Minnesota leads the regular season series, having won 19 of 29 contests since the teams first met on October 13, 1968 at Tulane Stadium and two of three postseason meetings; the Black and Gold won that first matchup 2017. The Saints would not beat the Vikings again until September 3, 1978, losing six straight contests in the interim. Though the Vikings have a firm grasp of the overall series record, the Saints have fared much better since the 2006 arrival of Sean Payton as head coach and the unrestricted free agent signing of quarterback Drew Brees.
The teams have met on six occasions since then, five times in the regular season and once in the postseason and New Orleans has only dropped two, a 2008 meeting at the Superdome and the 2017 season opener at U.