A strong effort by the defense and some key mistakes by the Vikings' special
teams resulted in a much-needed win for the Saints.  Turnovers were still a
problem, but not a fatal one this week.  Fred McAfee was the primary running
back for the second week in a row (Derek Brown did not play).


The Saints mounted an impressive drive on their initial possession that used up
the first half of the opening quarter.  A Wilson scramble to the NO 39 on third
down and a four yard run by McAfee on 4th and inches from midfield kept the
drive alive.  A 25 yard reverse by Quinn Early put the Saints deep in Viking
territory, and the only pass of the drive was caught by Irv Smith at the 4.
McAfee scored on a 3 yard TD run. 

The Vikings responded with a TD drive of their own.  The big play was 34 yard
catch by Cris Carter to the NO 35.  Two runs by Robert Smith gave Minnesota
a first down, and three by Barry Word gave them another.  Steve Jordan caught
a 15 yard TD pass to tie the score.

Tyrone Hughes returned the kickoff to midfield and a 5 yard facemask penalty
pushed the ball into Minnesota's half of the field.  However, two plays later
Wilson and his intended receiver were running different plays, resulting in an
INT at the 35 yard line.

The Vikes were unable to move the ball and went 3 and punt, but downed the kick
at the three yard line just before the end of the first quarter.  Short runs
were mixed in with completions to Hoby Brenner, Eric Martin, and Smith to move
the ball to the Minnesota 48.  The drive stalled there, but Tommy Barnhardt's
punt got a good roll and was downed at the five.    

A Vince Buck interception two plays later gave the Saints the ball at the 
Minnesota 26, but the field position was wasted when Morten Andersen missed
a 41 yard FG to the right after three unsuccessful plays.

The Vikes reached the NO 41 chiefly through the running of Smith.  After a 
lucky defensive pass interference no-call, the Vikings drive stalled.  Hughes
fair-caught the ball at the 14.  Consecutive medium length passes to Martin,
Martin again, and Smith put the ball at the Minnesota 41 with a little over 
a minute remaining in the half, but two incompletions and a loss on a Wilson
fumble prevented the Saints from changing the score before halftime.

The Vikings' first drive of the second half moved along via consecutive 18
yard receptions by Jake Reed and Jordan to put the ball at the NO 41.  Wayne
Martin stopped the threat and put the Vikes out of FG range by sacking Sean
Salisbury back to the NO 40 on third down. 

After the Saints failed to pick up a first down, the Vikings moved 20 yards
to the NO 36 on two runs by Smith and a catch by Derrick Tennell.  The defense
came up big again when a blitzing Keith Taylor forced an incomplete pass on 
third down.  Fuad Reveiz' 53 yard FG attempt was straight but short, and the 
score remained knotted at 7 apiece.

A bad break gave the ball back to Minnesota on the next play when Wilson's
pass across the middle hit the umpire and was caught by a Viking at the NO 45.
However, Minnesota was denied once more thanks to a 6 yard loss on a sack by
Renaldo Turnbull. 

The Saints gave the ball back to the Vikings again four plays later when
Derrick Ned fumbled on a screen pass at the NO 18.  Runs by Smith and Word
set up a 7 yard Carter TD catch.  But on the ensuing kickoff, Hughes gave the
Saints exactly what they needed when he returned the ball 99 yards for a TD
through the vulnerable Minnesota coverage team as the third quarter ended.

The Vikings went 3 & punt to give the ball back to the Saints.  They struck
quickly with a 15 yard Smith catch, a 28 yard Wilson scramble, and a 27 yard
McAfee run up the middle to put the ball at the Minnesota 11 after only 3
plays.  The drive stalled there, however, and the Saints settled for a 27 yard
FG by Morten.

The teams exchanged 3 & punt series to run the clock down to 6:18 remaining.
Les Miller helped along another Viking punt by sacking Salisbury for an 8
yard loss on the next possession.  The Saints were unable to pick up a first
down when Martin came up a foot short on third down.  The stage was set for
another tense ending as Minnesota prepared to begin their final drive at
their own 23 with 2:16 remaining.

After the Vikings negated a Miller sack with receptions by Smith and Jordan,
Qadry Ismail picked up 38 yards by catching and running to the NO 25 with a 
pass that barely eluded Reginald Jones.  After two incomplete passes, the
Vikings decided to go for the tie and ran Smith into the line to set up
a 41 yard FG opportunity.  Reveiz made the kick, but a huge holding penalty
on Minnesota cancelled the points and backed the Vikes up 10 yards.  The
second attempt was tipped at the line by Jim Wilks and was plenty short.


The win puts the Saints in good position for a wild card spot.  The wins
over Minnesota and Detroit will help if tiebreakers are needed. 


*******************************************************************************
Frank Serpas III