Minnesota Vikings: Studs and duds from Week 16 loss to Saints

Stud: Forcing Saints into turnovers

Even though the Vikings defense was brutal to watch throughout the course of the game on Friday evening in New Orleans, that group did manage to force the Saints into a few turnovers during the game which was at the least a bright spot.

In in the contest, Minnesota forced Drew Brees into two interceptions in the game, even though those two turnovers didn’t have much impact on the game overall by the end of the four quarters.

Harrison Hand tallied one interception for the Vikings defense, with Hardy Nickerson recording the other interception for the purple and gold on that side of the ball.

Dud: Third straight loss, eliminated from playoff contention

The ultimate dud that came out of the game in Week 16 on the road in New Orleans was the fact that the season has quickly taken a turn for the worst for Minnesota and it now knows it will not be playing in the playoffs at the end of the regular season after making an impressive mid-season push earlier this year.

The Vikings inched their way back into the playoff picture midway through the season here in 2020, but new they had some work cut out for them over the final 4-5 weeks of the regular season while going up against some solid opponents.

In Week 16, the Vikings saw their losing streak extend to three in a row while dropping to 6-9 overall. With that, Minnesota also was officially eliminated from postseason contention for the 2020 campaign.

The Vikings won’t be returning to the playoffs after all this season after doing so in 2019, and now Minnesota hopes to at least erase the losing streak and end the year on a high note in Week 17 against the Detroit Lions in the regular season finale.