Vikings Big First Half is Enough to Beat the Saints
Vikings Territory Breakdown
The Vikings hosted the NFC South Division-leading New Orleans Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, and we all know what happens when these two teams get together—stranger things. In this one, the Vikings teed up a blowout in the first half and then coasted (nervously) to their fifth win in a row.
(But they didn’t really coast.)
After putting up 297 total net yards in the first half and compiling a 24-3 halftime lead, they finished with only 388 yards and held on for another one-score victory (27-19). It looked great in the first half, but it was almost as if the broadcasting network called the halftime locker room and said let’s make this one closer. They didn’t, of course, (unless you believe in conspiracies) and the Vikings had to survive a Fail Mary pass to remain a game-and-a-half behind the Detroit Lions in the NFC North.
It doesn’t have to be that way with the hard-fought, one-score games, but we will take it. New Vikings signal caller Joshua Dobbs had another good game in his first start in Purple. He did it again with his arm and his legs, throwing a touchdown pass to T.J. Hockenson and scrambling for a touchdown run of his own. He is not yet up to total speed in the playbook, but he does more off-script than other QBs sometimes do on-script—and for that there is much rejoicing.
The Vikings got the win, and Dobbs is helping salvage this season (with one Justin Jefferson still waiting to return from injury), so our complaint is minimal. But there are some things to clean up for this squad that is suddenly holding the largest current winning streak in the league. And we here at the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast (Joe Oberle, senior writer at vikingsterritory and purplePTSD and Mark Craig, NFL and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com) are here to point them out. So, tune in and check it out.
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