You may have already heard about this, but the Saints are playing the Vikings at 3:40 p.m. on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., for the right to possibly play in that same venue on Feb. 4 in Super Bowl LII.
Of course the Saints would have to win Sunday and then beat the Eagles-Falcons divisional game winner in the NFC championship for that to happen.
But it could happen.
Last week we took a look at five things the Saints would have to do to beat the Panthers at home in the wild card round and for the most part, they did what needed to be done to emerge with a 31-26 victory.
So here are five things the Saints must do to win Sunday’s divisional game and advance to the championship round, which would be in New Orleans if the Saints and Falcons both win this weekend:
TAKE THE CROWD OUT OF IT
Like Saints fans, Vikings fans are for real.
And I totally expect them to bring some serious noise on Sunday when the Saints are on offense.
New Orleans can counter that noise if it scores points on its first couple of drives and makes some early stops on defense.
As usual, a good start to the game will be key.
SCORE TOUCHDOWNS IN THE RED ZONE
In the season opener between the teams in Minnesota in which the Vikings won 29-19 when they had Sam Bradford playing quarterback and Dalvin Cook playing running back (both who are now out with injuries) the Saints did a good job of getting into the red zone, but only left it with one score and that came with 2:04 to go in the game.
The Saints were good in the red zone against the Panthers last week and they will have to be good again inside the 20 on Sunday.
KEEP BREES CLEAN
It seems like the Vikings are always one of the best NFL teams at apply pressure to the quarterback from up the middle.
That happens to be the place Saints quarterback hates to get pressure from the most.
That means keeping Brees clean and allowing him to step up in the pocket will be of utmost importance and center Max Unger, right guard Larry Warford and left guard Senio Kelemete, who will start in place of Andrus Peat, who was injured last week, will have to play big. Running the ball effectively with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara will also help with that as well.
FIND ADAM THIELEN
Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen torched the Saints for nine catches and 157 yards in the season opener and even though he was catching passes from Bradford, Case Keenum loves throwing it to Thielen too.
Thielen leads the Vikings with 91 catches for 1,276 yards so the Saints must be aware of his presence on every play.
He is the go-to man in third-down and other clutch situations for Keenum and the Vikings.
MAKE THE VIKINGS EARN IT
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer is a defensive guy and is known to be a bit conservative when it comes to his offense.
That means the Saints must force the Vikings to go on long drives and not give them short fields.
New Orleans CANNOT turn the ball over and give the Vikings short fields.
Winning the field position battle on kickoffs and punts will also be important.
The Vikings have some special teams groups in the NFL and the Saints must match or best them.
IN CLOSING
Usually I am pretty guarded when it comes to picking the Saints to win big games, but I feel like they are going to take this one 27-20 on Sunday.
The Panthers and Falcons know the Saints better than any team in the NFL and that game last week against Carolina may end up being the toughest NFC playoff matchup for the Saints.
All the pressure in this game is on the Vikings.
I feel like the Saints will come in loose, prevail late and qualify for their third NFC championship game in franchise history.
Staff Writer Kelly McElroy can be reached at 857-2211 or at kelly.mcelroy@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @KMacCourier.