Vikings Injury Report for Playoff Battle With Saints Shows Secondary is a Disaster

The Minnesota Vikings scratched and clawed their way into the NFL playoffs as the No. 6 seed, and their chances of pulling off a major upset just got even more difficult after the latest injury report came out.

The Vikings will be without cornerbacks Mackensie Alexander and Mike Hughes, with the latter out for the rest of the season after being placed on injured reserve.

Alexander recorded 37 tackles and 0.5 sacks this season, while Hughes recorded 43 tackles and an interceptions in his second season since being picked in the first round out of UCF.

In an effort to cope with the late-breaking Hughes news, Mike Zimmer signed cornerback and punt returner Marcus Sherels off the scrap heap, and will be giving him a significant role. With Xavier Rhodes struggling, and the Vikings pass defense as a whole declining as compared to last year, Sean Payton is going to have a field day cutting up this patchwork secondary, which can no longer cover for Rhodes' missteps.

Minnesota's secondary is going to need to be on their A-game if they want to stand a chance against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, and losing two cornerbacks (and all slot protection) before a game against Michael Thomas is a recipe for disaster, even with Zimmer at the helm.