Saints vs. Vikings 2018: Time, TV schedule for NFL playoffs’ divisional round game

The Minnesota Vikings are two wins away from becoming the first team ever to host the Super Bowl. But first, they have to take care of business in the Divisional Round, and they got a tough opponent in the New Orleans Saints. This game begins at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX (live streams at Fox Sports Go, Yahoo! Sports, and FuboTV).

The Vikings had one of their best regular seasons of the decade and won the NFC North with ease. They finished 13-3, their highest win total since that infamous 15-1 squad in 1998. Led by a crushing defense and surprisingly good play by Case Keenum, Minnesota steamrolled its competition for most of 2017.

What’s most striking about the Vikings’ season is how resilient they were amid multiple setbacks. Sam Bradford lasted all of one week before a knee injury ended his season, but Keenum stepped up to have the best season of his career. Electric rookie Dalvin Cook tore his ACL after just four games, but Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon have formed a solid running back duo. Adam Thielen led the team with 91 catches and 1,276 receiving yards, helping everyone forget that 2016 first-rounder Laquon Treadwell was a non-factor.

Of course, the Vikings’ defense is their biggest strength, allowing the fewest yards and points in the NFL. Harrison Smith and Xavier Rhodes both made the All-Pro team after leading a shutdown secondary, while Everson Griffen led the team with 13 sacks. This unit will have to be at its best when it faces Drew Brees this week.

The Saints took care of the Carolina Panthers in a 31-26 Wild Card victory. The run game wasn’t as strong as it’s been most of the year, but Brees delivered a vintage performance with 376 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram combined for just 45 yards on 19 carries, and they’ll need to be better against the Vikings’ front seven. The offensive line also took a hit when Andrus Peat suffered a broken leg in the game.

New Orleans’ defense remains strong overall, and this game has potential to be a tight, low-scoring affair. The Vikings are favorites, but they also need to overcome the ghost of past playoff failures. Mike Zimmer’s squad has the talent to do just that.

It was a down year for Brees, statistically speaking. He threw for almost 900 fewer yards than he did in 2016, and had 23 touchdowns compared to 37 the season before. It’s not because Brees didn’t play well or that he’s losing a step. The Saints just didn’t need him to carry the offense. The Saints were almost impossible to stop, thanks to the one-two punch of Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram in the backfield.

Brees and the Saints put up 21 points on the Panthers in the first half and didn’t even convert a single third down to do it. It wasn’t that they couldn’t convert on third down. They never had a single third down to convert. And Brees posted a nearly flawless passer rating in that half.

There’s no doubt the Saints are a different team now. Since getting shredded by Bradford in week one and Tom Brady’s New England Patriots in week two, defensive coordinator threw out his playbook and totally changed philosophies. The Saints trimmed the fat of complicated zone coverages and too-exotic blitz designs to focus more on playing disciplined man coverage and getting guys in best position to succeed.

The Vikings have been working on their ground game, it seems, over the past few weeks, and may utilize some different looks that were not used in the week one contest. Cook rushed for 127 yards against the Saints in Week 1, with another 10 receiving yards. That is roughly what the level of production the combination of Murray and McKinnon has achieved since the bye week.

Since the Vikings’ bye week, Murray has averaged 4.3 yards per carry, slowly becoming the workhorse back, while McKinnon has been more balanced between running and receiving. Combined, they’ve averaged 110 yards rushing per game, adding an average of 35 receiving yards per game, or 145 total yards per game.

The Saints have the better quarterback, but he’s facing one of his toughest challenges yet with a Vikings defense that has almost no flaws. If New Orleans can’t get Kamara and Ingram going, it could be a long day for Sean Payton. The Vikings play to their style and grind out a close win.

Check out our Divisional Round picks for even more expert opinions.