The sixth play was the giveaway.

That was as many offensive snaps as the New Orleans Saints needed on Christmas Day to establish what they were going to be about, for the entire game, in a 52-33 victory over Minnesota that clinched the fourth consecutive NFC South Division title for the Saints (11-4).

The signs actually were there in the first five plays. New Orleans, which received the opening kickoff, moved from its 25-yard line to the Vikings' 40 on an 11-yard run by Alvin Kamara, a 9-yard completion from Drew Brees to Marquez Callaway, a 3-yard run by Latavius Murray, a Brees incompletion and an Emmanuel Sanders sweep around left end for 12 yards.

But the Saints knocked the doors off on the sixth play.

That's exactly what it looked like when Kamara took a handoff from Brees and found a canal-sized opening over left guard that, in part, was created by right guard Cesar Ruiz and right tackle Ryan Ramczyk.

The gap was so wide that if Vikings defenders would've had mud on their hands, Kamara's white jersey wouldn't have had a smudge. And after he cleared the first line of defense, it simply was a footrace to the end zone, one Kamara won so easily that he turned around to look at the last defender as he backed into the end zone.

The Vikings, too, scored on their first possession, to tie the score at 7. But Kamara's 40-yard touchdown run – the first of his NFL record-tying six rushing touchdowns – was the way it would be for the Saints' running game for 60 minutes. New Orleans finished with 264 yards and seven touchdowns on 45 carries, Kamara totaled a career-high 155 yards on 22 carries, and the Saints bullied their way to a 19-point victory.