Were the Vikings as efficient on the ground as they were in their romp over Atlanta? Their rout of Oakland? Their domination of the New York Giants?
No. But they strung together enough successful runs — and a few explosive ones — to keep the number-one-against-the-run Eagles loading the box and biting on play-action, which opened the door for the Vikings’ game-breaking plays downfield.
“You’ve got to defend everything,” said Dalvin Cook, who took 16 carries for 41 yards and a touchdown. “You can’t just sit there and load the box and just pin the ears back and stop the run. We got guys that can light this thing up. You saw that today.”
Cook’s largest run of the day, a 16-yarder that featured an impressive spin move, was wiped out by Dakota Dozier’s holding call. Otherwise, the rising star was far from the impact player he’s been in four of the first five games, which had him second in the league in rushing, but backup Alexander Mattison played his biggest role yet with 14 carries and 63 yards against the Eagles.
While the Vikings only ran the ball at a modest 3.5 yards per attempt, their 122 yards were the most allowed by an Eagles defense this season and the first 100-yard rushing performance Philadelphia had allowed in the regular season since Week 14 of last year. Take away the Vikings’ final nine carries, which amassed just 13 yards late in the fourth quarter in an effort to run the clock out, and their yards per carry hit a respectable 4.3.
Most importantly, the Vikings ran the ball well early in the game and paired it smartly with their passing game on scoring drives.
Minnesota took a 10-0 lead before Philadelphia had recorded a first down. The Vikings moved it 110 yards by running it 10 times and passing it 11 on their first two drives. On their game-opening touchdown drive, they used a pitch to Cook three times: once for five yards, once for 14 and a third time that turned into a reverse to Stefon Diggs for 10 yards. Cook also converted first downs on 2nd and 1 and 3rd and 2 (after review).
“In order for us to be effective, it helps when the ball is spread out across everyone,” Mattison said. “It helps us be productive in the pass game and run game. All aspects of the offense complement one another, so we need everything to be working.”
Mattison’s two longest runs of the day helped set up touchdowns. His 13-yard carry immediately preceded Kirk Cousins first touchdown pass to Diggs on which Cousins head-faked as if to hand off to Mattison to freeze the linebackers. Later, Mattison’s game-high 35-yard jaunt in the fourth quarter put the Vikings in the red zone, where they’d eventually score on Cook’s 1-yard run. Like he showed in Week 3 on a touchdown run versus the Oakland Raiders, Mattison went airborne once again, hurdling over safety Rodney McLeod.
“His hurdle, I think y’all going to see that a lot in his career,” Cook said. “He hurdles guys and makes guys miss. He’s a special player. He’s learning every week. He’s getting better. Just continuing to be proud of him and he’s continuing to make plays.”
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For the fourth time in six games this year, the Vikings rushed it 30 or more times. In those four games, they’re 4-0. Of course, the adage ‘you rush when you win’ applies here in that the Vikings are building up big rushing totals thanks to big leads — all four of their victories are by 16 points or more. But a team doesn’t run 30-plus times unless something’s working. While the passing game stole the show Sunday, the foundation of the running game was instrumental in getting it started.
“I thought we had some good runs in there today, said head coach Mike Zimmer. “You know, there was a couple negatives, but most of the time we had positive yardage on the runs. You know, when you do that, it starts to tighten things up where you can get some balls over the top.”
For two straight weeks, the Vikings have married the run and pass in a way that seems sustainable, as even a begrudging Zimmer can endorse.
“We threw it 29 times, not 10,” said Zimmer, referencing their Week 1 win, “so everybody can be happy now.”
