A heavily favored New Orleans Saints should feel confident heading into their wild-card round game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Despite the Vikings having a surprisingly thin secondary heading into the matchup, there are still numerous challenges the team can pose to the Saints.
Minnesota all year-long has had a quietly good offense, and their rushing defense has been stout. It will take some of New Orleans best game planning and execution to defeat a very good Vikings team.
Here are three challenges the Saints may face in the Vikings:
A great Vikings rushing attack
Vikings running back Dalvin Cook will be returning to action after missing Week 15 and 16 with a shoulder injury. Saints head coach Sean Payton acknowledged the threat Cook brings to the table during his weekly press conference, saying, “I think, number one, they do a great job in their running game. They get to the edge, obviously they are extremely talented at running back. The type of season (Dalvin) Cook has had it’s been real impressive.”
New Orleans has had a fantastic rush defense all year, and has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 42 games. However, the Saints defense noticeably struggled against the San Francisco 49ers edge rushing attack in Week 14. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer will be heavily looking at that tape as a blueprint to attack the Saints defense on the ground.
The Vikings play-action passing game
Minnesota has found success when they can get their play-action opportunities rolling. Quarterback Kirk Cousins thrives in play-action situations, and the return of Cook only increases those opportunities. Cousins has a 73.6% completion rate when throwing from a play-action compared to his 69.1% completion rate when throwing from a straight passing look.
Payton is well aware of the Vikings elite play-action, and is well aware of the consequences it can have on the defense if not read properly. He said, “When they move you defensively and then they come off of that with a heavy play action, that’s a challenge. Those wide zone teams that do a good job of setting up patterns down the field, that can not only give the quarterback an extra half a second to throw it, but they can give the route, an extra five to 10 yards to get into your defense, which can be challenging.”
New Orleans’ entire secondary corps will have to get their reads correct in order to properly defend a potent Vikings play-action pass that has the potential to be a difference maker.
A stout Minnesota rushing defense
The Vikings have allowed 108.0 rushing yards per game in 2019. That represents one of the best rushing defenses the Saints have faced this season. A huge key to success for New Orleans will be getting running back Alvin Kamara going on the ground, and making the best use of each possession.
Minnesota’s game plan will undoubtedly be to stop the Saints on the ground, considering they will be without two of their top four cornerbacks this week in Mike Hughes and Mackensie Alexander. If the Vikings can stop the run, it may help them guard against the pass that much more.
