Saints vs. Vikings final score takeaways Turnovers doom Minnesota while Drew Brees has quiet game

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Turns out, there is no curse. Just a confluence of crazine s conspired to upend the ' Super Bowl hopes a season ago. made an unbelievable throw, Stefon Diggs made a miraculous catch, and inexplicably forgot to tackle him. That play, which proved to be the game-winning touchdown in last January's NFC Divisional playoff game, had no bearing on what transpired on Sunday night. When it was over, the Saints cruised to a 30-20 win to move to 6-1 on the season and make the case that they're just behind the as the best team in the conference. Death by 1,000 dump-offsThat was the Saints' game plan all evening -- taking exactly what the defense gave him. Save a lone mistake (more on that below), he was content to dink and dunk his way down the field. Of course, Ryan Smyth Jersey we crush guys like for his Captain Checkdown antics, but the difference is that Brees can beat you in ways you haven't even thought up yet.But on Sunday night, the secondary, without starters and , weren't going to let Brees beat them deep. And he didn't. Instead, he beat them with one short pa s after the next. He finished 18 of 23 for just 120 yards, good for 5.2 yards per attempt.In fact, the longest pa s play of the evening came courtesy of , who connected with on this 44-yard pa s play: . goes DEEP to ! : NBC NFL (@NFL) The le son: Good luck trying to slow the Saints' offense. The Vikings did pre sure Brees a few times, but coach Mike Zimmer knew better than to pre s his luck, especially with a depleted secondary, and the results were the same -- a New Orleans win, even if the team took a different path to get there.Drew Brees finally threw his first interceptionThere aren't enough superlatives to describe Brees, even if he didn't have a Brees-ian night. The 39-year-old remains one of the NFL's best quarterbacks, and the most recent evidence is the first six games of the 2018 season. Brees, in his 18th season, is completing a career-best 77 percent of his throws and until Sunday evening had exactly zero turnovers. No picks, no fumbles, just touchdowns.But the Vikings' defense, which came into the came 19th against the pa s after ranking fourth in that category a season ago, got after Brees on the fourth drive of the game and forced the quarterback into a rare mistake. But instead of how these things usually end -- with an incompletion Oscar Klefblom Men Jersey at worst, Brees threw high over the middle, airmailing intended receiver . Safety made a great play on the ball for his third pick of the season. PICKED. intercepts Drew Brees over the middle! : NBC NFL (@NFL) In case you're wondering, that was Brees' 232nd pa s attempt of the season. And his last interception? Well, that came in January ... in the NFC Divisional playoffs. P.J. Williams' night improves immeasurably after rough startThe Saints' pa s defense came into Sunday night ranked 30th, better than only the and . Williams, a 2015 third-round pick, ranked 106 out of 112 cornerbacks, according to , and through the first quarter he looked even worse. But his fortune changed with just over a minute to go in the second quarter.With the Vikings leading 13-10 and poised to score again just before the half, Williams forced an fumble that was recovered by and returned to the 33-yard line. . defense comes up with a turnover of their own! returns the fumble inside Vikings territory. : NBC NFL (@NFL) A play Jari Kurri Men Jersey later, the Saints scored to make it 17-13 at the break. Then, in the third quarter, inexplicably quit running in the middle of his route. Williams did not, and he was rewarded with the easiest interception of his career. The reward didn't stop there, but instead 45 yards later in the end zone. PICK-6! takes the Cousins pa s to the HOUSE. : NBC NFL (@NFL) Thielen jumpstarted the turnaroundUnfortunately, that turnaround belonged to the Saints. It began with the aforementioned fumble near the end of the first half. Two plays later, New Orleans leads, 17-13. The Vikings got the ball to start the third quarter and fourth-and-1 from their own 45-yard line, the play call involves a pa s to . Predictably, the ball fell incomplete. Nine plays later, the Saints kick a field goal to make it, 20-13. Then, five plays after that, the other aforementioned gaffe -- Couins' Jameis-like pick-six that made it 27-13. (We have to say: Unlike the four picks Winston threw Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati, the pick-six wasn't Cousins' fault. Diggs stopped, Williams didn't, and 45 yards later the Saints had a 14-point lead.) On the next drive, Cousins faced third-and-4 from midfield and ate Cousins whole. Sheldon Rankins records his second sack of the night! New Orleans Saints (@Saints) The Vikings finally got into the end zone on their fourth drive of the half but by then it was too late. The Saints, now leading, 30-20, recovered the onside kick and left the Vikings no time to mount a comeback. Silver lining: Thielen joins MegatronMichael Thomas is almost always the best receiver on any field he steps on. On Sunday he was No. 2, at least in terms of advanced stats. In terms of total value, Football Outsiders ranks Thomas just behind Adam Thielen, who despite that ill-timed fumble continued to put up eye-popping numbers. He surpa sed 100 receiving yards for the eighth straight game, which puts him in some very special company. ooooooh sometiiiimes, I get a good Thielen SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) What if the had landed Cousins?This is probably something you don't Laurent Brossoit Men Jersey want to think about if you're either Mike Zimmer or Doug Marrone. The Vikings were happy -- and, it turns out, wise -- to let Case Keenum walk after his Hall of Fame season with the team in 2017. There was no way he was duplicating that again, and the $18 million-a-year price tag was too rich for what he could realistically be expected to do as an encore.The Jaguars, meanwhile, decided to give a three-year, $54 million in January and for good reason: He played some of the best football of his career in the AFC Championship Game lo s to the . A lo s, by the way, that had everything to do with the Jags' defense not playing well down the stretch while Bortles was balling out. Of course, Bortles has regre sed this season, to the point that he was benched for last week only to be reinstated ahead of Sunday's game in London against the . He finished 24 of 41 with a touchdown and no interceptions in the lo s, but it's pretty easy to imagine that the Jaguars -- who are having all sorts of i sues with their defense too -- would be much better than their 3-5 record if they had been willing Connor McDavid Men Jersey to pay Cousins what he was worth to come to Jacksonville in the offseason. If you're wondering why we're even talking about this in the context of "Sunday Night Football," it's because CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora reported earlier Sunday that but balked at his price tag. But that's not the only quarterback who was available before the season:The Jaguars made no attempts to upgrade around Bortles prior to the start of the season despite having numerous opportunities to do so Adam Larsson Women Jersey via trades and signings. The Jets, league sources said, reached out to Jacksonville when they began to shop promising backup quarterback , making the QB readily available. But the Jaguars displayed no interest in acquiring him. Bridgewater was viewed as an emerging potential franchise quarterback prior to suffering a serious knee injury in Minnesota and was dealt to New Orleans for e sentially a third-round pick. Cousins signed a three-year, all-guaranteed $84 million deal with the Vikings, but the Saints got Bridgewater and a sixth-rounder for a third-rounder. Certainly, the Jags could've afforded that. Good news: Bridgewater will be a free agent after the season and Jacksonville can make another run at him. Sadly, Cousins is in Minnesota through 2020. Next upThe Saints (6-1) host the Rams (8-0) in the biggest game of Week 9. New Orleans has a chance to make their case for a much-needed first-round playoff bye while Los Angeles continues to steamroll their way through their schedule. Does that stop next Sunday?The Vikings (4-3-1) remain atop the NFC North and host the next week. After a Week 10 bye, they'll return for two other division games -- at Chicago and the -- before traveling to face the Patriots and then the . Put another way: A month from now, Minnesota could be proving themselves as one of the NFC's best teams ... or their season could effectively be over. Relive the big Sunday night matchup in our live blog below.
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