Ended up a throwaway, but easily my favorite Blake Brandel rep from Sunday. Excellent awareness in pass pro helping out Joe Huber. pic.twitter.com/dHDELQE8t2

— Sean Borman (@SeanBormanNFL) October 6, 2026

Some good flashes from Joe Huber on tape. Easy to see why the Vikings are excited about his upside. pic.twitter.com/OXF01FIufP

— Sean Borman (@SeanBormanNFL) October 6, 2026

Kevin O’Connell on OL Joe Huber, via KFAN:

“Joe’s been a guy we’ve been really excited about… Ultimately, this offseason was really a solidifier for him. I think he’s learned a lot watching Donnie and really the way that O-line works together. Joe’s gonna be ready to go.”

— Sean Borman (@SeanBormanNFL) October 6, 2026

Cricket wrote:

https://x.com/vikingzfanpage/status/2107516736203321403?s=20
“There was a time where statistically you try to hunt those big plays and they help you win, and they do, explosives are huge factors for winning games. But I think staying committed to running the football, playing a type of offensive football where we do protect it… we’re trying to make sure we are setting the stage and take for our team to play four quarters and find a way to win.”

Keep on beating this drum. KOC wants to win, not be known as a "whisperer" or offensive genius. Just win baby. And Frankie is keeping him on task. I love it.

Cricket wrote:

https://x.com/SeanBormanNFL/status/2107522759697871123?s=20

Absolutely loved that play by Brandel. Saved his QB another hit.

Cricket wrote:

https://x.com/SeanBormanNFL/status/2107539740262375571?s=20

Very nice work by Huber. Bully ball, some nice shots to the ribs when helping others, handled the stunts well. I think Huber will be fine.

.@TheeHOCK8 and @UnoErra named Week 4 All-Stars by @FOXSports.

📰: https://t.co/9rBDDooIsj pic.twitter.com/b0qIjCH5CL

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 6, 2026

Saints unsure if LB Kaden Elliss will return this week. https://t.co/h5oXMAaXpu

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 6, 2026

Precise 🎯 pic.twitter.com/Z3O07gejMJ

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 6, 2026

The Saints just allowed 428 yards to the Falcons yesterday.

I can’t think of a better game for the #Vikings offense to finally come alive. pic.twitter.com/l7HlCqRePS

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) October 6, 2026

The highest blitz rate for a defense in a season is 52.4% by the #Jets in 2009.

The #Vikings are blitzing their opponents on 68% of their dropbacks this season.

(Via @PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/aIevRUrgLv

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) October 6, 2026

Kevin O’Connell’s face during this moment when Sam Darnold was mentioned:

“Wasn’t his decision.”

KOC trying to keep it together 😭 pic.twitter.com/LuayyGoWrK

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) October 6, 2026

#Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell says Justin Jefferson (ankle) is “doing great” and the initial soreness has subsided. KOC didn’t say whether or not Jets will play on Sunday.

(Via @PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/qBHgSneDsY

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) October 6, 2026

Will the Thrill better than everyone on this list https://t.co/BVszfKmDSh

— Dustin (@Dust_Vikings) October 6, 2026

Well, let's hope so. https://t.co/vn5DPf6PXV

— VikesNow (@VikesNow) October 6, 2026

The good news is that Murray has already ripped this exact throw. Hopefully we see more of it https://t.co/z265eXK2oJ

— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) October 6, 2026

16th in defense hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahabahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaah https://t.co/hfFpc7wu4N

— Vikeologist™ (@Vikeologist) October 6, 2026

The #Vikings have announced the following roster moves

- Placed G Donovan Jackson on IR

- Signed T Tristan Leigh to the practice squad

- Released CB Natrone Brooks, P Johnny Hekker and RB Devin Neal from the practice squad

- Waived CB Tyreek Chappell from IR

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 6, 2026

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/no-excuses-vikings-offense-against-152528002.html

There are no excuses for the Vikings offense against the Saints

Did you know that the Minnesota Vikings haven't scored a touchdown in 18 consecutive possessions? It's true, so long as you acknowledge the caveat that T.J. Hockenson sacrificed a touchdown by sliding down at the 1-yard line to help the Vikings run out the clock against the Dolphins.

Did you know that the New Orleans Saints gave up touchdowns on five of Atlanta's last six real drives? By "real," we mean drives that didn't last two plays at the end of the first half and at the end of the game on Monday night. The lone drive of the six that didn't end in a touchdown still went 75 yards on 11 plays and resulted in a chip shot field goal.

If the Vikings don't light up the Saints on Sunday, every Minnesota fan can justifiably hit the panic button. Forget about injuries. Even without Donovan Jackson at left guard and possibly Christian Darrisaw at left tackle, there is no excuse. The numbers suggest that Kyler Murray and company will carve up the Saints, just as the Falcons, Raiders, and Lions did.

Here's how awful New Orleans' defense is:

The Saints rank 30th in defensive EPA (expected points allowed on a per-play basis).

On defense, teams want a negative EPA because it's an advanced metric — the gold standard, really — to show how a defense is piling up stops, tackles for loss, turnovers, and all sorts of negative offensive plays. When a team has a positive defensive EPA, it means opponents are improving their scoring chances more often than not.

What is New Orleans' defensive EPA? It's a staggering 0.14. The league average is 0.0. They are bad. The Vikings are No.1 in the NFL with a -0.21 defensive EPA.

The Saints have allowed nine rushing touchdowns, including five on Monday night to Bijan Robinson (2) and Brian Robinson (3), and seven passing touchdowns. Their EPA on pass defense (0.17) is actually worse than their EPA on running plays (0.10), where they rank dead last and 28th, respectively.

Murray should have a big day. Opposing quarterbacks have completed 84 of 123 passes (68.3%) for 850 yards, seven touchdowns, and only one interception.

Interestingly, perhaps as a result of how bad the Saints' run defense is, quarterbacks haven't thrown for a ton of yards against New Orleans. Jared Goff (204), Lamar Jackson (204), Kirk Cousins (227), and Michael Penix Jr. (215) all finished with fewer than 230 passing yards. But their respective passer ratings, except for Jackson's, were really good: Goff (96.7), Jackson (87.4), Cousins (119.3), Penix (127.7).

Big plays have been hard to come by through the air, but not impossible. The longest passing play Detroit mustered was a 22-yarder to Jameson Williams; Tez Walker broke free for a 47-yard gain for Baltimore; the Raiders' longest pass play was 22 yards; but the Falcons had hits of 37, 31, and 28, respectively.

Perhaps the most important stat: the Saints have allowed points on 50 percent of their opponents' drives.

All of this points to an efficient day for Murray, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jauan Jennings, and T.J. Hockenson, and a potentially explosive day for Aaron Jones, who should feast against a defense that missed 19 tackles against the Falcons.

It looks juicy. If it doesn't result in a big day, it's time to worry.

Want to add something to this tweet — I’m not going to rule out the possibility of Joe Huber seizing the LG job. He had some nice moments on tape Sunday.

This week’s game feels like a big test/ audition for him heading into the bye. https://t.co/674xEdHlXk

— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) October 6, 2026