Points May Be Tough To Come By On Sunday

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- For the second week in a row, the betting line has been the topic of conversation for an Eagles playoff game.  Maybe the over/under would be a more appropriate topic for this weekend.

The Eagles are underdogs once again as they get set to face the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game.  Regardless of who comes out on top at the Linc on Sunday, this matchup hardly shapes up to be an offensive shootout.  The Eagles Defense is ranked fourth in the NFL and has been dominant at home, while the Vikings will come to town with the top-ranked defense in the NFL.  In the eyes of Brandon Graham, it is clear what the deciding factors will be in a game which will send one team to the Super Bowl.

"I'm feeling like it's going to be a physical game," said Graham.  "It's going to come down to field position and who is going to take care of the ball.  Obviously, we've got to go out there on defense to get some takeaways.  We've just got to put our offense in a good position."

The offense will need all the help it can get against the powerful Minnesota Defense.  The Vikings appear to have few weaknesses on the defensive side of the ball with their fierce front seven combining with a ball-hawking secondary.  Head Coach Doug Pederson says Minnesota's defense will give his offense plenty of different looks on Sunday.

"It's hard in the aspect of sometimes you don't know where everybody is coming from," Pederson said.  "He'll present a normal, six-man box with it.  He'll present a seven-man.  He'll present an eight-man and you just have to try to sort it all out. It's tough to defend and puts a lot of quick pressure on your quarterback and something that we have to spend some time working on."

The only prize that will really matter on Sunday will be the ticket to the Super Bowl for the winners, but there is also individual pride to serve as motivation.  The Eagles front line has spent this past week hearing all about how dominating the Minnesota front four could be.  For Graham and his fellow linemen, this will be an opportunity to make an argument that the best defensive line in football plays in Philadelphia.

"We always have that mindset every week and we got to go out there and prove it every week," said Graham.  "I think this is a good opportunity for us to prove who the best defensive line and front because we're playing against the best.  Now, we've got to go out there and show up and if we say we're the best, we've got to go out there and prove it."

The team which turns the ball over the least will likely come out on top this Sunday.  The Eagles got away with bucking the turnover trend against Atlanta in order to advance and players such as Linebacker Fletcher Cox knows the matchup appears to be even with two of the most dominant defenses in the NFL.

"Our defense will have to play really good," Cox said.  "We know and everybody else knows this is going to be a game of possession.  We've got to get some takeaways. At the end of the day. They've got a dominant D-line and we've got a dominant D-line, so we'll see who shows up on Sunday."