Vikings find out who their first 2019 playoff opponent will be

After Sunday night’s result, the Minnesota Vikings will be traveling to take on the New Orleans Saints next week in the wild-card round of the 2019 playoffs.

Despite their final matchup of the 2019 regular season finishing up around 4 p.m. ET, the Minnesota Vikings didn’t find out who they would be opening the 2019 playoffs up against until the final seconds of Sunday night’s matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.

Thanks to the 49ers defeating the Seahawks, the Vikings now know they will be heading out on the road to take on the New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round of the postseason. The game will kickoff at 12:05 p.m. CT next Sunday, January 5 and it will be televised nationally on FOX.

The Saints finished the year with a 13-3 record and they’ve won six of their last seven games. On Sunday, New Orleans demolished the Carolina Panthers by a final score of 42-10.

With Mike Zimmer as their head coach since 2014, Minnesota has come out with a victory in two of their four matchups against the Saints, including one win in the 2017 playoffs (it was that miraculous game that no one ever talks about).

New Orleans was 6-2 this season on their home field and early betting odds from the Action Network have them favored by 7.5 points over the Vikings.

This will be only the third time since 2001 that Minnesota will begin their postseason journey on the road. The last time the Vikings won a playoff game outside of their home stadium came in 2004 when they were the No. 6 seed in the NFC and they upset the Green Bay Packers (Randy Moss had a certain memorable celebration during this victory).

As the lowest seed in their conference, Minnesota doesn’t have a ton in their favor as they attempt to make it all the way to the Super Bowl. The last time a No. 6 seed in either the NFC or the AFC earned a trip to the big game was back in 2010 when the Packers actually ended up winning the whole thing.

Does Minnesota have what it takes to make an impressive run to the Super Bowl this year?