Vikings' frustration boils over because of inability to make big plays

Shortly after Drew Brees threw his fifth touchdown pass Sunday, a 47-yard strike to Lance Moore, Vikings defensive end Brian Robison came to the sideline seething. He fired his helmet into a box fan next to the bench, then expressed his anger to several teammates before heading off to stand by himself for a while.

Robison said the outburst wasn't directed at anything specifically, just a build-up of frustration.

"It was a little bit of everything," he said. "I was mad that we weren't making the plays we needed to make. I felt like there were a lot of calls out there that weren't being called."

The Vikings defense gave up 573 total yards Sunday and went without a sack for the first time all season as Brees consistently sensed pressure, stepped away from it and fired to open receivers.

"Their whole scheme is really designed around that," Jared Allen said. "He always has a check-down. He always has an outlet. I thought we got good pressure at times. He just got rid of the ball."

Brees set a single-season NFL record for 300-yard games with his 11th such outing of 2011. He also completed at least 20 passes for the 34th consecutive game, another league record.

When Robison was asked if he felt the Vikings effort waned at points throughout the game, he shook his head.

Harvin halted The Vikings had a feeling the Saints would key on Percy Harvin. They were right.

Harvin came into the game averaging 121 yards from scrimmage with five touchdowns in the three-plus games that Adrian Peterson missed because of a high left ankle sprain. With Peterson back, Harvin touched the ball only four times for 7 total yards. He had one run for minus-1 yard and caught three passes for 8 yards after being targeted seven times.

"We expected [the Saints] to try to come up with a plan for him," Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. "We wanted to be able to do something with Adrian Peterson to be able to counter that. We just didn't win enough one-on-ones to make that happen."

Harvin did match his career high for receptions (71). With 203 career catches, he needs 24 more this season to surpass the record for most catches by a Viking in his first three seasons. Randy Moss (1998-2000) holds the mark of 226.

Steep learning curve Toby Gerhart scored both Vikings touchdowns on 10- and 16-yard passes from Christian Ponder. Gerhart said he could empathize with the rookie struggles that Ponder is enduring. Ponder was shaky all day, finishing with a quarterback rating of 63.9.

"We just have to reinforce that he's our guy, and we're behind him," Gerhart said. "We know it's been rough, a rough few games, a rough season for everybody. We just need to let him know we're behind him."

No problems According to the final boxscore, the Saints converted 73 percent of their third down attempts (8-for-11) Sunday. The Vikings were far less successful, converting just 29 percent (4-for-14). Digging a little deeper, Brees completed eight of 10 passes on third downs for 112 yards with two touchdowns. Ponder was 3-for-10 for 28 yards.

New Orleans didn't face a single third down on three of its six touchdown drives.

Injury update Cornerback Asher Allen left the game for good in the first half because of a concussion. Guard Steve Hutchinson was sidelined early in the third quarter after cutting open his lip, a laceration that required stitches to close.

Allen's exit left the Vikings using Benny Sapp, Brandon Burton and Marcus Sherels at cornerback. Sapp did not start Sunday in what Frazier called a disciplinary move, but did play most of the game. Frazier and defensive coordinator Fred Pagac also opted against using Cedric Griffin much after the veteran cornerback was benched last week in Detroit.