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The New Orleans Saints may be peaking at the right time. They manhandled the Minnesota Vikings on a national stage on Christmas Day, hitting their stride on offense while making enough stops on defense to win 52-33.
It was powered by a terrific game from Alvin Kamara. The running back racked up 172 yards of offense, largely through a bruising effort on the ground, where he tied the NFL record for most touchdowns scored in a single game (6).
And this victory secures the NFC South for an unprecedented fourth year in a row. The Saints and Carolina Panthers each had streaks of three-year dominance before, but now New Orleans stands alone at the top. They’ve won the division more consecutive times than any other team since it was created.
But their ambitions are higher than that. While New Orleans is now guaranteed a top-three playoff seed, they’ll need some help to take the No. 1 seed and the valuable first-round bye week that comes with it. That would do a lot to shorten their road to a possible Super Bowl berth.
Still, this was as encouraging a game as you might hope for. Especially so late in the season. It bodes well for what these Saints can accomplish in the postseason. Here’s to some time spent healing and resting up before the stakes raise even higher.
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