Vikings Week 8 scouting report: At 39, Drew Brees still conjures up magic

7:20 p.m. Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium (Ch. 11, 100.3-FM)

About the Saints

• The Saints (5-1) escaped Baltimore with a fifth consecutive victory last weekend off a 17-point fourth quarter. Ravens kicker Justin Tucker missed an extra-point try in the final minute that would have tied the score in the Saints' 24-23 win.

• Running back Alvin Kamara, who had 105 yards (43 rushing, 62 receiving) and a touchdown against the Vikings in last year's playoff game, has continued to be a top NFL dual-threat running back. Kamara is quarterback Drew Brees' second-favorite target with 40 catches for 362 receiving yards in six games.

• Receiver Michael Thomas, whom the Vikings passed up in the 2016 NFL draft to take Laquon Treadwell, is Brees' go-to target. Thomas ranks in the league's top five with 53 catches for 98 yards per game.

• The Saints defense has been its weak link. It is allowing 27.2 points per game (27th in the NFL) while being particularly susceptible to the pass. Opponents have completed a league-best 43 percent of passes for first downs against the Saints.

• Brees, 39, became the NFL's career passing leader this month, surpassing Peyton Manning's mark of 71,940 yards. Brees will add to his 72,315 total Sunday night.

• Brees has shown no signs of slowing down in his 18th NFL season. He's the NFL's only starting quarterback to have not yet thrown an interception while also leading the league in passer rating (121.6). He's thrown 13 touchdowns to no picks in six games.

• On last year's "Minneapolis Miracle" and the Saints' 29-24 playoff loss in Minnesota: "We didn't start the game off the way we wanted to, obviously, being down 17-0 at halftime. We put things together in the second half, made plays when we had the opportunities. It was just a hard-fought game down to the wire; thought we had it won."

• On how long he'll continue playing: "I'm really enjoying what I'm doing. I'm enjoying being around the locker room and around the guys. I feel we have a great window of opportunity here in New Orleans right now, but I'm just taking it one season at a time right now."

Coach Speak: Sean Payton

• Payton, in his 12th season in New Orleans, is the third-longest tenured NFL head coach, tied with Green Bay's Mike McCarthy. Both were hired before the 2006 season. Payton has a 110-72 regular-season record and is 7-5 in the playoffs, with one Super Bowl ring following the 2009 season.

• Payton, 54, coached alongside Vikings coach Mike Zimmer in Dallas from 2003-2005. Zimmer's son, Adam, had his first NFL gig under Payton as a Saints assistant linebackers coach from 2006-2009.

• On the Saints and Vikings meeting for the third time in just over 13 months: "It feels almost like a divisional game because you played the team twice last season. You've got the cutups, the two games from a year ago, much like you'd have from your own division."

• On Brees orchestrating yet another fourth-quarter comeback last week in Baltimore: "He's one of those players that it becomes a little contagious with the other players: the tight ends, receivers and everyone else involved. … He's one of those guys that given those [late-game deficits], he's going to know what he wants to do."

ANDREW KRAMMER