Vikings vs. Saints Live Stream: How to Watch, TV Channel, Start Time
Chuck Cook/USA Today Sports
Though the NFL has seen the rise of young quarterbacks in recent seasons, old hand Drew Brees is ready to lead the New Orleans Saints to a second Super Bowl title as they begin their playoff run Sunday, hosting the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC wild-card round.
How to Watch:
When: Sunday, Jan. 5
Time: 1:05 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
Live Stream: fuboTV (try for free)
The 40-year-old Brees missed five games this season with a thumb injury suffered in a Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, but he looked like his typical stellar self after returning in late October. He finished the season with 2,979 yards and 27 touchdown passes, with the latter ranking tied for fifth despite all the missed time.
Along the way, Brees became a leader in yet another all-time NFL category, passing Peyton Manning for the most touchdown passes with 547 and holding off Tom Brady -- for now -- as both have eclipsed Manning’s standard of 539. Brees already is the NFL’s all-time leader in career completions, passing yards and completion percentage.
This is his ninth postseason appearance as he looks to add another Super Bowl title to the one he won with New Orleans in 2010. Brees has an 8-7 lifetime playoff record and has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all 15 games, while totaling 33. The Saints are 5-1 at home with Brees in the playoffs, with the lone loss happening in last year’s controversial 26-23 defeat to the Rams in the NFC title game.
The third-seeded Saints, while a clear Super Bowl contender with Brees under center, also showed they have more than just an elite quarterback. They also have the game’s best receiver in Michael Thomas, who set a single-season NFL record with 149 receptions, and his 1,725 yards also paced the league, while placing seventh all-time.
The offense, which ranked tied for third in scoring with 28.6 points per game and ninth in total yards with 373.9 per contest, was balanced in production. Running back Alvin Kamara put together another solid all-around season with 1,330 yards from scrimmage, while catching 81 passes for a third consecutive year, while newcomer Latavius Murray did most of the work between the tackles by contributing 637 rushing yards.
Kamara and tight end Jared Cook helped prevent opposing defenses from keying on Thomas in the passing game, with Cook hauling in 43 catches for 705 yards and matching Thomas with nine touchdown grabs. Cook’s 16.4 yards per reception led all tight ends.
New Orleans also had one of the best run defenses in the league, finishing fourth in allowing 91.3 yards per game. Defensive end Cameron Jordan anchored the pass rush, totaling a career-high 15.5 sacks, which was good for third in the league.
Minnesota (10-6) finished a distant second to Green Bay in the NFC North, and back-to-back losses to close the season dropped the Vikings into the No. 6 seed. Quarterback Kirk Cousins has an elite running back in Dalvin Cook, who is expected to play after missing the final two games due to a shoulder injury suffered in Week 15 vs. Los Angeles Chargers. Before that, Cook showed what he can do when fully healthy and finished 10th in the league with 1,135 yards.
Cook, who had 13 rushing touchdowns and five 100-yard games, anchors a ground game that finished sixth in the league at 133.3 per game. Minnesota was 9-2 when rushing for 100 or more yards, but also 9-0 when rushing 30 or more times to help ease the pressure on Cousins.
The receiving corps is again led by Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, though Thielen was limited to 10 games due to injuries. Diggs had a career-best 1,130 yards, as he topped 1,000 for the second straight year, and both Cook (53 catches) and tight end Kyle Rudolph (39 and six touchdowns) also made vital contributions.
Defensive end Danielle Hunter totaled 14.5 sacks for the second straight season, while fellow ends Everson Griffin and Ifeadi Odenigbo combined for 15 takedowns of opposing QBs. Anthony Harris was tied for the league lead with six interceptions, and the 17 the Vikings had overall were tied for the most in the NFC and third overall.
This is the first playoff meeting since the Vikings recorded one of the most stunning victories in NFL history, with Case Keenum’s 61-yard touchdown pass to Diggs as time expired, giving Minnesota a 29-24 victory in the divisional round of the 2018 postseason.
The Saints avenged that loss last season with a 30-20 victory in Minnesota in the most recent meeting between the clubs. The Vikings have lost three straight games in New Orleans since a 30-27 win in 2008, including a 31-28 overtime victory in the 2010 NFC Championship in which Brees threw three touchdown passes.
