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Mort and Suzy discuss the Bears' offseason issues, Max and Marcellus rank the teams in the NFC East, and Herm and Bill Polian show off their dance moves.

In the hours after claiming the prestigious "Mirror Ball" as the champion of "Dancing with the Stars," Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver flew across the country to appear on ABC's "Good Morning America." He also hammered out an exclusive blog post for ESPN.com's Playbook page, and I'll excerpt a portion of it below:

It was truly special to be around so many great people. Each and every week we pushed each other to get better. We also had a lot of fun, and I will never forget the great times we had the past few months.

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Kelsey McNeal/Getty imagesDonald Driver and partner Peta Murgatroyd won Season 14 of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

Now the focus goes back to football.

Physically, I feel incredible.

I can't wait to get back up to Green Bay and get on the practice field with my teammates.

Winning this competition was sweet, but I still have a bitter taste in my mouth from last year’s playoff loss to the Giants.

We just brought the Mirror Ball to Wisconsin, and now it’s time for another Lombardi Trophy!

God Bless!

Despite rampant speculation, there are no indications the Packers plan to move on in 2012 without Driver. Coach Mike McCarthy indicated Driver could begin participating in the team's organized team activities as early as next week.

If you missed Driver's GMA appearance, here is a link to the first segment. He explains his post-victory celebration this way: "I was on fire. So I had to roll around and get the fire off of me."

I won't try to break down the reasons why Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver won the prestigious "Mirror Ball" trophy Tuesday night as the champion of the reality show "Dancing with the Stars." No point in that.

What I will say is that watching the last few weeks of the show was a good reminder about the value of stepping out of your comfort zone. Driver is a great athlete and competitor, and perhaps he was already a good dancer before this show. But his emotional reaction to winning was an indication of how hard he needed to work to secure this accomplishment, and how much satisfaction he felt upon achieving it.

(Having Packers fans supporting you in the viewer voting doesn't hurt, either.)

Driver will have a few whirlwind days of publicity but could re-join the Packers for offseason workouts as early as next week. His agent, Jordan Woy, tweeted: "Congrats to Donald Driver winning DWTS!! Now it is time to get ready for another season with the Packers!"

Here are some other Packers reactions via Twitter:

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers: Speaking of teammates, am so proud of @Donald_Driver80 and his accomplishment tonight!!! Enjoy the whirlwind the next few days quickie!!!

Tight end Tom Crabtree: Donaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaald Driiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ?#titletown? ?#GoPackGo? ?#dwts? ?#football? ?#dance? ?#America

Linebacker A.J. Hawk: Congrats @Donald_Driver80, Champion, not even close!

Guard Josh Sitton: My little cousin @biigwilly won the sate baseball championship tonight an @Donald_Driver80 won dwts ! What a great night! Congrats guys!!!!!

Receiver Randall Cobb: Quickie has to write a book about this! Congrats to @Donald_Driver80!!!

ESPN analyst Andrew Brandt, a former Packers executive: Donald! Remember skinny 7th round pick coming in saying he would make a name in GB. Great story.

Have a wonderful evening.

Hi everyone, and thanks for bearing with me Thursday while I attended to some business at, yes, the ESPN mothership. We discussed many important and pressing issues, among them our plans for the one or two days this summer when the NFL news feed slows down.

In reality, it appears I didn't miss too much in the way of news Thursday.

ESPN's Adam Schefter has strengthened his earlier report on the apparent all-clear that Chicago Bears receiver Brandon Marshall has received from the New York City police department. Most notably, however, it appears we might have some clarity on the future of Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver.

It's been long speculated that the Packers will release Driver this offseason, even though he has offered to renegotiate his contract to stay with them. Non-committal answers last month from general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy strengthened that possibility, but on Thursday, agent Jordan Woy said he expected Driver to return to the Packers in 2012.

Woy told ESPN's Andrew Brandt: "He'll be back. Just need to work out details when done" with his appearance on "Dancing with the Stars." The reality show will conclude next week.

As we've discussed, there really hasn't been any rush to complete a renegotiated contract. Driver wasn't due any money until the start of training camp. So it's quite possible that Thompson and McCarthy won't commit publicly to Driver's return until the new deal is done. That makes some sense. We'll know soon enough.

Just what you all wanted: NFC North blog readers will be treated to another week of "Dancing with the Stars" coverage.

(Don't like it? I'll be happy to bring back hourly Minnesota Vikings stadium updates.)

As you would most likely know by now if "DWTS" interests you, Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver has advanced to the finals of the ABC reality show. (I'm still a little confused how three celebrities remain in play after a four-person semifinal round, but maybe I'm overthinking it.)

After bidding farewell to the plucky Maria Menounos, Driver will compete against fellow celebrities William Levy and Katherine Jenkins next week for the "DWTS" title.

From a football standpoint, Driver's additional week on the show has probably delayed any resolution to his future with the Packers. Green Bay begins organized team activities next Monday, as Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com points out, but Driver will still be in competition at that point.

Earlier this morning, NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert caught my eye with a blog post detailing the contract situation with Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver. The Packers are unsure about Driver's future in Green Bay and most likely will restructure his contract or release the receiver.

If it's the latter, could Driver land in Miami? There are natural ties to suggest the Dolphins would be interested.

For starters, Miami rookie head coach Joe Philbin was Driver's offensive coordinator for five seasons in Green Bay. Second, Driver is a prototype West Coast receiver, which is something Miami doesn't have on its roster. In fact, the Dolphins don't have any proven receiver on their roster. I detailed those issues over the weekend.

The downside is Driver is 37 and doesn't have much time left. But he would be a good fit in Miami for the short term. Driver is an experienced veteran who knows the offense and can be a good mentor to the younger receivers. If Driver needs a job in several weeks, there's a starting position waiting for him in Miami.

What did you think about the way Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy addressed the future of receiver Donald Driver? At the very least, Driver's future with the franchise doesn't appear to have been decided.

Driver, 37, has said he would be willing to re-negotiate his contract to remain with the team, and last week the Packers made two difficult decisions -- releasing left tackle Chad Clifton and safety Nick Collins -- while Driver remained on the roster. But when asked if Driver is set to go to training camp with the team, Thompson told reporters Saturday: "I would never speculate on something like that. He's dancing right now. Doing good, too."

(As you know, Driver remains apart of the "Dancing with the Stars" cast on the West Coast and, according to ESPN.com's Lynn Hoppes, he's scheduled to dance the Viennese Waltz in Monday night's broadcast. That'll be big.)

It's not unlike Thompson to avoid direct answers on personnel matters. But McCarthy was unusually vague when asked the same question, saying: "No reason to speculate on that. I'm just going to follow Ted's answer to that question."

If Driver was definitely set to return, you would think Thompson and/or McCarthy would have said so. If a decision had already been made one way or the other, there would be nothing to avoid speculating on.

One guess is that the sides are trying to work out a restructured deal but haven't completed negotiations. Another, less likely, possibility is that they have agreed to reconvene after Driver's stint on "DWTS."

There certainly are no hard feelings at this point. McCarthy gleefully admitted he and his family have faithfully watched each "DWTS" episode, which is more than I (and possibly you) can say.

"I didn't realize it was such a tough thing for a man [to watch] "Dancing with the Stars," McCarthy said. "And if I'm not at home, we have to DVR it and watch it as a family. We're rooting him on and voting eight times like you're supposed to. He's doing a great job."

The Packers are well into their offseason program, but the early stages are mostly about strength and conditioning, neither of which have ever been a problem for Driver. Stay tuned.

A little more than a month from now, on May 19, London Fletcher will celebrate his 37th birthday. This is a high number for an NFL linebacker. Indeed, according to ESPN's research department, there are only 14 players at any position who are older than Fletcher and currently occupy space on NFL rosters. Eight of those 14 are kickers, one is a punter, one (Charlie Batch) is a backup quarterback who almost never plays and one (Patrick Mannelly) is a long snapper. The only non-special teams players older than Fletcher who still get get regular playing time are Tampa Bay's Ronde Barber, Green Bay's Donald Driver and Baltimore's Ray Lewis.

If you knew nothing else besides Fletcher's age, he would seem an odd fit with a Washington Redskins team that's looking ahead, signing younger free agents on offense, about to entrust its next decade to a rookie quarterback.

But the Redskins know better. They know all of the reasons Fletcher is the worthy exception to their plan to get younger. They know this is a man who has finished in the top seven in the league in tackles for eight straight years, who's in better shape in his late 30s than anyone in the locker room, who has played in 224 games since entering the league without ever missing one.

They know Fletcher is a person and a player who sets the right kinds of examples on the field and off for teammates young and old. Who plays hard on every single play and, without barking or bellowing or calling attention to himself but simply by the mere and apparent fact of his own effort, encourages others to do the same. They know he's a leader to whom other players can go to seek counsel on matters related to football as well as matters related to non-football life.

The Redskins remember this time last year, when the players were locked out and Fletcher was calling teammates, organizing player workouts, scouting high school fields to see if they would hold up well enough or if he'd be putting his men at too great a risk of injury by practicing on them. They remember the stories of how he scribbled down a few of Jim Haslett's 3-4 defense plays on a piece of paper and stuffed it in his back pocket so he could call out specific formations and assignments during those loosely organized workouts.

They know, from having watched it up close, that Fletcher believes in what the coaching staff is trying to do. They have seen him embrace the change from the 4-3 to the 3-4 -- thrive in it personally while he helped teach it and sell it to holdovers and newcomers alike. They believe the development of younger linebackers such as Perry Riley, Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan has something to do with the proximity those players have had to Fletcher in the locker room and on the practice field. Mike Shanahan views Fletcher as an extra coach -- someone who's so in tune with the program and so commands the respect of his teammates that he alleviates some of the responsibilities of the men on the coaching staff. He makes their job easier.

Fletcher matters to the Redskins. He wants to be a Redskin. He has become the captain, the leader and in a lot of ways the face of the franchise. He wants to be in Washington when it pays off -- when all of the lean years end and the Redskins contend again. The Redskins want him around their rookie quarterback -- be it Robert Griffin III or Andrew Luck -- and the young receivers they signed. They want him to help corral all of the new members of their secondary and get the best out of them.

Fletcher is going to be 37 years old next month, and if that's all you were looking at then a two-year deal doesn't make sense. But if you've been watching and experiencing his career with the Redskins, you'd know it was a no-brainer. That's how the Redskins felt, and it's a huge relief to them and their fans that he's back in the fold.

Dorothy of Memphis has a request: "Isn't it about time for a Dancing with Driver watch? Donald is representing the Packers and NFL well this season, and it looks like he has a chance to make it to the end. Any chance you'll give him a shout out for all of us die-hard Packer (and DD) fans?"

Well, Dorothy, we are in the middle of one of our busiest 12 months of the season. Offseason conditioning began at NFC North facilities Monday. The 2012 schedule is set to be revealed soon, possibly this week. And a little thing we call the draft will open April 26, whether we're ready or not.

I suppose, however, that we can squeeze in a little time for something that has interested enough Green Bay Packers fans that phone lines have literally been jammed by those trying to vote for Donald Driver to advance on "Dancing With the Stars." A new round of competition begins Monday night, and we should at least recognize that Driver has impressed judges with his emotion and passion.

I'm not committing to a show-by-show breakdown quite yet. I'm going to approach "DWTS" much like most of us look at the NBA. When the playoffs start, I'll get interested. Now I just need to figure out when the "DWTS" playoffs begin.

If stadium news doesn't get your blood pumping, then perhaps ballroom dancing will float your boat on this fine Monday afternoon.

After years of begging, the NFC North finally has representation on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars." We in the business call it "DWTS" for short. You will soon, because Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver is one of 12 celebrities paired with a dancing professional to compete in an elimination-style competition.

(For now, we'll skip over the possibility that Driver, 37, will not be a part of the Packers' roster in 2012. He's ours for now.)

Season 14 debuts Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on, yes, ABC. Tuesday night brings us the first results show of the season, from what I understand.

A total of 10 current or former NFL players have participated in DWTS, and Driver will be the fifth wide receiver after Jerry Rice, Hines Ward, Michael Irvin and Chad Ochocinco. He is paired with Peta Murgatroyd, a native of New Zealand whose previous celebrity dance credits include Ron Artest before he re-named himself Metta World Peace.

I haven't decided whether we'll actually do a DriverWatch, or perhaps a DWTSWatch, as this exciting drama unfolds. I do think it will be fun to see how Driver's personality plays on a national level, and we've seen enough fancy footwork from him to think he has a reasonable chance to, uh, dance well over the next few weeks. (Sorry, I don't know how the kids these days describe good dancing. "Getting down?" "Gettin' jiggy with it?" "Busting a move?" I'm a big "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo" guy, but otherwise, I have no idea.)

For now, at least, consider this a public service announcement as you look for ways to fill your Monday (and Tuesday) nights until Monday Night Football returns in just a few short months.

I have no idea if this is our last post of the day or if we'll have five more before we call it a night. That's how crazy the NFL news cycle is at the moment. But we've had a collection of newsbits hit the wire in the past few hours, so let's bring them all together while we have a moment — in quick-hitting fashion, of course.

Item: The NFL has taken $36 million in salary cap space from the Washington Redskins and $10 million from the Dallas Cowboys for two-year-old contract violations.
Comment: Each NFC North team will receive $1.6 million in additional cap space as a result. Yee-haw!

Item: The Detroit Lions released tight end Will Heller.
Comment: Heller was due a roster bonus of $200,000 and would have received a base salary of just under $1 million in 2012. As cold as it sounds, you don't need to pay your third tight end that kind of money.

Item: The Chicago Bears issued a low tender of $1.26 million to running back Kahlil Bell, a restricted free agent.
Comment: The Bears have the right to match any contract offer Bell might receive, but they would get no compensation if he departs. At this moment, he appears in line to be Matt Forte's primary backup in 2012. Marion Barber isn't expected back.

Item: The Vikings aren't expected to tender linebacker/special teams ace Kenny Onatolu, according to Jeremy Fowler of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Comment: The fate of the Vikings' other restricted free agent, running back Lorenzo Booker, has yet to be learned.

Item: The Green Bay Packers are entering into their final hours of exclusive negotiating with center Scott Wells, a pending free agent.
Comment: The Packers have a history of last-minute agreements, but Wells might feel compelled to test his market value before being satisfied with what the Packers have offered.

Item: I can't count how many people have asked for updates on the status of Packers left tackle Chad Clifton and receiver Donald Driver.
Comment: If either player has restructured his contract and/or been informed of his release, it hasn't been made public. That's all I can tell you at this moment.

Greeny and Golic discuss the new cast of "Dancing With the Stars," which includes Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver and 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Navratilova.

We spent a fair amount of time during the regular season tracking how the Green Bay Packers utilized and implemented their stable of offensive skill players. As their postseason begins, now seems a good time to look at a few aspects and consider how they might impact Sunday's matchup against the New York Giants. Our friends at ESPN Stats & Information have been particularly helpful in that regard.

First, I want to pass along the final playing time numbers for the Packers' top six pass-catchers, figures that evened out a bit after receiver Greg Jennings sprained his knee and missed the last three games. Tight end Jermichael Finley was on the field more than any other Packers skill player, but Jennings' snap count was on the same level before his injury. Otherwise, the Packers distributed time on merit in a way that probably could have been predicted in the preseason.

(Hat tip to Katie Sharp for mining the database to find those numbers).

Rotating six skill-position players so aggressively led the Packers to use 237 different personnel groupings this season among their skill players, according to video tracking by John McTigue. That counts receivers, running backs and tight ends but doesn't reflect shuffling on the offensive line or at quarterback.

That total was the third highest number in the NFL. For context, consider that the Oakland Raiders led the NFL with 290 combinations and the Baltimore Ravens were last with 81. The league average was 157.

The Packers used so many different combinations that their most popular group was on the field together for only 117 plays, or 10.8 percent of their total offensive snaps. For those interested, that group included Jennings, Finley, Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson and James Starks.

The second chart breaks down the number of personnel groupings the Packers used in each game, from a high of 41 in a Week 5 victory over the Atlanta Falcons to a low of 23 in their relatively meaningless Week 17 victory over the Detroit Lions. So what does all of this mean, both in the big picture and for Sunday's game? A few thoughts:

• The Giants didn't face many teams this season that mix things up the way the Packers do. When they did, they did not fare well. The Giants were 1-5 in games during the regular season when teams used 24 or more offensive personnel combinations. The Packers used a season high of 39 against them in a 38-35 victory in Week 13.
• One advantage of changing personnel groupings is that it requires a longer scouting report and more studying of tendencies. Consider it this way: At any given time, the Packers could put one of 13 players on the field who has scored an offensive touchdown this season, including defensive lineman B.J. Raji but not backup quarterback Matt Flynn. That's a lot to think about.
• To me, this is just another example of the innovation and flexibility coach Mike McCarthy wraps into his offense. Remember, last year at this time, we were discussing the wide spectrum he had established between five-receiver sets on one side and a heavy wishbone formation on the other.
• It's amazing when you realize that Nelson caught the third-most touchdown passes in the NFL this season (15) while playing less than 60 percent of his team's offensive snaps.

We know that Jennings will be on the field a lot Sunday. The same goes for Finley and probably Nelson. After that, and in what combination, is anyone's guess. Which is just the way the Packers like it.

KANSAS CITY -- We have all week to discuss the Green Bay Packers' injury-depleted offensive line. There is plenty of time to hash through their sudden case of the drops. I promise I'll offer you an opportunity to debate whether coach Mike McCarthy should have challenged an apparent fourth-quarter fumble in Sunday's 19-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. (Actually, I already have.)

For the moment, however, I think we should note just how tantalizingly close the Packers got to the most revered title imaginable: The greatest team of all time.

Their 19-game winning streak, which included a 13-0 start this season, had already placed them in the running. And if the Packers go on to win Super Bowl XLVI, perhaps we'll still be able to make an argument on their behalf. But a 19-0 run through 2011 would have been unprecedented, as would have the corresponding 25-game winning streak. Whether they admit to it or not, the Packers know that opportunities to place yourself on that pedestal -- objectively and indisputably -- come around once in a lifetime.

"It would have been special, make no mistake," cornerback Charles Woodson said in a rueful but hardly depressed Packers locker room. "When you have a shot to do something like that, you do it. We certainly felt like our chances were good to come in here and win today, and we didn't get it done. … Guys would have loved to do it. We would have loved to do it."

Said defensive lineman B.J. Raji: "You can't underestimate the opportunity to chase history. It was definitely huge. We didn't shy away from the topic. Our coach didn't shy away from it. He addressed it. I can't belittle the challenge to go 16-0, but obviously that's behind us now."

To be sure, many in the Packers' locker room were in no way on edge as history loomed. In professional sports, the big picture rarely gets bigger than stringing together championships. Win or lose Sunday, the Packers were in better shape than any other NFL team to mount that sort of accomplishment.

Not everybody cares about the history book. But at some point in their lives, most members of the 2011 Packers would have appreciated looking back and realizing they were mathematically the most successful team ever over a two-year stretch. They had a chance to do something that New England Patriots of the 2000's couldn't, something the 1980s San Francisco 49ers fell short of, as did the 1970s Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers -- not to mention the Packers of both Vince Lombardi and Curly Lambeau.

These Packers have nothing to be ashamed of, nor do they deserve an ounce of criticism. Only one team in history, the 2003-4 Patriots, won more than 19 consecutive games. No failure occurred here. Only a missed opportunity. As receiver Donald Driver said, "it was truly amazing to be able to win that many games in that long of a period."

Driver added: "It hurts because that's something special. We always talk about, if you get the perfect season, then you're part of greatness. But you take it for what it's worth. Right now, the only thing we can do is go 18-1. If that’s 18-1 and you're the Super Bowl champs, I don't think anyone cares about the perfect season after that."

We saw some things Sunday from the Packers that might have you concerned. Now we know what happens when the Packers' defense, which entered the game leading the NFL with 32 takeways, doesn't get a turnover. A half-dozen or so drops reminded us how pristinely their offense has played for most of the season, and few teams are prepared to have their top two right tackles injured in the same game.

To be sure, as McCarthy noted, this wasn't a fluke loss. "We were beaten today," he said. "The Kansas City Chiefs outplayed us. We were beaten."

At the same time, let's not overreact and wonder if the Chiefs exposed the Packers' flaws for the world to see. Let's not be so spoiled by a 19-game winning streak that we forget the NFL's always-true "Any Given Sunday" mantra.

In the bigger picture, the Packers know they can clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with their next victory, or by a San Francisco 49ers loss as early as Monday night. If they do it, they won't play a game away from Lambeau Field -- where they haven't lost since October 17, 2010 -- until the Super Bowl.

McCarthy said he has viewed an undefeated season "as really just gravy" on top of their more central goal of winning the Super Bowl. Perhaps he'll feel differently in 10 years. Had the Packers been able to pull it off, and they fell five points shy of extending the run into another week, I think we would all have looked back on these past two years with a reverence reserved for the very best of all time. But for now, the Packers will settle for the best of 2011.

"Our goal has never been to set records or lead the league in statistics," guard T.J. Lang said. "We care about getting wins and [getting home-field advantage and winning the Super Bowl], and fortunately we still have a couple of those in front of us that we can hit."

» NFC Final Word: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Five nuggets of knowledge on Week 15:

March toward history: No Super Bowl champion has opened the following season with 14 consecutive victories, but a win Sunday at the Kansas City Chiefs would give the Green Bay Packers a 14-0 record, home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and a total of 20 consecutive victories -- including playoffs and dating back to last season. The Packers' last defeat came on Dec. 19, 2010, so a win Sunday means they will have gone beyond one year -- at least 370 days -- without a loss. Even if the Chiefs pull the upset, and as of Friday they were 14-point underdogs, the Packers could still clinch the top seed in the NFC playoffs if the San Francisco 49ers lose Monday night to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jennings' impact: The Packers have arguably the NFL's deepest receiving corps, and it will be fun to see how Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver, James Jones and Randall Cobb compensate for the loss of Pro Bowl receiver Greg Jennings, who will miss the next few weeks because of a knee injury. (Tight end Jermichael Finley will also be involved.) Most notably, Jennings leaves a void in the Packers' downfield passing game. Since the start of the 2008 season, Jennings has an NFL-high 39 receptions of at least 30 yards, according to ESPN Stats & Information. That's more than double the next-highest Packers receiver on that list -- Driver with 18. Nelson, James and Cobb are all capable of getting downfield. We'll see if they absorb Jennings' production or if the Packers shorten up their passing game with Jennings sidelined.

Go west: It's been more than four years since the Detroit Lions won a game on the West Coast, and they'll return to the scene of that victory Sunday. They defeated the Oakland Raiders 36-21 in Week 1 of the 2007 season, and on Sunday they'll have an opportunity to clinch their first winning campaign in 11 years if they can defeat the Raiders again. On paper, this seems like a good matchup for the Lions. As we discussed earlier this week, the Raiders' poor-tackling defense could be a sieve for Lions skill position players who run well after the catch. Meanwhile, Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer has thrown 13 interceptions in seven games this season. The Lions have taken advantage of errant passing for much of this season and have 18 interceptions, tied for the second-highest mark in the league. Stranger things have happened, but the Lions have a good opportunity to pick up an important victory Sunday.

Crunch time: The Chicago Bears have little margin for error after losing their past three games to fall to 7-6. They can't worry about style points Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks and would be well-advised to keep quarterback Caleb Hanie as reigned in as possible. Five of Hanie's six interceptions over the past three games came on passes that traveled more than 10 yards downfield. It might sound smart to be aggressive and trust your players to make good decisions, but after scoring a total of 33 points over the past three games, the Bears would be better off keeping things short and simple against the Seahawks.

Harvin factor: The Minnesota Vikings have the toughest task imaginable Sunday in trying to defend New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees with a defense that hasn't intercepted a pass in an NFL record eight consecutive games. The Saints have won seven games indoors already this season and seem primed for a high-scoring game. But it's only fair to note that the Vikings' offense has debuted the full force of receiver Percy Harvin in the three games they have played without tailback Adrian Peterson. Over that span, Harvin has caught 26 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing 14 times for 70 yards. I'm not sure if the Vikings can win a shootout with the Saints, but they have at least demonstrated firepower beyond Peterson of late.