EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings will play their 50th postseason contest in franchise history at 12:05 p.m. (CT) Sunday in New Orleans.
FOX will broadcast the game nationally and feature the same broadcast crew of Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews and Chris Myers that worked the Minneapolis Miracle playoff game at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Minnesota secured its 30th trip to the NFL Playoffs thanks in large part to winning eight of 10 games from Oct. 6 through Dec. 15. The Vikings were guaranteed a spot in Week 16 but were unable to go higher than the No. 6 seed after falling to Green Bay.
New Orleans is making its 13th trip to the NFL Playoffs and third in as many years. The game is the 21st postseason contest involving the Saints, who finished 13-3 and won the NFC South but landed in the Wild Card round.
Here are three notes on the matchup and information on how to watch or listen to the game.
Prolific passing possible: Kirk Cousins (passer rating of 107.4) and Drew Brees (116.3) each posted the highest season-long passer ratings of their careers. Cousins' mark was good enough for fourth in the NFL and is the second-highest by a Vikings passer in a season behind Daunte Culpepper's 110.9. In 2004. Cousins also is the only QB to throw at least 25 touchdown passes in each of the past five seasons. Brees ranked second in the NFL in passer rating this season. He is the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards (77,416) and passing touchdowns (547). In Weeks 14-17, Brees threw 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
On the receiving end: Saints receiver Michael Thomas set a new single-season receptions record, finishing his fourth professional campaign with 149 receptions. He led the league with 1,725 yards, which is a whopping 107.8 per game, and tied for fourth with nine touchdowns. Thomas passed Marvin Harrison's record of 143 receptions (set in 2002) during Week 16. As for the Vikings, Stefon Diggs led Minnesota with 63 receptions for 1,130 yards. He tied Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph for the team lead with six receiving scores.
Take it away: The Vikings were one of four teams (Patriots, Steelers and Seahawks) with at least 30 takeaways in 2019. Minnesota's flurry of 11 takeaways in the final three weeks of the season gave the Vikings 31 on the year, helping the team rank fifth in turnover differential (plus-11). The Saints ranked second in the NFL with a net differential of plus-15. New Orleans recorded 23 takeaways but committed just eight giveaways on the season.
Here are all the ways to catch the action:
TV BROADCAST
Nationwide: FOX (KMSP in the Twin Cities)
Play-by-Play: Joe Buck
Analyst: Troy Aikman
Sideline Reporters: Erin Andrews & Chris Myers
ON MOBILE
Because this is a national broadcast, fans from coast to coast will be able to watch the game on their iOS mobile devices with the VIKINGS APP or VIKINGS MOBILE SITE (Safari browser only).
LOCAL RADIO
KFAN 100.3-FM/KTLK 1130-AM in Minneapolis/St. Paul
Play-by-Play: Paul Allen
Analyst: Pete Bercich
Sideline Reporters: Greg Coleman & Ben Leber
Radio Pre-game Show: Mike Mussman | 10 a.m. (CT)
KFAN and KTLK serve as the flagship stations for the five-state Vikings Radio Network.
NATIONAL RADIO
Westwood One
Play-by-Play: Kevin Kugler
Analyst: Jason Taylor
Sideline Reporter: Scott Kaplan
SATELLITE RADIO
Sirius: MIN 226; NO 225
XM: MIN 226; NO 225
ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
Click here for the full bevy of options that include over-the-air, cable, satellite, over-the-top and streaming methods.
