So the matchup comes down to which side gets healthier by Friday. If Darrisaw clears protocol, the Vikings are a 4-0 team with a defense that has allowed 51 points all season. If he doesn't, Shough gets a defense that's playing great in front of an offensive line that's been patched together, and that's the Saints' best path to making this ugly.
Minnesota's 4-0 is about as strange as unbeaten starts get. ESPN called it history made "without a scoring offense": 9 points in Chicago, 15 against Miami, and Will Reichard kicking 5 field goals to get the second one. Without Jefferson, the passing game runs through T.J. Hockenson, who caught all 13 of his targets for 119 yards against the Dolphins, plus 20 Aaron Jones carries a week. Kevin O'Connell had strong words for the offense even after the win. This is a team winning on defense and field position, and it knows it.
The Saints' defense is the reverse. It allowed 31 in Detroit, 35 to Las Vegas and 45 to Atlanta, including 5 rushing touchdowns that tied a Falcons franchise record. Bijan Robinson ran for 145 yards on 19 carries. Before that game the Saints sat out edge Carl Granderson, linebackers Kaden Elliss and Anfernee Jennings, and corner Decamerion Richardson, and then Davon Godchaux left with a groin injury. Kellen Moore heard about it afterward, both for the flat effort on a night meant to celebrate 20 years since the post-Katrina return and for keeping Olave in during garbage time.
There's a schedule wrinkle too. New Orleans played Monday night and kicks off Sunday at 12:00 PM CT, so it has a short week to get bodies back. Minnesota played Sunday and gets the full week. The Saints do have one thing working for them: an offense that can actually put up points. Shough, Olave when healthy, Juwan Johnson in the red zone and Alvin Kamara, who returned after a knee scare Monday, give them more ways to score than Minnesota has shown in a month. Whether that's enough depends on whether their defense can hold a Vikings offense that has only needed 15 to win.