The New Orleans Saints 2017 season began and ended with a loss to the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. The two losses were similar in several ways. Offensively, New Orleans started slow and struggled in third-down situations. On defense, they let Minnesota gain over 300 yards passing and exceed 400 total yards.
The Saints and Vikings brilliant passing attacks will get a lot of attention leading up to this rematch, but the key element may, in fact, be the run game, where Minnesota topped New Orleans in both 2017 matchups.
Run Game Success Key To New Orleans Saints vs Minnesota Vikings Outcome
2017 Season Opener
Coverage breakdowns were the main takeaway from the Saints defensive performance in last year’s season opener. New Orleans allowed then-Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford post a career-high 143.0 passer rating as he threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns.
However, Bradford’s performance overshadowed a solid game by running back Dalvin Cook, who ran for 127 yards at 5.8 yards per carry. Cook’s consistent gains prevented New Orleans from dropping extra defenders back to assist in coverage and helped run out the clock as the Vikings built a 19-6 third-quarter lead.
Meanwhile, New Orleans was simply trying to figure out how to deploy their crowded stable of running backs. They had added rookie Alvin Kamara and future Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson over the off-season to share the backfield with Mark Ingram and take pressure off Drew Brees. Eventually, trading Peterson and featuring Ingram and Kamara produced record-breaking results, but the rotation proved ineffective in this game.
None of the three backs averaged more than 3.0 yards per carry and they combined for only 53 yards. This was somewhat understandable at the time due to the Saints offensive line injuries, but the results were similar four months later when New Orleans boasted one of the NFL’s best rushing attacks.
NFC Divisional Playoff Matchup
Surprisingly, the Saints didn’t make much of an effort to establish the run in their postseason rematch with Minnesota. Ingram and Kamara received only five carries on the Saints first four drives, which all went scoreless. The Vikings jumped out to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter, forcing New Orleans to carry out a pass-heavy approach the rest of the way.
The Saints needed their run game late as they attempted to run out the clock prior to a potential game-winning field goal attempt. On third and one with 0:33 remaining, Kamara was stuffed for a one-yard loss, after which Minnesota called a timeout. If the Saints had picked up that first down the miraculous Vikings touchdown pass in the closing seconds never happens.
Minnesota took a much more run-heavy approach early on, despite having been without Cook since week four. Six of eight plays on their opening possession were runs, including a 14-yard Jerick McKinnon touchdown to cap off the drive. Latavius Murray carried the ball six times on a drive in the second quarter and scored from one-yard out.
By the end of the game, Minnesota gained 95 rushing yards compared to the Saints 80 yards. This isn’t a huge differential, but with two Pro Bowl running backs, New Orleans should have had a strong advantage. The more successful Vikings ground game helped them control the ball over six and a half minutes longer than New Orleans, including a 5:08 advantage in the first half.
Looking Ahead
New Orleans struggled to run the ball in the first two weeks, but they’ve now surpassed 130 yards rushing in three of their last four games. Kamara and Ingram will have to find space against a Vikings defense that ranks fifth with 89.7 rushing yards allowed per game. Their 3.7-yard rushing average allowed thus far ranks fourth, but the Saints proved last week they can run successfully against great defenses.
The Saints win over the Baltimore Ravens showed they don’t need a highlight reel-worthy rushing performance for their ground game to be effective. They gained 134 yards on 39 carries at only a 3.4 yards per carry average. Still, it was enough to give the Saints a 7:02 time of possession advantage and force the Ravens offense to operate with more urgency.
The Vikings present a more aggressive offense than Baltimore along with the league’s seventh-ranked passing game. Taking away their run game won’t have quite the same impact, but at least it would make them one dimensional. So far that’s how the Vikings have had to play this season.
Cook has missed the last three games due to a hamstring injury and he’s expected to miss two more weeks. As a result, The Vikings rank 27th in the NFL with 87.4 rushing yards per game with Murray seeing the bulk of carries.
This year, New Orleans will have no excuse if they allow another successful Vikings rushing performance. They improved their front seven over the off-season and are much healthier up front than they were in January. This group has immediately produced great results. The Saints defense currently ranks first in both rushing yards (72.3 per game) and rushing average allowed (3.1 yards per carry).
Bottom Line
The Saints motto this week seems to be “it’s a new game.” Hopefully, this message goes beyond ignoring last season’s crushing losses and signals towards a more balanced offensive approach this time around. The Saints should have the edge when running the ball, but those losses to Minnesota showed us that success in this area isn’t determined solely by personnel and stats. New Orleans has to commit to their run game and execute it the way they know they’re capable of doing.
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