Vikings vs Saints final score: Teddy Bridgewater debuts, New Orleans beats Minnesota 20-9
By Hayden Kane
As if this week wasn’t eventful enough already for the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday saw the unexpected debut of rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
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The first round pick showed flashes of the promise that makes him a future franchise player, but the New Orleans Saints were too much for him and the Vikings on Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. New Orleans led this game from wire to wire and won easily by a final score of 20-9.
The opening drive of this game made it look like it was going to be a long day for the Minnesota defense, as Drew Brees and the Saints drove the length of the field in short order to go up 7-0 on a Pierre Thomas touchdown. Later in the first quarter, the Saints scored again on a long touchdown pass to Josh Hill to make it 13-0.
Minnesota was able to keep it from becoming a blowout, they just weren’t able to get much going on offense. The top story in that regard was obviously the fact that quarterback Matt Cassel was carted off the field with a toe injury in the first half. That brought about the debut of Bridgewater.
All told, Bridgewater had an unsteady but positive debut. Throwing the ball he went 12-for-20 for 150 yards. He also showed nice elusiveness, running for 27 yards. He did not turn the ball over; he just didn’t move the ball with much success either, leaving the Vikings with 9 points total in this game.
Marques Colston put this game away with a touchdown in the fourth quarter, with the Saints simply running this game out the rest of the way in the fourth quarter. Khiry Robinson rushed for 69 yards, with Thomas pitching in another 30 on the ground. Brees posted a clean though unspectacular line, throwing for 293 yards and two touchdowns.
This was always going to be a tough calling for the Vikings after the week they had while dealing with the off-the-field issues with Adrian Peterson. The Saints were not overly impressive, but they were still too much for a frazzled Vikings team in this game.
Minnesota hosts the Atlanta Falcons in week 4. New Orleans travels to Dallas to take on the Cowboys on Sunday night football.
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