2017 NFC Divisional Playoffs: New Orleans Saints at Minnesota Vikings

After a one-year hiatus from the postseason, the Minnesota Vikings will make their return to the playoffs on Sunday afternoon, as they host the New Orleans Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium.

This will be the fourth time these two teams have met in the postseason, with the Vikings holding a 2-1 record over New Orleans. The Vikings are 2-0 against the Saints in playoff games that don’t involve excessive cheating, and 0-1 against the Saints in playoff games that do.

These two teams met back in Week 1 at U.S. Bank Stadium, with the Vikings emerging victorious by a final score of 29-19 (and the game wasn’t as close as the score would indicate). The Vikings don’t have the quarterback (Sam Bradford) or the running back (Dalvin Cook) that they started in that game, but they still went 13-3 for the season because, well, they’re still a pretty good football team. Having the best defense in the National Football League doesn’t hurt things, either.

The winner of this game will advance to the NFC Championship Game, and the location will depend on who wins Saturday’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons. If the Eagles win on Saturday, the winner of this game will travel to Philadelphia for the NFC Championship Game on 21 January. If the Falcons win, the winner of this game would host the NFC Championship as the highest remaining seed.

Kickoff for this one is set for around 3:30 PM Central time on Sunday afternoon. Let’s hope that the Vikings can get a win in this one.