--The Vikings have won seven of the past 10 games in this series, including the 2006 season opener, when they cruised to a 24-3 victory at the Metrodome. Minnesota is 10-3 against the Falcons at the Metrodome.

--RB Adrian Peterson made his NFL debut in that game, rushing for 103 yards on 19 carries and taking a pass 60 yards for his first career touchdown. That was the only touchdown pass Peterson caught all season. He rushed for 12 touchdowns.

--DE Jared Allen recorded his first career multi-sack game against the Falcons, getting to former Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick twice as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 24, 2006.

--According to the Elias Sports Bureau, WR Bernard Berrian became only the third player in NFL history to score on a pass and a punt return in the first quarter of the same game when he accomplished the feat last Sunday in Arizona. Pete Pihos of the Eagles (1947) and J.T. Smith of the Chiefs (1980) also did it.

--The Vikings have scored 229 points over the past eight games, an average of 28.6 points per game. That average ranks third in the NFL behind Carolina (29.5) and New England (29.0).

--The Vikings are looking to clinch their first division title since the NFC Central was realigned in 2002, with Tampa Bay moving out. The Vikings last won a division title in 2000, when they advanced to the NFC title game before being drubbed 41-0 by the New York Giants.

--The Vikings' final three games come against teams that dealt them hard-to-swallow defeats. The Cardinals knocked the Vikings out of the playoffs in 2003 with a last-second victory in the regular-season finale. The Falcons beat the Vikings in the 1998 NFC title game in overtime, and the Giants embarrassed Minnesota in the 2000 NFC title matchup.

BY THE NUMBERS: 4 -- Touchdown passes thrown by Tarvaris Jackson last Sunday in Arizona. That's the most by a Vikings quarterback since Daunte Culpepper threw four at Green Bay on Nov. 14, 2004.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I would say certainly in the last game-and-a-half he's looked extremely decisive. You don't see a lot of hesitancy back there. Really, you want to be able to formulate the decisions that you are making as you drop away from center and let the football go. I see him being able to do that. He is directing the run offense from side-to-side where we want to go. I just think I see a brighter-eyed, more well-rounded guy, for whatever reason. Whether it is the time, whether it is sitting back and watching, whether it was a set of events that he didn't care for. Obviously when you get a second chance you want to make the most of it, and he has done a great job of that." -- Coach Brad Childress on the improved play of Tarvaris Jackson since he took over for the injured Gus Frerotte late in the first half on Dec. 7 at Detroit. Jackson was benched after starting the first two games.