game on the schedule. They insisted there'll be no more trash talking or extracurricular action than any other week.

Visante Shiancoe Looks To Quiet The Superdome Early

And they fooled no one.

Thursday night has all the earmarks of a blood bath. The Vikings believe they, not the Saints, should have won Super Bowl XLIV. They are convinced they gave away the NFC championship game. They are going to arrive with horns on their helmets and chips on their shoulders.

"I think it will all take care of itself from our standpoint and their standpoint, " Childress said. "You better play this game from an emotionally aroused level. I don't have any illusions that they will. All you want to make sure is you give your best shot, and that's what I want from my players."

Childress on Sunday did not back down from claims earlier this summer that he believes the Saints intentionally tried to hurt Favre in the NFC championship game.

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"What I hate to see are late hits or attempts to hurt anybody, " Childress said. "I don't think there's a place for that in the game."

Later on Sunday, Saints defensive end Will Smith scoffed at the notion.

"Everybody knows that's nonsense, " Smith said. "We play to the whistle. We played like that all year and didn't hear anybody else complain."

Defensive tackle Remi Ayodele said the Saints have never tried to intentionally hurt a player, including Favre. On the play in which Favre injured his ankle, Ayodele said he even tried to let up on the quarterback at the last minute.

"Watch the film, " he said.

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"You don't ever want to hurt another player, but I just think it was taken out of proportion because it was Favre and it was that game. But if you look back on the rest of our games, it was kind of the same deal. ... We did that every game."

Defensive end Anthony Hargrove just rolled his eyes when asked about the play.

"If the league doesn't want the quarterback to get hit, maybe they should just give him a flag, " said Hargrove, who was fined $5,000 for a late hit on Favre in the NFC championship game.

"We're not going to change how we play. We're going to come after every quarterback we play. It's about sending messages all season."

To Favre's credit, he didn't buy into Childress' claims. "It's physical, " Favre said. "It's football. I'm not going to get caught up in that."

What both teams likely will get caught up in is the emotion of the night.

There's going to be a pregame parade in the French Quarter.

The Dave Matthews Band and Taylor Swift will perform concerts.

They are going to drop banners at the Superdome on Thursday night: One for the NFC South Division title; one for the NFC championship; and another for the Super Bowl XLIV title.

The atmosphere is going to be electric. And the action is only going to intensify once they kick it off.