Another important clash
Vikings, Saints seem to run into each other in big spot each season
Vikings receiver Adam Thielen is getting accustomed to playing high-stakes, high-intensity games against the New Orleans Saints.
Here comes another one on Christmas Day.
“Yeah, it’s kind of crazy preparing for them; it almost feels like a divisional opponent,” Thielen said. “It’s always a difficult game. It’s always a tough defense and we always have our work cut out for us. I’m assuming it’ll be similar again on Friday.”
This will be the fifth meeting in four years, including two playoff games in which Minnesota scored the winning touchdown on the final play of each.
A victory would allow the Vikings (6-8) to celebrate the holiday by keeping alive thin hopes of sneaking into the playoffs. For the Saints (10-4), a victory would clinch the NFC South for a fourth straight season and keep alive hopes of winning the top seed in the conference — if Green Bay loses its last two games.
The loser will head into the new year on a threegame skid, but the Saints have the benefit of knowing they’ll be in the playoffs regardless.
New Orleans has double-digit wins in each of the past four regularseasons meetings, only to see their past three playoff runs end short of the Super Bowl, with two losses in overtime and the first coming on a 62-yard Minnesota TD as time expired in regulation.
The Saints’ recent wobbles beg the question whether a similar playoff disappointment is again in store. But coach Sean Payton prefers to focus on why this team should be ready to take the next step.
“I love the grit, the toughness of this team. They’ve come back, played their tails off the next year, got on a roll again this year,” Payton said, referring to New Orleans’ nine-game winning streak earlier this year. “Will it need to be the Super Bowl (for the season to be considered successful)? Probably so. But you know what? That is a good measuring stick. And that gives you an indication of how organizationally the culture’s changed, and we embrace that.”
Headed home
Justin Jefferson, the third rookie wide receiver in Vikings history to be picked for the Pro Bowl, returns to his home state after a decorated career at LSU. He leads all NFL rookies with 1,182 receiving yards and has 21 receptions of 20-plus yards, tied for the most in the league.
Jefferson has several ticket requests to fulfill from family and friends, but not as many that would be possible in a normal year given the pandemic-limited attendance at the Superdome.
“For us it’s good not going to an environment that’s loud where you can’t hear,” Jefferson said. “The circumstances this year with COVID, it is what it is. We have to bring our own energy, bring our own excitement, and come prepared.”
Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr. also grew up in the New Orleans area.
Extra protection
Saints quarterback Drew Brees has been trying a new type of protective vest under his jersey since returning last week from rib fractures and a lung puncture that sidelined him for a month. Brees said he didn’t find it too restrictive, noting he played with “a bigger, thicker flak jacket” early in his career before switching to a thinner model molded to his ribs in recent seasons.