Wildcard at Saints pre game

[Bowhunting Viking]

Heroin makes you nod off and Blackout. I think he's already been using it in the huddle.
He needs to snort about 6 big lines of coke at the beginning of each qtr if he is gonna have a chance at blocking Jordan.

Can he grow a set of balls with anything. He's gonna need them. That position needs to be number one this off season. No matter what it takes.

Amen to that brother!! No more turnstiles needed there

[TSonn]

I’ve been saying the past few days I think we match up better with the saints as well. We tend to struggle with mobile QBs. We’ve given Brees fits before. I’m not sold on their defense either. Plus it’s a good thing being in a dome IMO.

We gotta go back to our bread and butter offense tho. I would think cook and mattison are back and we need to utilize them big time. Hopefully Thielen is back up to par. Everyone should be healthy. We can’t sit cousins back in this pocket. Utilize the rollouts and screen game. I like our chances

Brees is a media guy. Look up that losers record in big games. Most think he wins all his big games. We beat his arse the last playoff game with a stiff backup QB and so so D that got crushed the following week. He's a choker. Zim needs to apply the pressure and he will give up. I've seen it before. He will want no more of it. We have a lot of positives. But this D needs to step up big time for us to win.

You aren't talking about the 2017 divisional round, right? Because Brees won that game in the second half - it took the best play of the decade to beat him.

[CharVike]

Brees is a media guy. Look up that losers record in big games. Most think he wins all his big games. We beat his arse the last playoff game with a stiff backup QB and so so D that got crushed the following week. He's a choker. Zim needs to apply the pressure and he will give up. I've seen it before. He will want no more of it. We have a lot of positives. But this D needs to step up big time for us to win.

You aren't talking about the 2017 divisional round, right? Because Brees won that game in the second half - it took the best play of the decade to beat him.

Ok he won it then. That's what I mean by media creation. He can do no wrong. Never loses a big game. Even the fans are blinded by this.

[TSonn]

You aren't talking about the 2017 divisional round, right? Because Brees won that game in the second half - it took the best play of the decade to beat him.

Ok he won it then. That's what I mean by media creation. He can do no wrong. Never loses a big game. Even the fans are blinded by this.

LOL ok dude. I'm not blinded by the media. I watched the game. The Saints offense scored 24 points in the second half of that game and took the lead with a minute left left. We were able to stop them on their final drive to force a FG and a minute left instead of them being able to run the clock all the way down, but that was basically the only time we could stop them in the 2nd half.

[VikingLord]

Ok he won it then. That's what I mean by media creation. He can do no wrong. Never loses a big game. Even the fans are blinded by this.

LOL ok dude. I'm not blinded by the media. I watched the game. The Saints offense scored 24 points in the second half of that game and took the lead with a minute left left. We were able to stop them on their final drive to force a FG and a minute left instead of them being able to run the clock all the way down, but that was basically the only time we could stop them in the 2nd half.

Well, I wouldn't say Brees should have won that game as much as the Vikings should have lost it. The Vikings dominated the first half and then played classic Vikings football in the 2nd half with bad execution, ineffective conservative playcalling, and untimely mistakes. Granted, Brees and the Saints took advantage of every misstep, but the way I remember it the Vikings heavily contributed to the situation they found themselves in late in that game. Brees deserves credit for doing that and bringing his team back, but had the Vikings taken care of business in the 2nd half he would never have had the chance and those late game heroics by Keenum and Diggs would never have been necessary. Hopefully Zimmer learned something that will translate to this upcoming game.

As for Brees himself, he's a good QB. He's a vet and he's well prepared and smart. He's going to be ready for the Vikings defensive personnel and their pre-snap looks. He's going to be at home and so won't have to deal with a lot of crowd noise. He also knows he has a solid defense when the Vikings have the ball, so he'll feel freer to take a few chances knowing his defense can likely bail him out.

But he's not superman, nor is he unbeatable. The Vikings can make life very difficult for him and the Saints offense. Despite their many flaws, they have a lot of talented players and the capability to stop pretty much any offense in the league if they're on top of their game. He won't be able to win the game by himself. He's going to need to play really well and also get some help from his defense.

For me, the upcoming game comes down to whether the Vikings offense can drive and score more than anything. The Vikings defense is capable of stopping the Saints, but to have any chance to win the game Cousins and the offense have to get it done under duress. That will be the deciding factor I think.

[The negotiator]

Really hoping Zimmer can get this squad up for the challenge. On paper we're just as talented as the Saints but in big game moments we are nothing in comparison. Let's take a look at our losses this year:

at GB: Got down 21-0 in the first 20 minutes of the game. Sure, the offense could've combat this by playing better - but Rodgers could get anything he wanted against us in those first 20 minutes. We adjusted after the half and Kirk blew a chance at the comeback, but this showed me that Zimmer was not prepared for a huge division game (again) and/or was outschemed by a rookie head coach.

at CHI: Offense has a huge flop. Defense also couldn't get off the field against Chicago's back-up QB. Don't think this was necessarily on Zimmer but the defense was pretty disappointing playing against Chase Daniel. We lost the time of possession battle 35 minutes to 25 minutes.

at KC: Same story as Chase Daniel - backup QB comes in and doesn't put up huge numbers but puts together a bunch of long drives and 3rd down conversions to get the win against our defense.

at SEA: "This loss wasn't the end of the world" nonsense. Obviously hindsight is 20/20 here but it was also really clear at gametime that this game would determine quite a bit of the NFC playoff picture. Cousins outperforms Wilson but the defense allows 200+ yards of rushing.

vs GB: Media probably made this game a bigger deal than it actually was (very small chance we were getting any spot besides 5 or 6 seed), but nonetheless a huge home game against our biggest rival and it was our biggest dud all year. At Chicago was also a huge dud but somewhat understandable since it was away in Chicago. This game was at home and it looked like GB was teeing off on defense every play. No creativity to get other guys involved with Cook out - "just plug and play Boone and we'll be good" was clearly the gameplan and when that didn't work, they had no answers.

vs CHI: This one didn't really matter since we were playing 2nd and 3rd stringers but we lost in the same fashion we've lost most of the year - defense letting us down when we need them.

If you looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year, you would've circled every one of these games as the "big games" or "important games" of the season and Zimmer didn't have his team ready for them or our defense let us down in them. I know that "big game" is super subjective and all games are "big games", but Zimmer literally went 1-7 (win @ Dallas also a big game) this year in important games.

Doesn't give me much hope for this weekend but I hope he's got something up his sleeve.

Agee with your overview TSonn. My cause for concern is the coaching staff. If Stefanski had something up his sleeve, he would have pulled it out by now. I think we can beat anyone on any given day, but as mentioned before, we need a well thought out offensive game plan. Second, I wish they would give Cousins the green light to audible when he knows a play is not going to work at the line of scrimmage. When I watched Shanahan’s offensive play calling on display last night, it showed the disparity in putting a qb in a position to win football games. Even Seattle adjusted after half time and almost pulled it out. We just don’t have an OC with that skill set. That said, I hope they center the offensive play calling around what we do best with some creative play calls mixed in.

[4mnvikings82]

By the way Saints typically throw short passes. Zim needs to have those corners up at the line disrupting timing and tell the dline it's hard to sack him bc he gets it out in 2 steps so they need to get their hands up.

We seem to have a hard time against teams that get the ball out quickly.

[Maelstrom88]

By the way Saints typically throw short passes. Zim needs to have those corners up at the line disrupting timing and tell the dline it's hard to sack him bc he gets it out in 2 steps so they need to get their hands up.

We seem to have a hard time against teams that get the ball out quickly.

Ya Zimmer is very familiar with Payton by now and should have a great game plan. Personally, I'd make them beat me deep. That means press coverage and Harrison in the box.

[Mothman]

Brees is a media guy. Look up that losers record in big games. Most think he wins all his big games. We beat his arse the last playoff game with a stiff backup QB and so so D that got crushed the following week. He's a choker. Zim needs to apply the pressure and he will give up. I've seen it before. He will want no more of it. We have a lot of positives. But this D needs to step up big time for us to win.

This is absurd. Brees is a fantastic QB (a lock for the Hall of Fame and deservedly so). He's been on the winning side of plenty of big games in his career. Often, when he wasn't, it had more to do with terrible performances by the Saints defense than his own performance.

[Mothman]

But he's not superman, nor is he unbeatable. The Vikings can make life very difficult for him and the Saints offense. Despite their many flaws, they have a lot of talented players and the capability to stop pretty much any offense in the league if they're on top of their game.

Unfortunately that's rare, especially on the road.Their road playoff record has been abysmal over the last 30 years or so and their last road win in the postseason was when Tice's Vikes upset GB at Lambeau in 2004 playoffs (which was sweet!).

Nevertheless, the Vikes have a chance to win this game. They will have to be at their very best. How often have we seen that in a big game, under Zimmer or anybody else? I fear the odds that Zimmer out-coaches Payton, Cousins steps up big in the playoffs AND the defense holds up for 4 quarters against one of the league's best offenses are very slim.

Of course, I'll be watching and hoping for the best anyway.

[CharVike]

Ok he won it then. That's what I mean by media creation. He can do no wrong. Never loses a big game. Even the fans are blinded by this.

LOL ok dude. I'm not blinded by the media. I watched the game. The Saints offense scored 24 points in the second half of that game and took the lead with a minute left left. We were able to stop them on their final drive to force a FG and a minute left instead of them being able to run the clock all the way down, but that was basically the only time we could stop them in the 2nd half.

That was a bit of a bad response to you. My apology. I just think Brees is all media. He's basically a 500 playoff QB. IMO that's not a winner. Eli manning is basically called a loser but look at his playoff winning pct. 633. To me that's a winner and as an underdog most of the time which makes it more impressive. Beat the Pats twice as an underdog. That's an incredible accomplishment. But he doesn't get the Brees media fluff. I hope we kick his arse again.

[StpViking]

I'm just looking for a team that is well prepared. If you really want to finally win the Superbowl for the people of this state like all your promo videos. Then it's time to lay it all on the line. If you some how jump out to an early lead, don't play not to lose, go for the jugular. I want to see a Zimmer led team that is not afraid to Win.

[Pondering Her Percy]

We are a team that struggles against good pass rushes, and the Saints are 4th in sacks on the year.

The Vikings need to run the ball to be successful on offense, and Saints are 5th against the run this year.

On the other side of the ball, they are just a really good all around offense. The one thing we got going is MT is their only good receiver. Their offensive line isn't as good as it was last year, and they put their team in bad spots with a lot of holds. 1st and 20's are common. Pretty much the only time that offense has been stopped it has been self inflicted penalties, drops or drops that leads to interceptions.

Brees' arm is complete garbage and he cannot throw deep. Every team that plays them knows this though, and he still is gauging teams for big gains. They scored 46 on the best defense in the NFC, we aren't that.

If the Vikings win, it is because the OC called a great game and Zimmer out coached Peyton on defense. They are a better team than we are. Much better.

Agree with some of this, disagree with other parts.

We struggle against good pass rushes when cousins is left to die in the pocket. Look at the games where we weren’t using rollouts nearly as often and dropping cousins in the pocket: Chicago, denver (first half), Green Bay. That’s when our OL looks the worst

Agreed we need to stick to the run and get back to our game plan.

As for their offense, their running game has fallen off for sure. Brees is arm isn’t what it use to be, yes. But their OL is an excellent pass blocking OL. We need to find ways to dial up blitzes against them. Zim has gotten after Brees before so I hope he doesn’t just rely on hunter and griff to do all the work.

Yeah they put up 46 on SF but also put up 9 on Atlanta. They might be good but they are far from impossible to slow down or stop.

The main thing I disagree with is that they are a much better team than we are. I would say they are more consistent than we are. But they are definitely not a “much better” team than we are. Talent for talent it’s awfully close.

QB: Saints
RB: Vikings (close push but cook is a better pure runner than Kamara)
WRs: Vikings
TEs: Push. Cook is better than Rudy but having Smith in the mix makes this a push
OL: Saints
DL: Vikings
LBs: Vikings
CBs: ours should be way better but aren’t somehow. Push?
Ss: Vikings

That’s 5-2 Vikings arguably with a few pushes. It comes down to executing and starting fast. The defense has the talent to stop this team but have been a let down most of the year. The offense should be able to match up well but it all depends on play calling, cooks health/finding the run game again and Thielens health. This is a team you can’t make many mistakes against because they will make you pay.

Call me crazy but I have this gut feeling that we’re going to win this game and that’s being 100% honest and not being a homer.

Nobody thinks the Vikings will win this game and we will be underdogs across the board. And that’s when it seems like we’re the most dangerous. I have a much better feeling about this game than I have in past playoff games and I don’t know why. But I truly think we win this game for whatever reason and I’ll eat crow if we don’t

[CharVike]

Brees is a media guy. Look up that losers record in big games. Most think he wins all his big games. We beat his arse the last playoff game with a stiff backup QB and so so D that got crushed the following week. He's a choker. Zim needs to apply the pressure and he will give up. I've seen it before. He will want no more of it. We have a lot of positives. But this D needs to step up big time for us to win.

This is absurd. Brees is a fantastic QB (a lock for the Hall of Fame and deservedly so). He's been on the winning side of plenty of big games in his career. Often, when he wasn't, it had more to do with terrible performances by the Saints defense than his own performance.

You missed my point. He is a 500 career playoff guy. Eli Manning who the media paints out as a loser is over 600 and 2 Super Bowl wins and he was an underdog. They question if Eli is worth the HOF but like you they paint Brees out as a shoe in. That;s whats absurd. Yes Brees is a great QB I agree with that.

[Dmizzle0]

Agree with some of this, disagree with other parts.

We struggle against good pass rushes when cousins is left to die in the pocket. Look at the games where we weren’t using rollouts nearly as often and dropping cousins in the pocket: Chicago, denver (first half), Green Bay. That’s when our OL looks the worst

Agreed we need to stick to the run and get back to our game plan.

As for their offense, their running game has fallen off for sure. Brees is arm isn’t what it use to be, yes. But their OL is an excellent pass blocking OL. We need to find ways to dial up blitzes against them. Zim has gotten after Brees before so I hope he doesn’t just rely on hunter and griff to do all the work.

Yeah they put up 46 on SF but also put up 9 on Atlanta. They might be good but they are far from impossible to slow down or stop.

The main thing I disagree with is that they are a much better team than we are. I would say they are more consistent than we are. But they are definitely not a “much better” team than we are. Talent for talent it’s awfully close.

QB: Saints
RB: Vikings (close push but cook is a better pure runner than Kamara)
WRs: Vikings
TEs: Push. Cook is better than Rudy but having Smith in the mix makes this a push
OL: Saints
DL: Vikings
LBs: Vikings
CBs: ours should be way better but aren’t somehow. Push?
Ss: Vikings

That’s 5-2 Vikings arguably with a few pushes. It comes down to executing and starting fast. The defense has the talent to stop this team but have been a let down most of the year. The offense should be able to match up well but it all depends on play calling, cooks health/finding the run game again and Thielens health. This is a team you can’t make many mistakes against because they will make you pay.

Call me crazy but I have this gut feeling that we’re going to win this game and that’s being 100% honest and not being a homer.

Nobody thinks the Vikings will win this game and we will be underdogs across the board. And that’s when it seems like we’re the most dangerous. I have a much better feeling about this game than I have in past playoff games and I don’t know why. But I truly think we win this game for whatever reason and I’ll eat crow if we don’t

Nothing wrong with being a homer at this point but I agree. Cousins can be afraid to Target down the field, especially against this secondary. The are going to be looking to take Cook out so the play calling can be too predictable. As for the Defense its gonna be a challenge obviously. Brees is going to be looking for the blitz and Thomas and Kamara will be his bailout guys. Got to figure out a way to shut them down.