The Minnesota Vikings are taking on the New Orleans Saints for the third time in the last four seasons on Sunday afternoon.
Last season’s game was a fun one, as the Vikings pulled out a thrilling victory by a score of 28-25 with multiple field goal attempts over 50 yards highlighting a fun back-and-forth contest.
Going into this seasons matchup, both the Vikings and Saints sit at 5-4 with the latter being the leader in the NFC South. The Vikings are also sitting in playoff position, but are currently 1.5 games behind the Detroit Lions for the division lead.
Heading into Sunday, our staff highlighted four players to watch.
Managing editor Tyler Forness: RB Ty Chandler
With the season-ending injury to running back Cam Akers, the backup running back spot is up for grabs. Chandler will be getting the first crack at getting both change of pace and potentially the 1b. to Mattison’s 1a.
Chandler has the ability to be a successful running back in the National Football League. A fifth-round pick in 2022, Chandler’s calling card in college was his elite burst and speed. A 4.33-second 40-yard dash paired with a 99.7th percentile 10-yard split gives him the tools to be a gamebreaker. He will have another chance to show that off over the rest of the season.
Columnist Judd Zulgad: QB Josh Dobbs
Coming off a performance in which he led the Vikings to victory only days after arriving in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals, Dobbs will get a chance to run Kevin O’Connell’s offense with far more knowledge of the system and his teammates. Dobbs, who replaced rookie Jaren Hall (concussion) after the Vikings’ second series, might not be with the Vikings next season, but a solid finish to the year in Minnesota will help his chances of finding a job as a starter somewhere in the NFL next season.
Columnist Saivion Mixson: TE T.J. Hockenson
With Jefferson probably out this week, someone will have to step up in the passing game. For New Orleans, they key in on the outside receivers with their talented cornerbacks, and play a ton of single-high coverage. Going into last week, the league average for cover-one usage is 19.4%, the Saints play it at a clip of 31.5%. Good for third-highest in the NFL behind Cleveland and Dallas.
That means that tight end T.J. Hockenson will be in one-on-one situations with either safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye or linebackers Demario Davis and Pete Werner. To force this New Orleans defense out of their usual cover-one/single-high base defense, Josh Dobbs and Hockenson have to connect early and often.
Columnist Chris Spooner: RB Alexander Mattison
It feels like a broken record to keep harping on the failures of the Vikings running game, but at some point they’re going to need to figure this thing out. It’s only going to be tougher to do so with the absence of Cam Akers, who has been lost for the season with his own torn Achilles. Mattison has been splitting time with Akers since he arrived in Minnesota, now it’s his turn to be *the* guy again. What can he do with the opportunity? Will he be able to put something together and help out his quarterback?
Josh Dobbs was incredible last week in the win over the Falcons, coming in cold off the bench with only a couple of days on the team. He’ll have had a full week of practice now, but it’s still not much time. There are still going to be plenty of gaps in his knowledge of the playbook and system, even if he is a literal rocket scientist. If he’s going to succeed long-term, he’s going to need help – and that help needs to come from Mattison and the running game.
