The NFC Championship Game between the Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 21 was a matchup of two of the league's premier defenses, each counting on a starkly different pass rush approach that had gotten them to this point.
The Vikings leaned largely on a pair of thoroughbreds, playing Everson Griffen for 852 snaps and Danielle Hunter for 825 in 17 games to that point. Brian Robison (602 snaps) had worked as a rotational pass rusher who rushed from an inside lane on passing downs, and the Vikings put more than 700 snaps on both Linval Joseph and Tom Johnson, counting primarily on those players to anchor the defensive front.