Minnesota Vikings: 3 Takeaways from win vs. Saints in Wild Card Round

3. Vikings defense stepped up big

Against a vaunted Saints offense, the Vikings defense came up big on Sunday. The Minnesota defensive unit was huge in holding New Orleans in check for a majority of the contest on Sunday, including forcing one of the more potent offenses in the NFL into multiple turnovers.

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The Vikings defense forced Saints quarterback Drew Brees into throwing one interception, while also forcing him to fumble the ball once in the game as well. The veteran quarterback finished the game completing 26 of his overall 33 pass attempts, although he threw for just 208 yards.

Minnesota’s defense has certainly included some flaws that have been exposed throughout the course of the regular season and leading into the NFC Wild Card Game on Sunday afternoon on the road, but the Vikings cleaned that up and stepped up huge against a top-notch Saints offense to come away with the victory.

The fact that Minnesota ended up going into New Orleans and not only took the Saints down, but held them to just 20 points, 227 passing yards and 97 total rushing yards was quite impressive by the purple and gold. They’ll need that type of defensive effort to continue throughout the rest of their postseason run.