All Jazzed Up

It wasn’t so much avenging the “Minneapolis Miracle” as it was a measuring stick for the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night.

So, call it the “Minneapolis Measuring Stick.”

Never mind that Drew Brees passed for a season-low 120 yards. The Saints used some serious grit to win a rematch against the Vikings, 30-20, riding with two huge turnovers from a defense that was so embarrassed during their last visit to U.S. Bank Stadium in January for an NFC divisional playoff game.

The Saints winning with defense? It really happened.

Marshon Lattimore set up a touchdown just before halftime with a 54-yard return of Adam Thielen’s fumble. Just after halftime, P.J. Williams picked off Kirk Cousins and raced 45 yards for a score.

This bucks an undoubtable trend, as usually it’s Brees, Alvin Kamara or Michael Thomas providing the signature highlights for a Saints victory. But on a national stage, it was the defense posing for pictures in the end zone in celebrating big plays.

“We still left something out there,” defensive end Cameron Jordan said amid the festive locker room buzz of a team that has won five in a row, and four consecutive road games. “Everybody knows how explosive our offense is, and the playmakers we have on offense. It’s up to our defense to set a tone.”

There was no need for a miracle finish this time. In proving that they can indeed win on the Vikings turf after dropping two games here in the past 13 months, the Saints (6-1) pretty much had the game in hand by the middle of the fourth quarter.

Sure, Cousins passed for 359 yards and both of his top-shelf receivers — record-breaker Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs – had 100-yard games. And early in the game, it seemed like the Saints defense was doomed. The issues: Big plays. Busted coverages. Penalties.

But the Saints’ secondary had a few counter-punches in its tank to swing the game.

Good for them. If New Orleans is going to mount a serious bid to advance to the Super Bowl, it will need more of the big-play defense that sank the Vikings (4-3-1).

And another measuring stick looms in a matter of days, when the NFL’s only undefeated team, the Los Angeles Rams (8-0) brings its prolific offense to the Superdome on Sunday.

Of course, it’s way too early to suggest that the Saints have a new identity. But they are becoming a more complete team before our very eyes. A week before winning in raucous Minnesota, they won a slugfest at Baltimore. Not easy. But this team is better because it isn’t what the reputation – a high-flying finesse act – might lead you to believe when it is scoring in the 40s.

This team is better because it can find different ways to win.

“You are just ready to take advantage of any opportunities the opposing team will give you,” Brees said, mindful that the Saints offense was content to take its yards in small bites and had just one play gain more than 20 yards against the Vikings.

“We come in with a pretty elaborate game plan and then based on what we are seeing and what is effective, we typically narrow that down and find our bread and butter.”