Cam Jordan isn’t losing sleep over Minnesota’s ranking, and he made that clear in one sentence.
“Couldn’t care less about a ranking. What does that have to do with Sunday? […] The object of the mission is always to win.”
That was Jordan’s answer when asked about the Vikings offense sitting 31st in the NFL in total yards. And for the Saints, there’s a pretty simple reason that message should land: they haven’t exactly earned the right to treat any offense like a pushover.
New Orleans has been exposed over the last two weeks, and the tape is doing plenty of the talking for them. The fourth quarter meltdown in Week 3 was bad enough, but the defense also had no answer for Brock Bowers, who was a major part of why that game got away. A week earlier, the Saints looked similarly out of sorts trying to handle Bijan Robinson and the Falcons’ rushing attack.
When a defense has just turned in back-to-back rough outings, rankings don’t mean much. Execution does. Brandon Staley pointed to that after the Atlanta game, and that’s the part New Orleans has to clean up before worrying about where Minnesota sits on a stat sheet.
And even that stat sheet is a little misleading.
The Vikings may be near the bottom in passing production, but the names on the roster tell a different story. Justin Jefferson is working through an ankle injury he suffered in Week 3 and missed last week’s game. Kyler Murray had a concussion early in the season opener, which forced Minnesota to operate short-handed in his first game at quarterback.
That matters, because the Jefferson-Murray combination has barely had a chance to breathe. They’ve been on the field together for only two games this season. Murray left Week 1 after 11 snaps, and Jefferson exited Week 3 after just 7 snaps.
So the numbers look a lot different when the Vikings’ starting quarterback and one of the game’s premier wide receivers actually get a full run together. Jefferson is questionable for Sunday, and there’s a real chance the Saints are the first team to see what that duo looks like over four quarters.
And Jefferson isn’t the only threat New Orleans has to account for. T.J. Hockenson is still there at tight end, giving Minnesota another dangerous option through the air.
That should sound familiar to the Saints, who have already seen tight ends make life difficult the last two weeks. Kyle Pitts didn’t dominate, but he did come up with key plays and found himself wide open on Zachariah Branch’s touchdown. Then Brock Bowers took over and spent four quarters tearing through New Orleans’ defense.
So yes, Minnesota’s passing totals are ugly. But with Jefferson and Hockenson in the mix, the Saints can’t afford to lean on the rankings. Jordan said the quiet part out loud, but the film says the same thing: Sunday won’t be decided by where the Vikings sit in the standings of a stat column.
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Saints Face A Familiar Problem Against Unbeaten Vikings
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What stands out is the range of opinions. Some see enough in the Saints to believe a rebound is coming, while others are leaning toward a tight Minnesota victory, a split that says plenty about how even the matchup looks on paper. The game will come down to whether New Orleans can sort out the defensive response and give Tyler Shough a clean enough answer for the Vikings blitz looks, which is where the margin figures to be decided. [Read more 🡒]