Recapping the New Orleans Saints final four games of the season
By Tony Twillie
Minnesota Vikings
The Saints got the gift of playing the only game on Christmas day against a Vikings team that has become something of a thorn in the side of the Saints. The Vikings beat the Saints to go to the NFC Championship in the 2017 season, then defeated the Saints in the wild card round last season to advance.
That’s not to mention the long time history of Vikings and Saints – the NFC Championship game of the Saints Super Bowl season, beating the brakes off the Saints in their first-ever playoff game. There is some history there.
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So no Saints fans were going to feel sorry for a Vikings team that wasn’t very good this season and had a lot of injuries. The Saints had plenty of players hurt themselves.
The Saints had no starting receivers available again beyond Sanders, so they were likely to lean heavily on the run game.
Enter Alvin Kamara.
Kamara split his work up evenly, as he had three rushing touchdowns in the first half and three in the second half for six rushing touchdowns, tying an NFL record that has stood for nearly 100 years. Kamara with his Christmas cleats rushed for 155 yards and Latavius Murray pitched in 72 to lead the Saints to this victory.
The rushing attack took some of the wind out of the sails of anything Minnesota wanted to do offensively. That said, Kirk Cousins has had some of his best days as a pro against the Saints and he did keep them in the game until the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was the slamming of the door for the Saints. They went into the fourth up by four points and finished the game with a 19 point victory, 52-33.