After a rough couple of games, the New Orleans Saints had a chance on Christmas Day to get back on track against the Minnesota Vikings. Getting back on track is what they did, downing the Vikings in a 52-33 shootout. With the victory, the Saints clinched the NFC South for the fourth consecutive season. Let us break down the specific aspects of the game that ultimately decided the outcome of this game.
Kamara, Rushing Attack Steal the Show
From kickoff, the story of this game was RB Alvin Kamara. Kamara, who is already regarded as one of the top running backs in football, exploded for a line of 22 carries, 155 yards, and an incredible six touchdowns. The all-pro running back also got the scoring started with a 40-yard touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter. Kamara now has 16 rushing touchdowns and 5 receiving touchdowns on the season, which leads all non-quarterbacks. RB Latavius Murray also chipped in 72 yards and QB Taysom Hill rushed in a garbage time touchdown to complete the dominant rushing attack for 264 yards.
With the ground game clicking on all cylinders, QB Drew Brees did not have to do much in the win. Brees had a tough game, throwing no touchdown and two picks, but still managed to throw for 311 yards, completing 73% of his passes. WR Emmanuel Sanders and TE Jared Cook combined for 165 yards, leading the passing attack. Brees hit a total of nine pass catchers on the day, spreading the wealth and carving the Vikings defense in the blowout.
New Orleans Defense Contains Cook
A large part of the Saints struggles the last few weeks was their inability to stop the run, giving up over 150 yards on the ground in two straight games. New Orleans did a great job of neutralizing the running game of the Vikings, which features RB Dalvin Cook who came into the game second in rushing. Cook had just 73 yards on only 15 carries. In total, Minnesota rushed for 90 yards in the loss. A large part of the lack of attempts was that the Vikings were trailing for most of this game. Regardless, the running game was held in check, leading to success for New Orleans.
Guarding against the air, the numbers will not look great, but the Saints defense did what it had to do, playing with the lead. Even with this, the Saints held Minnesota under 300 yards in the air on 41 attempts, while also holding the dynamic receiver duo of Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson under 100 yards. If the Saints can get out to leads, they should be able to keep it if their defense gives them, the effort they gave in this Week 16 matchup.
Rock Bottom for Minnesota “D”
All season long, the Vikings defense has been flawed and extremely inconsistent. Against the Saints, Minnesota hit rock-bottom. Minnesota’s defense gave up a season-high 52 points with all seven touchdowns coming on the ground, highlighted by Kamara’s six. They also gave up a whopping 583 yards, which is the most they have given up all year, and the second time they have given up 500 yards of offense. The first time was Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, a game they also lost. With this loss, Minnesota is now officially eliminated from playoff contention after winning a playoff game last season.
For next season, Minnesota is going to have address defense to have any chance of being relevant. The offense is fine with firepower everywhere, but it is hard to win games when you give up around 30 points a game on average. Getting DE Danielle Hunter back will help, but improvement must occur from their young guns to have any chance of being a respectable defense.
Looking Ahead
With one game left in the season, the Vikings will wrap up their 2020 campaign with a road game against the Detroit Lions, a division rival. As for the New Orleans Saints, they will face off against the Carolina Panthers in a regular-season finale with the hopes of an opportunity to gain home-field advantage or maintain a high seed heading into the playoffs.
Info from profootballreference.com
Writer
-By: Richie Dordas