Saints kicker Wil Lutz connected on a 49-yard field goal with five seconds to play to force overtime at 20-20, but the Vikings would win the coin toss and never allow New Orleans to touch the football in overtime.
After Kirk Cousins found Adam Thielen with a 43-yard pass to move the Vikings to the two-yard line, Minnesota seemed to be ready to quickly end the game with a touchdown, but a first down run by Dalvin Cook moved the ball only to the one and a second down running attempt by Cook saw the Viking back dragged down by Shy Tuttle for a three-yard loss back to the Saints four.
With the season on the line and needing to hold Minnesota to a field goal for the game to continue under overtime rules, Kirk Cousins hit his tight end, Kyle Rudolph, with a lob to the corner of the end zone for the game-winning score over the Saints P.J. Williams.
Video replays showed that Rudolph pushed off on Williams with the ball in the air and it could have been called offensive pass interference on the Vikings, but the officials only gave it a cursory look as they do all scoring plays and got their officials off the field.
Asked after the game. the league's vice-president of officiating Al Riveron claimed the contact "didn't rise to the level of the foul".
However, Rudolph clearly extended his arm to shove Williams back and bought himself crucial steps to haul the ball in over a scrambling Williams and that arm extension should have been key in calling a penalty as the extended arm and push by Rudolph could be considered an obstruction for Williams' ability to make a play and maintain coverage.
I'll concede that the call wasn't nearly as egregious as the non-call on a Los Angeles Rams defender in last season's overtime playoff elimination, but in a sudden-death situation that decides a season, a closer look and a bit more time considering the penalty should have been the procedure.
Drew Brees threw for 208 yards with a touchdown to Taysom Hill and led the Saints in the fourth quarter with two scoring drives that erased a ten-point Minnesota lead, but threw an interception and his fumble after being hit by Minnesota's Danielle Hunter in the third quarter scuttled a likely scoring drive.
Will Lutz was two of three on field goals including the game-tying kick at the end of the fourth quarter, but his miss at the end of the first half from 43 yards away proved to be large in the big picture.
Alvin Kamara scored the other New Orleans touchdown on a four-yard rush, but Kamara's struggles at the season continued as he would finish with only 21 yards rushing and though Kamara caught eight passes, they totaled a mere 34 yards on the day.
Michael Thomas caught seven passes, but Minnesota corners held the league's leading pass-catcher to only seventy yards with the longest play only moving the ball twenty yards.
The player of the day was backup quarterback and gimmick play specialist Taysom Hill, who threw a 50-yard completion to Deonte Harris, caught two passes for twenty-five including a score and ran the ball four times for fifty yards, including a twenty-eight yard run on the final drive.
I'm very doubtful of Hill ever succeeding as a full-time quarterback but in his role in the Sean Payton offense, Hill is incredibly effective, although I do think teams will begin to take away some of the schemes that involve Hill heavily.
The Vikings sacked Drew Brees three times and forced a key fumble, but it was more than just the big plays as the Vikings for three quarters never allowed the Saints to gain any rhythm from their offense and kept the timing of Brees out of sync except for the occasional plays from Taysom Hill.
Give the Saints defense credit as they managed to slam the door on several Viking scoring drives, although they did allow the long gainer in overtime, but Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore was on the sidelines for that play after he and another Saint collided with each other's helmet on the play before.
The inability to keep the Vikings pass rush off Brees and the lack of anyone other than Cameron Jordan to bother Kirk Cousins were key factors, but they weren't everything in a defeat.
A key first down by (That man again!) Taysom Hill on a short snap fake punt was called back due to a false start and Sean Payton may have made an error in time management when with 21 seconds to go, an illegal shift on the Saints that cost them ten seconds could have been saved had Payton used their final timeout.
I know hindsight is 20-20 and a decision to save the ten seconds and use the timeout was risky, but Brees wound up throwing the ball into the ground on the next play, the Saints didn't use the timeout anyway as they were forced into trying the game-tying field goal that Wil Lutz wobbled through the uprights.
Add it all up and the recipe for a Vikings upset was there for the taking.
Many times teams peak too soon, and perhaps the Saints peaked a few weeks too soon this season, but when you consider the age of Drew Brees and the trades made over the last few seasons that have seen draft picks sent away, the proverbial window of the New Orleans Saints may be closing soon.
Drew Brees will turn 41 soon, Alvin Kamara hasn't seemed to be the same dynamic force of the past this season and the offensive line is having problems protecting.
The Saints window hasn't slammed shut yet, but it won't be much longer before they are closed for winter...
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