Here is who national experts are predicting will win Vikings-Saints playoff game
The “Minneapolis Miracle,” which pushed the Vikings past the Saints in the playoffs two years ago, is likely to get mentioned multiple times on Sunday, don’t you think?
That’s because the Saints on Sunday will be playing host to the Vikings, who won that memorable game in a Divisional round meeting.
This year, New Orleans, 13-3, will be one of only three 13-win teams to play in a Wild Card Game. Will that give them an advantage over the Vikings, 10-6?
Fifty-one experts from around the nation made predictions for Sunday’s game. Here are the picks and what they’re saying about the game, which kicks off at 12:05 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS (Ch. 5):
The Saints will win 30-21 writes Tadd Haislop of the Sporting News. This is a snippet of what he wrote: “In an effort to control time of possession and keep the crowd level to a minimum, the Vikings will want to employ the Dalvin Cook-led zone rushing attack they spent the entire season sharpening. The problem is the Saints have the NFL’s fourth best rush defense. If this becomes a duel between Drew Brees and Kirk Cousins, Minnesota will lose.”
A 36-27 Saints victory is the prediction from Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. Here is part of what he wrote: “A year after losing a playoff game in the most excruciating way possible, the Saints enter this postseason at 13-3 looking a lot more like the 2009 Saints than last year’s group did late in the 2018 campaign. That should result in another big total on Sunday and a lot of soul-searching in Minnesota about the efficacy of building around Mike Zimmer’s defense.”
All 10 experts at ESPN see the the Saints winning: Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Mike Golic, Jason Reid, Trey Wingo, Mina Kimes, Seth Wickersham, Dan Graziano, Louis Riddick and Kevin Seifert.
Each of the eight CBS Sports experts think a Saints victory is coming: Ryan Wilson, Jason La Canfora, John Breech, Dave Richard, Pete Prisco, Jared Dubin, Jamey Eisenberg and Will Brinson. Prisco predicted a 33-23 New Orleans win. Here is part of what wrote: “The Saints are a much better team at home and Drew Brees and the offense move it much better inside the Superdome. The Vikings have had defensive issues this season, and I think Brees will exploit those.”
New Orleans was the pick for both Mike Florio and Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. Smith forecast a 24-10 score. This is part of what he wrote: “This is the easiest pick of the weekend. The Saints are one of the league’s elite teams — good enough that in most years they would have earned a bye week — and the Vikings just aren’t on their level.” Florio predicted a 27-10 score and wrote: “It will take more than a miracle for the Vikings to upend one of the best teams in the league. Minnesota won’t even have a chance without a potent running game that makes it easier to move the ball through the air.”
Five of the six Sports Illustrated Monday Morning Quarterback writers picked the Saints: Kayln Kahler, Mitch Goldich, Andrew Brandt, Bette Marston and Jenny Vrentas. The pick for the Vikings came from Connor Orr.
Seven of the eight Pro Football Focus experts picked the Saints: Bruce Gradkowski, Jeff Ratcliffe, Solomon Wilcots, Sam Monson, Nathan Jahnke, Austin Gayle and Steve Palazzolo. The one to choose Minnesota: Neil Hornsby.
All eight of the SB Nation writers are went with New Orleans: Christian D’Andrea, Sarah Hardy, Morgan Moriarty, Geoff Schwartz, Adam Stites, Stephen White, James Brady and Lester Wilfong.
The seven experts from USA Today picked the Saints: Jarrett Bell (34-27 final score), Nate Davis (30-24), Jori Epstein (24-20), Mike Jones (34-24), Mike Middlehurst-Schwartz (30-14), Lorenzo Reyes (30-20) and Tom Schad (28-24).
This story was originally published January 5, 2020 at 7:53 AM.
