Saints travel again to house of horror
The New Orleans Saints game at Minnesota on Sunday night is a reminder of two of the lowest points in the Saints season last year.
Their season began and ended in U.S. Bank Stadium.
In the season opener the Vikings won, 29-19, as they exposed defensive shortcomings that would be a major factor in New Orleans’ 0-2 start.
Then, after New Orleans rebounded to win eight straight, finish 11-5, win the NFC South and defeat Carolina in a wild-card playoff game, it traveled to Minnesota for a divisional round game. The Saints rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit to lead, 24-23, before the Vikings completed a 61-yard touchdown pass as time expired.
In between the two trips to Minnesota, New Orleans had an outstanding season. But the bookend games against the Vikings revealed weaknesses that prevented the Saints from playing for the NFC Championship.
“There is always going to be that taste in your mouth from that last game because that was a wild one,” Saints guard Larry Warford said. “There was so much at stake on that game and the way it ended just left a bad taste in our mouth. We are all going to have that feeling, but at the same time we aren’t going to approach it any different than we do all our games.
“I think one of the great things about our team is our preparation is consistent. We don’t get too caught up in narcissism or anything or any talk about the game or a certain team. We worry about ourselves at the end of the day and we get ourselves better.”
New Orleans is 5-1 after winning five straight and appears capable of another playoff run. Again a game at Minnesota (4-2-1) will provide a gauge of where this team is.
“It’s different from the circumstances last year – season opener then a playoff game, win or go home,” Saints running back Alvin Kamara said. “Now we’re catching them in the middle of the season. Both teams are doing well.
“Last year’s not going to impact what we do this year. We don’t dwell on the past. We’re moving forward. We all know what happened last year.”
The Saints have gotten progressively better on defense after a rough start, just as they did last season after they followed the opening loss at Minnesota with a 36-20 loss to New England, then began their winning streak.
New Orleans ranks No. 1 in the NFL in rush defense, allowing just 72.3 yards per game.
“Every single week that’s a point of emphasis,” linebacker A.J. Klein said. “I think the D-Line has been playing outstanding, linebackers and even the back seven, the back end when we need them to get the run pitch. Everybody has been doing their job.
“It’s just one of those things where you have to pay attention to detail. I think it just goes to show that we’re a damn good defense when it comes to stopping the run and I think that’s something we’re going to continue to emphasize and continue to work on moving forward.”
SERIES HISTORY: 30th regular-season meeting. Vikings lead series, 19-10. The Vikings have won 14 of 17 meetings in Minnesota, including the season opener (29-19) and a divisional playoff game (29-24) last season. These teams have met three other times in the post-season. The Vikings beat the Saints (44-10) in 1987 in the Superdome in New Orleans’ first playoff game. The Vikings beat the Saints 34-16 in a divisional playoff game in 2000 in Minnesota and the Saints beat the Vikings (31-28) in overtime in the 2009 NFC Championship in the Superdome, sending New Orleans to its only Super Bowl.
