After losing the past two games, the New Orleans Saints are at a critical point in the season. Is that insane to say only 5 games into the season? Yes, but starting 1-4 would be nearly catastrophic for this team. That's when doubt starts to really creep in, especially when the last three games (including this week's game) are being played in New Orleans. You can not go 0-3 in this stretch, and it doesn't help that the Saints will be playing the Minnesota Vikings. 

The Vikings are 4-0 and have one of the hardest defenses in the league to go against. This is going to be a massive challenge for the Saints, but if they want to win, they must deal with these matchups. 

I'm going to start with the most glaring issue the Saints are going to deal with. One of the main reasons the Vikings are having so much success this season is because of DC Brian Flores, who is a master at blitzing opposing offenses. The Vikings' defense should be scary to the Saints, who have been unable to block well this entire season. 

In Week 1, we saw what the Saints could/couldn't do against blitzes, and it caused them to fall behind quickly against the Detroit Lions. Give credit to Kellen Moore and Tyler Shough: they adjusted and handled those blitzes, but Flores is talented at keeping opposing offenses from adjusting. Without a steady run game, this will be a difficult task for New Orleans' offense. 

Another issue the Saints have had so far is covering WRs, and the Vikings have two who could really hurt them. Justin Jefferson is returning from injury and is one of the best WRs in the NFL, and Jordan Addison is also excellent. It would already be an issue if only one of these WRs were playing, but having both could make them impossible to stop. 

The key will be the safeties taking away the big play that Kyler Murray will be looking for, and DC Brandon Staley utilizing blitzes to get some pressure on the QB. The Saints can't rely on the defensive line, outside of Chase Young, to make that pressure happen.

Although RB Aaron Jones is nearing the end of his career, he is having a really good start to the year. With the passing ability this team has, it's opening up opportunities for Jones, and the Saints can't let him have that type of success. I would love to see Christen Miller play in this game, and I think he can make a massive difference for the Saints' run defense.