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Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:53 am
by Crax
Muqali wrote:My biggest fear for this game is that we don’t get aggressive enough in manhandling their offense. No one on our roster was with us for the 2009 season.... except Thielen.
Brian Robison is the only guy still around from 2009. The media has been asking him about this year vs 2009 and I think he made a comment about him and Newman being the only 2 guys on this team with experience past the wild card game
JDLon wrote:my biggest concern is still Forbath funnily enough.
Forbath is definitely a concern, I'd hate for it to come down to our kicker at the end of the game.

My biggest fear though is the officiating. It has been atrocious in the playoffs so far. Even Mike Pereria admitted there was some terrible officiating this weekend and he nearly always sides with his old buddies.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:15 am
by Cliff
My biggest concern is containing their running game and the history of Mike Zimmer defenses historically not performing well against the running game in the playoffs.
  • Bengals 2009 @ home against Jets - Gave up 171 rushing yards and 2 TDs. Allowed 12/15 182 yards 1TD/0INT to Mark Sanchez. 0 sacks, 0 INTs, 0 FFs, lost 24-14 in the Wildcard round.
  • Bengals 2011 @ Houston - Gave up 188 rushing yards and 2TDs. Passing game was ok; 11/20, 159 yards 1TD/0INT to T.J. Yates. 2 sacks, 0 INTS, 0 FFs Lost 31 - 10 in Wildcard round.
  • Bengals 2012 @ Houston - Gave up 158 Rushing yards and 1 rushing TD. Matt Schaub went 29/38 for 262 yards 0TD/1INT. 0 Sacks, 1 INT, 0 FFs
  • Bengals 2013 @ Home against Chargers - gave up 196 rushing yards and 2 rushing TDs. Rivers went 12/16 for 128 yards and 1TD/0INT. 1 sack, 0 INT, 0 FFs
**I didn't include the 2015 game because I feel the circumstances were somewhat extreme. Specifically the weather. However, it was much better containing them to 91 yards.

I think the Vikings rushing defense is a lot better than some of the others he had. In 2009, for example, his defense was 24th in rushing yards per game allowed. This Vikings team is 7th in that area.

If we can stop their rushing game I think our secondary is up to the challenge of defending the pass. Their defense just gave up what should have been 32 points. In the end I think our offense can score more points going up against their defense than their offense can put up against our defense. In theory at least. The reality is that "any given Sunday" applies but I think the Vikings can do this.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:23 am
by mansquatch
In this game the Saints outside WR/TE are really not that scary. That should allow the Vikings to mostly defend them with their base package, not requiring double coverage to contain anyone. Then it comes down to our athletic LB doing what they have done all season: Making plays and tackling to contain the RB. Our pass rush neesd to show up a lot more than the Panthers' did, but that isn't asking much since the Panthers' pass rush took the first three quarters of that game off yesterday.

My big fear in this game is if their high risk defense hits lucky 7 on some early plays and generates take aways / short fields for Brees. If we end up down by 2 scores early it could be ugly. That being said, our OL is a lot better than the Panthers' so we should expect to be to be able to run against them.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:01 am
by TSonn
Zimmer-led teams/defenses are 2-2 against Drew Brees and Sean Payton.

2006: Cin beat NO in NO (Brees threw for over 500 yards)
2010: NO beat Cin in Cin (Cin was 2-10 this year)
2014: NO beat MN in NO (Cassel got hurt, Teddy's first game, no AD)
2017: MN beat NO in MN

I don't know what it means, but I was bored at work and wanted to look it up.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:04 am
by TSonn
mansquatch wrote:In this game the Saints outside WR/TE are really not that scary.
While I do think Michael Thomas is scary and a big-time WR, we match up really well against all their playmakers.

Michael Thomas | Xavier Rhodes (big, physical guys)
Ted Ginn | Trey Waynes (speedy)
Snead | Mac/Newman
Hill | Kendricks
Kamara/Ingram | Barr

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:04 am
by Purple Domination
Raptorman wrote:FWIW, Vikings open as 3 point favorites in Las Vegas.
So in other words a coin flip on a neutral field. I am surprised we are not getting a slightly bigger edge here.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:14 am
by PacificNorseWest
Pressure Brees early, often and and throughout the game and the Vikings win. Simple as that.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:34 am
by Mothman
PacificNorseWest wrote:Pressure Brees early, often and and throughout the game and the Vikings win. Simple as that.

That's a key but they're going to have to stop the run too and they'll need to do it without making themselves too vulnerable to the pass.

I think the Vikes are the better team in this match-up but I see the Saints as a particularly dangerous opponent for a few reasons:

1.) They have the weapons to hurt a defense in both the running and passing games.
2.) They are explosive so even if a defense dominates them for most of the game they still have the potential to score or even win on big plays.
3.) They have an opportunistic defense and turnovers can play a big role in determining who wins in the playoffs.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:36 am
by dead_poet

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 11:44 am
by Pondering Her Percy
Fun fact of the day:

The Saints defense have the 6th worst 3rd down defense in the NFL giving up first downs 41% of the time

Only teams worse: Bucs, Colts, 49ers, Cowboys and Packers.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:15 pm
by dead_poet
Pondering Her Percy wrote:Fun fact of the day:

The Saints defense have the 6th worst 3rd down defense in the NFL giving up first downs 41% of the time

Only teams worse: Bucs, Colts, 49ers, Cowboys and Packers.
Saints also: three straight road losses.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:53 pm
by ChicagoViking
More fun facts:

Saints are only 4-4 on the road this season, and have lost 3 in a row on the road. Brees is only 1-4 on the road in the playoffs.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:25 pm
by Raptorman
Since we know it's going to come up. People are going to point to the Saints RB's and claim that will be the reason they are a better team than the Vikings. So, I did a little number crunching and came up with this. Yes they have been better than the Vikings RB's. But not by much. I took the numbers from the last 12 games. Since Murray/Mckinnon didn't really play much those first 4 games I thought it was only fair to compare the players in the same amount of games. This actually benefits the Saints players because in those first 4 games the Saints RB's only had 1 TD between the two of them. Yeah, 4 games, 1 TD, rushing or receiving.

Anyway. Stats are on a per game basis.

Code: Select all

                 ATP    YPG   YPA   REC   YPG    YPC
Murry/McKinnon	28.5	112	3.9	4.7	39.7	8.5
Kamara/Ingrahm	24.4	133	5.5	8.7	80.8	9.3
It should also be noted that in those last 12 games, the Saints played 6 games against teams ranked in the bottom 10 of rushing defense in the league. So 56% of their yardage came against teams ranked 23rd or worse in rushing for the year. Tampa, 23rd. 2 games. Jets 24th, Rams 28th, Bills 29th, Redskins 32nd. Vikings only had 3 games against teams in that range(Redskins, Rams and Bengals). 25% of Vikings yardage came against teams ranked in the bottom 10.

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:47 pm
by Maelstrom88

Re: Divisional Round: Vikings vs Saints Pre-Game Discussion

Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:51 pm
by Pondering Her Percy
Raptorman wrote:Since we know it's going to come up. People are going to point to the Saints RB's and claim that will be the reason they are a better team than the Vikings. So, I did a little number crunching and came up with this. Yes they have been better than the Vikings RB's. But not by much. I took the numbers from the last 12 games. Since Murray/Mckinnon didn't really play much those first 4 games I thought it was only fair to compare the players in the same amount of games. This actually benefits the Saints players because in those first 4 games the Saints RB's only had 1 TD between the two of them. Yeah, 4 games, 1 TD, rushing or receiving.

Anyway. Stats are on a per game basis.

Code: Select all

                 ATP    YPG   YPA   REC   YPG    YPC
Murry/McKinnon	28.5	112	3.9	4.7	39.7	8.5
Kamara/Ingrahm	24.4	133	5.5	8.7	80.8	9.3
It should also be noted that in those last 12 games, the Saints played 6 games against teams ranked in the bottom 10 of rushing defense in the league. So 56% of their yardage came against teams ranked 23rd or worse in rushing for the year. Tampa, 23rd. 2 games. Jets 24th, Rams 28th, Bills 29th, Redskins 32nd. Vikings only had 3 games against teams in that range(Redskins, Rams and Bengals). 25% of Vikings yardage came against teams ranked in the bottom 10.
Thanks for the breakdown David!