The New Orleans Saints have returned the favor at the Minnesota Miracles location for their exit from the NFC Divisional Round in January. In the 30:20 win against the Minnesota Vikings, the pass rush was the key to success.
Nine months after the Minnesota Miracle, the two heavyweights of the NFC met again. But where the Vikings had the better end in January, the signs in this game were not so good: Minnesota had to do without Xavier Rhodes, Riley Reiff, Andrew Sendejo and Anthony Barr. While Everson Griffen was used for the first time since Week 2, these failures were difficult to compensate.
Both teams started like the fire brigade. With a lot of flexible play calling, both teams impressed their opponents and scored with the first drive. But then the defenses came into play better and managed with the Pass-Rush to bring the opposing Offenses again and again in a bad starting situation at 2nd and 3rd Down.
It lasted until shortly before the break, when the first key moment of the game happened. Adam Thielen caught a pass from Kirk Cousins (31/41, 259 YDS, 2 TD, INT) on the New Orleans 14-yard line, but fumbled it, watching Marshon Lattimore carry the ball back to 33 Minnesota. Instead of a possible 10-point lead by Minnesota, the Saints took the lead.
The Vikings apparently took a lot of self-confidence. In the second run the performance of the Offense was to a large extent sloppy. Starting with protection, not ending with routes and bad decisions by Kirk Cousins, the Vikings gave up the game at this point. Cousins was lucky that Marcus Davenport had a bag with his knee on the ground before the fumble. Then he threw a nasty interception into the hands of P.J. Williams.
The Saints controlled the clock from that time and played a controlled offense with many short passes from Drew Brees (18/23, 120 YDS, TD, INT) across the middle of the field. Minnesota’s comeback attempts were time-consuming and resulted in only one touchdown from Thielen. The Saints clinch their sixth victory in a row and receive the unbeaten rams this weekend. Minnesota receives the Lions.
The rookie’s getting better and better. Davenport dominated his matchup in the second half and broke into the pocket again and again. In the end he collected two sacks and played a major role in ensuring that the Vikings Open could no longer develop a rhythm in the second run. Also strong: Alvin Kamara.
The Vikings were much too much pressure on Kirk Cousins in the second half. Elflein was one of the main reasons. The Vikings Center got run over several times by Sheldon Rankins.