The New Orleans Saints had their first halftime lead of the season against the Minnesota Vikings, but it still wasn't enough to come out of the game with a win. Losing their third straight game, the Saints are now 1-4 on the season and are tied for last place in the NFC South.
For the fourth time this season, the Saints were held scoreless in the first quarter; in fact, they were already losing with 9:09 left in the first due to Will Reichard's 40-yard field goal. The offense was honestly just slow throughout, finishing with just 142 total yards (their fewest in one game all season) and averging 3.3 yards per play. There's just no way the Saints could've won with that unit playing behind the 8-ball for 60 minutes.
The offense's lone touchdown came from an unlikely source, running back Kendre Miller. However, that two-yard score would be the high point for the offense, as every other drive would either end in a punt or a turnover. On every drive except the scoring one, really, the offense was dead to rights.
The New Orleans Saints just didn't show up to play in the second half
With a 7-6 score, the halftime lead was a nice change of pace from the four straight deficits heading into the half. That gets a little more impressive when you realize that New Orleans achieved this against an undefeated team, but it's too bad that was the only shot of adrenaline the offense was able to provide that afternoon. Not even three minutes into the second half, the Vikings would take back the lead and not look back.
In fact, if it wasn't for Jonas Sanker's 87-yard fumble return touchdown, the game would've gotten out of hand before the fourth quarter was even a thought. The game would be tied at that point, and it would be the closest the Saints came to recapturing it.
The Minnesota offense, which was one of the worst if not the worst, offenses heading into week five, and it's just typical New Orleans luck that they decided to act like anything but that today. They took advantage of every opportunity in the second half, unlike the Saints offense, which only had 27 total yards through the third and fourth quarters.
Next week's opponent won't be a softer landing, literally, because the Saints will be marching into MetLife Stadium to take on the New York Giants. They'll have to play all 60 minutes against them and not just the first 30 or the last 40.
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