The New Orleans Saints fell to the Minnesota Vikings in a display that almost felt more disheartening than the loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The offense showed absolutely no heart on the day, and that may have been the worst part.
The Saints now sit at 1-4, and pointing to the NFC South as a way to save the season feels like delusion.
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 11, 2026
Can it get any worse for the Saints?
Tyler Shough had his worst game of the season
There's no sugar coating it. Tyler Shough was bad on Sunday. His first interception to Byron Murphy looked like Murphy was the intended target. Shough's second interception to Murphy looked like a possible miscommunication with Olave or a flat out overthrown pass.
Unlike in past weeks, there was no redeeming qualities on offense this game. There was no streak, even late, where they found some sort of a rhythem. It was one scoring drive and every other drive was stuck in the mud.
Khristian Boyd has to remain a central part of the defensive line rotation
Boyd didn't get much run in the first couple of years of his career, but he's found a bigger role this season. He's taking advantage of the increase in snaps with more standout plays. He had the explosive tackle for a loss against the Raiders, and he's done it again with a forced fumble on the goal line.
Boyd's forced fumble was the biggest play of the first half. The Saints were down by 3, with the Vikings driving, and the play took points off the board. When facing Minnesota's defense, every point matters, and there was a chance Minnesota scores a touchdown and makes it a two possession game.
The Saints scoring a touchdown on the next drive made it sweeter. It was also the only points of the first half for New Orleans.
Jonas Sanker got his touchdown
Redemption is sweet. Sanker was overdue a touchdown after being robbed of a score on Chase Young's Week 1 strip sack of Jared Goff. It's often forgotten that the Saints actually scored on the play because the throw itself was so controversial.
This time, Sanker's touchdown counted, and he had a much longer distance to go for the score. Martin Emerson knocked the ball out of Myles Price's hands and Sanker returned it for 87 yards. The Saints offense was stagnant, and it's difficult to predict New Orleans would have put points on the board again at that point of the game.
Daniel Carlson time is nearing its end
Carlson was a late addition to the roster after the kicker battle in training camp yielded no inspiring results. Carlson made all of his kicks in the preseason finale, and that was enough to stamp him as the winner. That was always about how poor the battle was and less about how impressive Carlson was.
Once the regular season started, it became clear Carlson was no better than the best of the bad options on the team, if that. Carlson missed an extra point against the Vikings, and it's not his first of the season. As the Saints have been on a three game spiral, so has the kicking.
The Saints made the mistake of holding on to a kicker too long last year. Hopefully, it's not two years in a row.
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