Flawed Vikes survive to keep hopes alive

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — For the Minnesota Vikings, victory was still satisfying — no matter how wacky or lucky it was.

Escape from devastating defeat on a night when the Saints did everything they could to give the game away showed, in a strange way, a certain resiliency that could serve the Vikings well the rest of the season.

“You have to hang in there,” center Matt Birk said Tuesday, reflecting on the 30-27 win over New Orleans. “It’s good to beat a good team on the road to get the win and bounce back like that. There’s plenty of adversity. They made some fantastic plays, obviously, but to be able to have that resolve and win it in the end? That’s huge. Hopefully we’ll continue to do that.”

For the glass-half-empty crowd, the section of the Super-Bowl-starved fan base that seems to be the majority these days, the Vikings still have a startling amount of flaws after committing $62 million in guaranteed money to four players they brought in to help their run at a championship.

The combination of play calling, passing accuracy and reliable receiving has yet to yield a potency under coach Brad Childress that opposing defenses must respect. Though Gus Frerotte didn’t turn the ball over and threw for the tying touchdown among his 222 yards, the Saints predictably stacked up against the run and held Adrian Peterson to 32 yards on 21 carries.

“We have to be able to throw,” Frerotte said. “We had some bigger plays down the field, and we just have to still work on the coverages they’re giving us when they’re trying to commit to the run.”

Minnesota (2-3) remains last in the NFL with a 25 percent success rate (3-of-12) in the red zone.

Third down efficiency is lacking, too: The Vikings have moved the chains 35.2 percent of the time in those situations, 25 out of 71 and tied for 24th in the league.