Minnesota Vikings: 3 X-factors to beating Saints in Wild Card Round

2. Vikings defense vs. Saints offense

Over the course of the past few seasons, the Minnesota defense has been one of the top defensive units throughout the NFL. This season, although the Vikings have been fairly dominant on that side of the ball, have struggled when going up against high-powered passing offenses.

On Sunday in New Orleans, Minnesota will go up against one of the top offensive teams and one that consists of a potent passing attack as well, which will present a huge challenge for the Vikings defense.

Entering the playoffs, the Saints have averaged a total of 373.9 yards per game on offense through 16 regular-season contests, a mark that ranks ninth in the NFL. They also ranked third-best in the league in points per game, average 28.6 a contest this year.

In the passing game specifically behind veteran quarterback Drew Brees and company, New Orleans tallied 265.2 yards per game through the air, which ranked seventh in the NFL during the regular season schedule.

How Minnesota is able to match up and potentially contain Brees, Michael Thomas and the rest of the Saints offense is something that will be extremely important for the Vikings to be able to accomplish in the postseason showdown.

If Minnesota is able to ultimately hold New Orleans in check for the most part and limit it to some extent on offense, that could potentially open the door for the Vikings to try and go on the road and steal the NFC Wild Card Game this weekend.