Minnesota Vikings 27, New Orleans Saints 19: Vikings hold on after big first half

It was more interesting than it needed to be

It appeared at halftime that, for the first time in a long time, the Minnesota Vikings were poised to actually blow an opponent out. However, when it was all said and done, it wound up turning into yet another normal Sunday for the purple and their fans.

After leading the New Orleans Saints at halftime by three touchdowns, the Vikings had to hold on for dear life at the end and pick up their fifth consecutive victory by a score of 27-19.

The Vikings got on the scoreboard first, courtesy of a 40-yard field goal from Greg Joseph on the first drive of the game to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead. The Saints evened things up late in the first frame on a 48-yard field goal from rookie Blake Grupe to make it 3-3.

The first touchdown of the game went to the Vikings early in the second quarter thanks to a little bit of trickery. Ty Chandler took a direct snap from center went around the left side and walked into the end zone for his first NFL touchdown. Joseph’s extra point was good, and the Vikings found themselves ahead 10-3 just under five minutes into the second quarter.

Minnesota then added to their lead on their next possession, courtesy of Dobbs’ legs as he escaped from pressure and found his way into the end zone from seven yards out for another rushing touchdown, his second in two games. That gave the Vikings a 17-3 lead with three and a half minutes left before halftime.

The Vikings then got an opportunity for a two-minute drive, and Dobbs got the job done again, finding T.J. Hockenson for a 28-yard touchdown with time winding down to make it a 24-3 game heading into the locker room at halftime.

Minnesota extended their lead early in the third quarter on another Joseph field goal, this one a 33-yarder to make the lead 27-3. The Saints finally got a touchdown on their next possession behind Jameis Winston, who came in for an injured Derek Carr, as he found Chris Olave for a 14-yard touchdown, with the two-point conversion making it 27-11 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter.

After Joseph missed a 44-yard field goal and what looked to be an interception by Camryn Bynum was ruled incomplete, the Saints cut the lead to one score as Winston found rookie A.T. Perry and Kamara converted another two-point conversion to make it 27-19 with just under twelve minutes left in the contest.

After the Vikings punted it away, the Minnesota defense got the turnover from Winston that they needed, as rookie Mekhi Blackmon collected his first NFL interception to thwart a New Orleans drive with just over three minutes remaining.

Then, after a quick three-and-out from the Vikings, Winston threw another awful interception, this one to Byron Murphy Jr. to ice the game.

This marks the fifth consecutive win for the Vikings to move their record to 6-4, and now they have two (schedule) prime-time games coming with a Sunday night matchup next week against the Denver Broncos before they host the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football the next week.

The Vikings didn’t make it easy, but they held on for their fifth straight win, taking down the New Orleans Saints by a final score of 27-19. Thank you to everybody who got their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!