A rematch of last years NFC Divisional round features two teams hoping to repeat their success from a season ago. The Vikings lead the all time series 19-10, and the Vikings won both games a season ago.
The Saints are coming off a 24-23 sweater versus the Ravens last week. Previously, they beat the Giants 33-18 in week 4, smoked the Redskins 43-19 in week 5, and had a bye in week 6.
The Vikings are coming off a 37-17 domination of the Jets last week. In week 5, they beat the Eagles 23-21, and beat the Cardinals 27-17 in week 6.
BetOnline currently has this game as a pickem, with the O/U set at 52.
After losing their opener against Tampa Bay, the Saints have won 5 straight and appear to really be hitting their stride coming into what looks to be the tough part of their schedule. The offense is really humming, and Drew Brees doesn’t have to carry the offense the way he used to.
Last week, Brees was an efficient 22/30 for 212 yards and 2 TDs, surpassing 500 for his career. With the return of Mark Ingram, the Saints are back to their clock control offense riding Ingram and Kamara with a little wildcat Taysom Hill mixed in. The past 2 games, the 3 have combined for 62 carries for 231 yards. While this isn’t super efficient (3.7 YPC), the way they keep defenses off balance and put together long drives is proving to be successful. Michael Thomas (53/588/4) and Alvin Kamara (40/ 362/1) are the main focuses in the pass game.
Cam Jordan is their lone pass rushed showing any consistency, totalling 20 QB hurries and 5 sacks. Ken Crawley was allowing a catch percentage of almost 80 into his coverage for 16.5 YPR, but the Saints traded for Eli Apple this past week to hopefully mitigate some of their coverage struggles.
Injuries and Inactive Watch
T Jermon Bushrod (personal) – questionable
CB Patrick Robinson (ankle) – placed on IR
The Vikings are also hitting a bit of a stride winning 3 straight. The main reason for this is the defense creeping back to their 2017 form. On the offensive side of the ball, Kirk Cousins continues to play excellent football, owning a 14-3 TD-INT rate and owns a completion percentage of 70% even with 11 drops, 14 batted passes, and 9 throw-aways to his name.
Adam Thielen has been Cousins go-to-guy, catching 67 balls for 822 yards and 5 touchdowns already, with 7 straight 100 yard games thus far. The last 2 weeks the run game has really come alive as well, with Latavius Murray going for 224 yards on 39
carries in that time.
The defense has been getting pressure from a variety of players across the front, but Danielle Hunter leads the way with 8 sacks. The secondary in general has been solid, but has really stepped up the last 2 weeks, albeit against rookie QBs.
Injuries and Inactive Watch
CB Xavier Rhodes (foot) – questionable
DT Linval Joseph (ankle) – questionable
EDGE Everson Griffen (personal) – out
RB Dalvin Cook (hamstring) – doubtful
This should be an excellent contest for a Sunday night game. Both teams are really in a groove coming in, and this game may have huge implications for playoff seeding later in the season. Drew Brees and the Saints offense will try to work the clock and get into favourable down and distances, but the Vikings run defense is among the league leaders in stopping the run. If this turns into a Brees game, the Vikings should be very worried, as Brees has been very efficient this season and Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara can really eat up yards.
The Vikings passing attack has been fruitful thus far, and we expect that to continue against a suspect Saints secondary. Adam Thielen should be in line for another big game, and if he draws Marshon Lattimore primarily, Stephon Diggs could have success against Ken Crawley or Eli Apple.
We think this game lives up to it’s billing and comes down to one or 2 points. However, we think the Saints offense as a whole will be too much for the Vikings, and if Drew Brees gets the ball with or without a lead, and the clock is under 4 minutes in the 4th quarter, you can lock the Saints in for the win.
Final Pick: Saints
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