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 season’s 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 gave their preview and score predictions.
Managing editor Tyler Forness
Record: 6-3
Everyone had a classmate who used “What a long, strange trip it’s been” as their senior quote in the high school yearbook. In all honesty, that’s the way the Vikings season has gone. With games missed by three of their top four players, including all of them missing the game against the Falcons, it’s been a crazy ride. In comes the New Orleans Saints who are inconsistent and haven’t beaten a good opponent this season. It won’t happen on Sunday and the Vikings extend their winning streak to five games.
Vikings 23, Saints 20
Columnist Judd Zulgad
Record: 5-4
The Vikings’ victory over the Falcons earned Dobbs and O’Connell well-deserved praise and came with the visiting team down several players, including starting quarterback Kirk Cousins (Achilles’) and Hall, as well as star wide receiver Justin Jefferson and left tackle Christian Darrisaw. The Vikings will be without Cousins for the rest of the season, Hall remains sidelined and Jefferson reportedly will miss at least one more game. Darrisaw’s status for Sunday has yet to be determined after a groin injury sidelined him in Atlanta. The Vikings have a chance to increase their winning streak to five games after opening the season 1-4, but the Saints also are 5-4 and have won two in a row. Three of those wins have come on the road. They will get another one at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Saints 28, Vikings 27
Columnist Saivion Mixson
Record: 5-4
This New Orleans Saints team is a scrappy bunch that deserves some respect. They find ways to gut out ugly wins and the offense can get hot at a moment’s notice if you’re not careful. The defense is still top-ten, no matter how old they may get. Their core of DeMario Davis, Cam Jordan and Tyrann Mathieu still have that same tenacity as if they are fresh in the league. Minnesota is in for a dog-fight on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, but with seven more days to prepare “The Passtronaut” for his Vikings debut as a starter, I believe O’Connell will have this team ready to pull off the upset.
Vikings 23, Saints 21
Columnist Chris Spooner
Record: 4-1
What Minnesota is doing right now is truly remarkable, and I’m not sure fans and the media are appreciating it enough. This is a team who started out 0-3 and had more turnovers than a bakery, and now they’re sitting above .500 and poised to make a playoff push – all while missing their all-world wide receiver and their starting, and vastly underappreciated, quarterback. It’s an incredible story, but how much longer can that story continue?
The answer to that starts this week with, presumably, the true beginning of the Josh Dobbs era in Minnesota. Dobbs will have had a full week to work with Kevin O’Connell and learn the playbook. How much of it will he have at his disposal, and how well can he execute it for a full game? Dobbs was able to make plenty of plays with his legs last week – and he’ll surely be able to do that again Sunday – but he’ll need to be better with his arm if the Vikings are going to win consistently and make one of the most, if not THE most improbable playoff pushes in NFL history. If last week is any indication, Dobbs will have enough of the playbook down pat to be able to do just enough to win.
Vikings 27, Saints 24
