SmashMouth

The last time the Minnesota Vikings faced the New Orleans Saints, the narrative featured the return of Adrian Peterson in an enemy jersey and the debut of Vikings rookie and Peterson-heir apparent Dalvin Cook.

But neither of those players will be on the U.S. Bank Stadium field on Sunday for the divisional-round matchup, as storylines have changed from that Week 1 Monday night, when Cook led the Vikings to a 29-19 victory.

ESPN Vikings reporter Courtney Cronin and Saints reporter Mike Triplett discuss how the teams have changed and what to expect on Sunday.

What has been the biggest change for each team since Week 1?




Where do I begin? Obviously, the Saints don’t have Peterson anymore, as he was dealt to the Arizona Cardinals; but more importantly, they have a much more potent run game than the one that gained just 60 yards on 21 carries in that game in September. Despite that dud, the Saints still wound up leading the NFL with 4.7 yards per carry and 23 rushing touchdowns, thanks to rookie star Alvin Kamara and veteran Mark Ingram; they became the first running back duo in NFL history to gain more than 1,500 yards from scrimmage, while combining for 26 TDs.

Just as importantly, the Saints’ young defense went from a Week 1 disaster to a strength -- led by first-team All-Pro defensive end Cameron Jordan and breakout rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore. The secondary was a mess in the first game, with Sam Bradford throwing for 346 yards and three touchdowns. But since then, Lattimore, rookie free safety Marcus Williams and second-year cornerback Ken Crawley (who was a healthy inactive in Week 1) have developed into standout starters. From Weeks 3 to 16, the Saints had the No. 3-ranked pass defense in the NFL (190.4 yards per game), though they’ve had a few hiccups over the past two weeks.

And with that rise of the run game and defense, the Saints are no longer the pass-first team we’ve been so used to seeing in the past decade. Drew Brees had his fewest attempts, yards, TD passes and interceptions per game in 12 years with the Saints, while breaking Bradford’s NFL record for highest completion percentage in a single season (72.0).

read more from Triplett

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