Minnesota Vikings: 5 Biggest Contributors to 42-20 Loss to New Orleans

The 42-20 Week 15 loss the New Orleans Saints (11-3) handed the Minnesota Vikings (2-12) had to be the ugliest of the 2011 campaign.

Minnesota’s 45-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 10 is a very close second, but that loss came on the road in a hostile environment with a rookie quarterback.

Sunday, Minnesota’s chances to win were slim given the Saints’ offensive firepower—second in points scored (415) and first in total yards (5,821)—and Minnesota’s unimpressive pass defense— 248 yards per game (27th best) and 28 points allowed per game (30th best).

But Minnesota created turnovers (two) and shot itself in the foot time and time again with bad penalties (eight for 84 yards) and either putrid pass defense or communication errors in the secondary.

This loss was a total team effort. Here's my breakdown of who’s responsible for the Week 15 embarrassment.

The Pass Defense

Yes, Drew Brees is a top-three quarterback in the NFL.

Yes, Brees orchestrates a passing game with five to six options that can beat a team on any given down.

Yes, Minnesota’s secondary is one of the worst in the NFL.

Yes, Minnesota’s secondary is depleted of its top three cornerbacks (Antoine Winfield, Cedric Griffin and Chris Cook), all out with injuries or off the field issues.

But no, that is no excuse for what happened Sunday. You or I could have gotten open against Minnesota’s secondary. Corners gave too large of cushions to receivers short. Safeties left creases wider than the path the Israelites had to cross the Red Sea when they departed Egypt.

Brees lit up the pass defense for 412 yards and five touchdowns on 32-of-40 passing (80 percent completion percentage). His passer rating was 149.2 and five Saints posted 40 or more yards receiving. And did I mention he was pulled with roughly 11 minutes left in the game?

Play of Christian Ponder

The roller coaster ride continues for the rookie quarterback.

He has been a model of inconsistency and the offense has paid for it. Sunday, the Vikings accrued just 11 first downs. The Saints gained nine rushing first downs.

It was the second consecutive game in which Ponder threw for less than 121 yards and the third time in four weeks he’s thrown for under 190 yards.

Ponder only had one pick Sunday but was 14-of-31 passing (45.2 percent completion percentage). He missed plenty of open receivers and rarely looked comfortable operating in the pocket.

When dealing with a young quarterback growing pains are expected but after impressing early in his NFL career, Ponder is regressing.

No Pass Rush

One apple. Two apple. Three apple. Still nothing.

Four apple. Five apple. Six apple. Are you bored yet?

Well, Drew Brees wasn’t.

During that count to “six apple” Brees was able to find his fifth receiver in his gradual progression and create a New Orleans touchdown.

That was often the scenario for Brees on Sunday. It was as if he were a can of insect repellent and the Vikings defenders were insects. They seemed to want to be nowhere near him—the one exception being defensive end Jared Allen.

The defense was held to zero sacks for the first time in 2011 and to its lowest total since it posted one sack in Week 6 against the Chicago Bears.

This hasn’t been a traditional Achilles’ heel of the Vikings, but in this game it was devastating. Teams that give Brees that much time to pass get burned. Their secondary gets burned badly. And that’s exactly what happened on Sunday.

While the secondary’s performance was inexcusable, a better pass rush would have lessened the damage.

The Offensive Line

The four sacks allowed weren’t a season-high—five allowed against Chicago (Week 6) and Oakland (Week 11) are the high marks for his season—but it was tied for the second most allowed this season.

Some of the pressure and sacks accumulated were the fault of Ponder failing to properly operate in the pocket. But others were solely on the offensive line.

It’s not like the Saints entered the contest as one of the most ferocious pass rushing units in the league. They entered the game with 23 sacks (1.77 sacks per game).

Right guard Anthony Herrera struggled. Right tackle Phil Loadholt was flagged for penalties. Left tackle Charlie Johnson continued to demonstrate why fans clamor for change at that position.

The offensive line does not directly control the poor performance of its quarterback but what the offensive line did made Christian Ponder’s performance that much worse.

Poor Coaching

Does this slide even warrant an explanation?

With everything mentioned earlier in the slideshow, isn't this point logical?

But if it isn't, Leslie Frazier made it crystal clear.

After the loss the Vikings head coach admitted he did not have his team prepared for this contest. And it showed.

As was previously mentioned, nothing went right in this contest. And that blame should go on the coaching staff.

Entering the game at 2-11, there was the possibility that players would give up and take the rest of the year off. This game seemed to be the beginning of that.

We’ll have to see what happens next week, but this isn’t a good sign for Frazier.