The Saints at Vikings: One Stat, Quote, and Matchup to Know Ahead of the Week 10 Matchup
K. Joudry
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Time hasn’t healed all wounds. Many in Minnesota still have a very negative opinion of the New Orleans Saints. The opportunity to take them down, then, will always be met with some glee from those who enjoy wearing purple and gold.
Giving fans a better understanding of what’s to come for the Saints at Vikings involves PurplePTSD offering up a single statistic, quotation, and matchup to keep in mind. The hope, valued reader, is that the information contained in this piece can function as a bit of a primer for what’s to come in the Sunday afternoon matchup.
The Saints at Vikings: Week 10
Stat: 17 & 21
As a team, the New Orleans Saints have picked up just 17 sacks. Cameron Jordan — the long-time stalwart at defensive end in the bayou — has just a pair of sacks for the season.
Meanwhile, the offense has allowed their opponents to pickup 21 sacks against. Honestly, that’s not too bad, folks. The Vikings have allowed 22 sacks against (while picking up 24 from their defense). The purveyor of pass rush in the Land of 10,000 Lakes is none other than Danielle Hunter, who is still leading the NFL with 10.0 sacks after the season’s opening nine games.
Lately, D.J. Wonnum has brought his game to a different level. True, he isn’t on Hunter’s level, but that’s a near-impossible bar to clear. The EDGE2 (at least while Marcus Davenport recovers) has been playing pretty well. Can he keep the good times rolling at U.S. Bank Stadium? Wonnum is second on the team in sacks and TFLs, picking up 4 in each category.
Making Derek Carr uncomfortable in the pocket will be a key to victory. The Brian Flores defense is going to have a tricky time matching up with Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, and Taysom Hill. Generating pressure early and often will be critical.
On the flip side, the Vikings need to ensure Josh Dobbs isn’t in too much distress. Safe to say Dennis Allen is telling his side to do their utmost to make the new QB’s homecoming a disappointing event. Allen can do so if the Vikings’ 22 sacks against clears the mid-20s by a decent amount.
Quote: Kevin O’Connell Explains the Justin Jefferson Outlook
How can Dobbs’ life be made easier? Well, giving him the best receiver on the planet wouldn’t be a bad place to start.
The safe money, though, suggests that Justin Jefferson’s return will need to wait another week. Kevin O’Connell suggested that activating the WR1 off of the IR in time for New Orleans would be overly ambitious: “Yeah, I think that would probably be a little aggressive.” Not too long afterwards, O’Connell notes that the team is looking to “do what’s best for Justin and his long-term future here with us in Minnesota.”
Operating within a competitive rebuild means intentionally pursuing a middle ground, an approach that seeks to marry short- and long-term gain. Only caring about the here and now may involve pushing the receiver to come off of the IR in the hopes of pushing the 2023 record as high as possible as soon as possible.
Minnesota, though, is thinking they can maintain their competitiveness while allowing Jefferson to get his hamstring back to 100%. Can you blame them? The team is 4-0 since saying goodbye to the receiver.
In Jefferson’s place will be Jordan Addison. The rookie has risen to the challenge, but things have been complicated by some of the other injuries. Jalen Nailor is now off the IR but hasn’t gotten off sideline. Furthermore, K.J. Osborn is working through a concussion after a brutal hit in Atlanta; the fourth-year receiver is questionable.
Addison, then, is going to be getting plenty of attention from the Saints’ talented secondary.
Matchup: Alvin Kamara vs. The Vikings’ Front Seven
Brian Flores talked about the issue.
Designating a single defender to locking down the elusive RB would very likely result in a long day for the Vikings’ defense. Shifty and explosive, Kamara has made a career out of juking defenders out of their cleats. His rushing yards — 346 yards on 95 carries for a 3.6 yards average — aren’t particularly inspiring. Can he catch the football?
In 2023, Kamara has turned 49 targets into 43 catches (not bad). Those opportunities have led to 272 receiving yards and a touchdown. So, not otherwordly statistics but a reminder that the 28-year-old remains a threat for New Orleans. Folks, there’s a reason why the RB won Offensive Rookie of the Year and has been a second-team All Pro in a couple seasons.
Bringing things full circle means discussing sacks. Part of the reason why New Orleans allows so few is because Kamara is such a reliable receiver coming out of the backfield. It’s hard to get home for a sack when the ball gets out of Carr’s hands in a second or two to his running back.
If the solution to pressure is to dump the ball off to Alvin Kamara, then Flores may consider shutting down that solution (or at least making a robust effort to do so). Doing so could be the difference between a day where Carr gets hit early and often or one where he barely sees a purple jersey descending on him.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.