Sunday NFL and the Minnesota Vikings will take on the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. The game has a start time of 1:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on FOX. Current Vegas odds have the Saints listed as 9.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 51.
Analysis: The Minnesota Vikings went just 5-10 last year, but thanks to a solid draft and a good showing in the preseason, they just may well be a surprise team in the NFC this year. Matt Cassel will start the year as the starting QB, but do not be surprised it Teddy Bridgewater takes over at some point and he really progressed during the preseason. No matter who is at QB, they still have the luxury of handing the ball off to Adrian Petersen, who is one of the best backs in the league. He will have his work cut out for him in this one as he will be running against the best DL in the league. The defense for the Vikings is decent up front, but weak in the back. The Viking have started the year at 1-1 as they had a blowout win over the Rams on opening week and then a blowout home loss vs the Patriots last week.
The New Orleans Saints come in at 0-2 on the year as they suffered a tough 37-34 loss in OT to Atlanta and then last week they lost 26-26 at Cleveland on a last second FG by Billy Cundiff. The offense for the Saints has looked very good in the early going, ranking in the top 6 in the league in total yards, passing, rushing and scoring. Drew Brees is off to a solid start, throwing for 570 yards so far, but he does have as many TDs (2) as picks in the early going. Jimmy Graham has been the go to guy so far with 200 yards receiving, while Mark Ingram leads the team in rushing with 143 yards. Last year this defense made great strides, but that is not the case so far, as they are 31st in the league in yards allowed (446 ypg) and 30th in points allowed (31.5 ppg)
Pick: One theory I like to use for a team is that when things get tough for them the best that can happen is a road game. Uh Not here. This is a terrible spot for the Vikings. They are leaving town from all the turmoil, but they are still without their best player in Adrian Petersen. Now the Vikings take to the road to take on an angry Saints squad that played and lost their 1st 2 games of the season on the road. At home Drew Brees in unstoppable, while the saints as a team have outscored their opponents by 20 ppg in their last 20 home wins. Minnesota may be an improved team this year, but their defense is still suspect, they have very little running game and do not have a NFL caliber QB that can put enough points on the board to keep this one close vs the Saints.
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