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So as the Vikings prepared to exorcise the demons that had haunted them for eight months, they turned up the intensity at practice last week to near-title game proportions. They installed a game plan on both offense and defense that aimed to magnify their estimable advantage in quickness over the Atlanta Falcons. But mostly the Vikings veterans with long memories watched tape of last year's NFC championship game defeat until they looked like bleary-eyed zombies in need of a shipment of industrial-strength Visine.

More than anything else, it was the hours of additional film work that paid big dividends in a 17-14 white-knuckle victory over the Falcons in a game that restored Minnesota's pride and character.

Sure, both teams could point to the abysmal performances of their kickers and wonder what might have otherwise been. The Falcons' Morten Andersen and Gary Anderson of Minnesota, both likely headed to the Hall of Fame someday, entered the game with 821 field goals between them, and they each had two disastrous faux pas on Sunday. A failed 39-yarder by Atlanta's Andersen with just 3:38 remaining in the game cost the Falcons a chance to send the game into overtime. The man who won the NFC championship for the Falcons in overtime last year had earlier pulled a 35-yard attempt wide right.

Perhaps still spooked by his botched 38-yard try in the NFC title game, the only field goal he missed all season but one that cost the Vikings a Super Bowl berth, Gary Anderson was wide left from 30 yards Sunday and had a 26-yarder blocked on his team's second possession.

But to blame the least-tough guys on either roster for the outcome of a game played at a frenetic physical tempo throughout would be foolish. And even as much as they trust the usually dead-eyed Anderson, the Vikings defensive veterans weren't about to let this game come down to a silly soccer shootout. And so to a man they staged the equivalent of a football Cannes film festival last Wednesday and Thursday.

"You watch film of every opponent but, given that this was the first game of the season and it came against the team that kept us out of the Super Bowl last year, there was probably some subconscious little voice in all our ears telling us to work even a little harder," said Griffith, arguably the NFL's most versatile player at his position. "We took what we found out against them last year, added to it the knowledge we got from the video work we did last week, and came up with a pretty aggressive game plan. It was a game plan in which we had a lot of confidence. And, except for that one series (at the end of the first half), we played it well."

Indeed, a Minnesota defense that merits very little respect -- and with a starting lineup whose combined salary cap figure is less than half of what Vikings management spends on the offensive unit -- should have earned a collective game ball for its efforts in securing the franchise some measure of revenge over Atlanta. The unit surrendered 359 yards and played far too loose in permitting the Falcons to drive 80 yards in only five plays at the end of the half but rose to the occasion when it was needed.

Most significantly, it stuffed Atlanta tailback Jamal Anderson, a performance that kept Atlanta quarterback Chris Chandler from having much success in a passing game designed around play-action. For that, credit the Siskel-and-Ebert approach to the long-awaited rematch with the Falcons.

Before its 30-27 overtime loss to the Falcons in the conference title game, the Minnesota defense gleaned a pretty good appreciation for Atlanta's play-calling patterns and for Anderson's personal predilections as a runner. The Vikings won the battle Jan. 17, limiting the NFC's leading rusher to 67 yards on 23 carries, but lost the war when Chandler fooled them by throwing early and often.

The Vikings defense had Jamal Anderson's number all afternoon. (AP)

This time around, the coaches got a few tips from defensive end John Burrough, acquired this spring after spending four seasons with Atlanta, but looked even harder for pre-snap keys that would indicate the Falcons' play call.

Two things, defensive coordinator Foge Fazio said, jumped right off the video screen. First, the Falcons operate much of their bootleg passing package from a two-tight end formation. Second, when an unnamed Atlanta wide receiver went in motion and then doubled back to his original spot, the Falcons almost always run the ball. "I guess you could say," noted weakside linebacker Dwayne Rudd, "that being able to read those keys was probably the key to our winning today."

The game plan drawn up by Fazio paid special attention to what players know as "gap control," staying in the correct lanes, being disciplined and not allowing Anderson any cutback space. Fazio also installed two new "run blitzes," which actually benefited the Minnesota pass defense almost as much. But he also had Rudd and strongside linebacker Kailee Wong coming up through the gaps anytime they read a certain key that indicated a running play.

The results: Anderson was held to just 50 yards on 16 attempts and looked on most like he was running in a phone booth. He had only two rushes for more than 5 yards, only one for more than 10 yards. Eight of his rushes netted 2 yards or less and six were for 1 yard, 0 yards or minus yardage. The lone time he shook free came when Chandler drew the Minnesota front four offside with a "hard" count, the defense just stopped, and Anderson took advantage of 11 guys suddenly posing as statues. Take away that 20-yard burst around the left side, and Anderson averaged a paltry 2.0 yards per carry.

"We weren't about to let Jamal get rolling," Burrough said. "We wanted a lot of bodies around him and we kind of said as a group, 'For cripes sake, don't let him cut back.' There are certain plays, I know, where he is looking for the cutback lane as soon as he gets the ball. We were very sure in our tackling, made sure we wrapped him up tight. Let him get loose and it's all over. Except for the one play where we all just kind of stood around and watched him, we did a great job. Foge called an exceptional game."

With the back end of his defense, Fazio played between 80-85 percent zone coverages, in part because he knew the Falcons lack a receiver who can sprint past the cornerbacks. The Falcons had five completions of more than 20 yards. But one came when a coverage was misunderstood by a young player, another when tight end O.J. Santiago rolled over would-be tacklers for a 46-yard gain and the final one when Falcons backup quarterback Tony Graziani completed a cross-field heave to Anderson who was allowed to go 32 yards as the clock hit all zeroes to end the game.

Once again, the Falcons' penchant for misspending money could come back to bite them. A team that wouldn't gamble a $400,000 roster bonus this spring on the possibility that deep threat wide receiver Tony Martin might actually be innocent of laundering drug revenues for a friend sorely missed him. Oddly, the Falcons doled out nearly $10 million in signing bonuses on the eve of the game -- $5.9 million to defensive tackle Travis Hall, $3.0 million to wideout Terance Mathis and $1.8 million to fullback Bob Christian -- to sign all three veterans to contract extensions.

Atlanta also was hurt by a pregame hamstring injury to wide receiver Tim Dwight, the favorite wind-up toy of coach Dan Reeves and a guy around whom the Falcons love to design gimmick plays. Dwight was able to return kicks, and his fumble on a kickoff runback set up an Anderson field goal, but he didn't play a down from scrimmage until late in the fourth quarter. Since starting wideouts Mathis and Chris Calloway are more noted as possession receivers, the Falcons struggled to stretch the field, a shortcoming that might force the personnel department to seek a speed-burner this week.

"We blew some coverages, especially at the end of the half, but we never felt they could just run right by us,' said cornerback Jimmy Hitchcock. "We had them cornered pretty well."

Several defenders conceded they were surprised that the Falcons didn't use more three-wideout sets to take advantage of inexperienced "nickel" defender Anthony Bass, who had a tough day. Atlanta was efficient in using a "cluster" formation, with three wide receivers stacked tight together to the right side, but Chandler, who sustained a hamstring strain late in the game and is iffy for next week, wasn't as accurate as he was in the NFC Championship Game and coaches didn't give him a lot to work with.

One player in the Atlanta locker room said he was "stunned" the Vikings held the Falcons to 14 points and another diplomatically used the term "fragmented" to describe the play-calling. Fazio acknowledged that, if someone had told him Sunday morning his team would hold the Falcons to 14 points, he would have taken it "in a hearbeat."

Annually dealt a bad hand by an organization that prefers to invest in offensive players, Fazio is beloved by his defenders, and that was obvious after the game. Forty minutes after a victory that doesn't totally avenge the NFC title loss but at least provides the Vikings a pound of flesh, Green wandered by Fazio, then circled back to shake the hand of his coordinator.

"Good game, man," Green said. "No, make that great game. It's only one, though, just remember."

But to the Vikings team in need of redemption, it was a big one.