Viktor
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,552
- 0
Vikings-Saints among list of '10 spicy revenge games' for 2020
As noted above, the Vikings and Saints are scheduled to meet at the Superdome on Christmas Day.
The matchup has already been highly touted, and NFL.com's Dan Hanzus recently included it in his list of "10 spicy revenge games on tap" for the 2020 season. He named five "player-on-team" revenge games and five "team-on-team" matchups, which is where the Minnesota-New Orleans contest fell. Hanzus wrote:
You have to go all the way back to 1985 and Rocky Balboa versus Ivan Drago to find a Christmas Day sporting event with a revenge hook as juicy as this. The 13-3 Saints entered the playoffs in January as arguably the best No. 3 seed in NFL history. The inconsistent Vikings were exactly the kind of team you'd expect to get turned into cannon fodder by a superior January opponent. But the Vikings didn't blink in the Wild Card round, and Kirk Cousins connected with Kyle Rudolph on a third-and-goal pass in overtime to secure a stunning 26-20 win.
It was a bitter pill for the Saints, who have now had their hearts broken by the Vikings in two of the last three postseasons.
The other four team-on-team revenge games noted by Hanzus were as follows:
Green Bay at San Francisco (The 49ers defeated the Packers in last season's NFC Championship game.)
Miami at New England (The Dolphins felled the Patriots in Week 17 to eliminate their first-round playoff bye.)
Houston at Kansas City (Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a dramatic comeback victory, scoring 41 unanswered points over the Texans in the Divisional round.)
Tennessee at Baltimore (The Titans defeated a 14-win Ravens team 28-12 in the Divisional round.)
And as for the player-on-team revenge?
Hanzus spotlighted Carson Wentz versus the Seahawks in Week 12; Myles Garrett versus the Steelers in Week 6; Odell Beckham, Jr., against the Giants in Week 15; Melvin Gordon versus the Chargers in Week 11; and Tom Brady versus the Chargers in Week 4.