Saints vs Vikings: 5 Things We Learned from Minnesota's 42-20 Loss

A blowout against the New Orleans Saints isn't exactly an unbelievable happenstance, but none-the-less, a little deflating, which is the immediate lesson learned after this week's loss.

For the Vikings, however, this week's defeat more or less reiterates the needs of this teams, while keeping their deficiencies a close second.

Still, their were a few lessons to yank from this wreckage, so let's see what I've dug up for you all this week.

Possession Reigns Supreme

The Saints were favored in time of possession nearly 4:1 in this game, despite throwing the ball all over the place, and moving the chains at will.

Perhaps they saw something they didn't like in Minnesota's offensive approach—forcing them to play keep away—or maybe that's just how the cookie crumbled, but either way the Vikings never really had a shot in this one.

Bad Records Equals Good Draft Positioning

There's a lot of needs on this team; too many to mention in a single slide. What I can mention is draft position thanks to overall record.

It's obvious that the one silver lining to this season will be the ability to draft high and early in the first and possibly the second round, which could help this team score the impact players they'll be hunting for.

Not to mention the potential trades that could come from wheeling and dealing on draft day.

Start Loving Ponder, Now!

I would've loved to see where this kid would be right now (skill level) had he started the season, and I would like to know how different this season would've been.

Either way, ya gotta start loving this guy.

Ponder continues to show he can move the chains almost at will, and is executing his offense better and better each week, especially in crucial moments of the game.

He has some bugs to work out, no doubt, but he is well on his way to greatness.

Limitations

Some of us really believed that Minnesota was going to have the ability to keep this game somewhat manageable with their stellar pass rush, but things did not go so well.

Throughout this season, we have seen a clear dividing line as to where the skill set can go no further, and it seems to stop at the better offensive squads in the league.

What this teaches us is there's a clear need for veteran upgrades in the secondary, not just a need to draft the players needed.

The Future Ahead

To say that this team is in rebuild mode would be a tad bit inaccurate, rather, they will be in repair mode at the end of this season.

The reasoning here is the fact that there are plenty of areas that are sound on this team, while other areas need to be repaired with better coaching, and player replacement.

With that said, and a close examination of the season as we've been doing all year, the conclusion is, this team is in better shape than perhaps they appear to be.

If the right players are brought into Minnesota next year, and the coaching staff can get hings together—which I believe they will—this team could wind up having one of the fastest franchise turnarounds in a very long time next year.

A very bright future ahead, indeed.