The Minnesota Vikings shocked the world when they went into Lambeau Field on a blustery Sunday afternoon and beat the Packers 28-22. Dalvin Cook had four touchdowns, Kirk Cousins took care of the ball and the Vikings defense held Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to 22 points. They looked like a whole new team coming out of the bye week.
Here are four things we learned in the improbable victory:
Dalvin cook is the Vikings’ offense
Going into this game, many figured the Vikings’ best chance was to ride Cook. In the games they had been the most competitive in prior to this contest, Cook had gotten at least 20 touches. In today’s game against the Packers, Cook carried the ball an impressive 30 times for 163 yards and three scores. He was also an asset in the passing game, catching two passes for 63 yards and another touchdown.
Cook is arguably the best back in the NFL at the moment. All he needs is one tiny crease to slip through, and he’ll turn on the jets and be gone. He can pick up yards when there appears to be no path forward, and that ability allowed the Vikings to pick up first downs and methodically work the ball down the field on Sunday.
Long drives kept the Packers’ offense on the sidelines, helping a young defense that had been struggling. Cook is a dynamic talent who the Vikings need to continue to feed. Eventually, he will break off a big play, whether it is on a handoff or a little screen play. He has that home run type of ability, and if the Vikings want to build off this upset win and salvage their season, Cook will need to see the football just as many times as he did against the Packers.
it may be time to search for a new punter
The Vikings may want to scour the waiver wire and see if there is a punter available who’d be an upgrade over Britton Colquitt. He hasn’t been great all season long, and today against the Packers was easily his worst game of the season. Colquitt had three punts with an average of 37.7 yards. His longest punt was 43 yards. While those numbers don’t seem horrible, you have to factor in where the Vikings were on the field when he was kicking, and at the point of the game when they needed him to pin the Packers inside the 10.
Colquitt’s first punt on the day was a real head-scratcher. He kicked a line drive that went about 20 yards. After seeing a punt like that, which hardly changed the field position, going for it would’ve been a much better choice. Colquitt also had two other opportunities to pin the Packers deep in their own end but wasn’t able to come close to doing so. Sure, there were swirling winds that affected the kicking game, but that didn’t seem to matter for the Packers punter Sunday.
If the Vikings do get back on track and actually start winning football games, they may need to see who is available. Names like Dustin Colquitt, Matt Bosher, Ryan Allen or even former Viking Matt Wile could all be considered if Colquitt doesn’t start showing a little more mustard on his punts.
eric kendricks is on another level
If Cook is the heart of the Vikings offense, then the soul of the defense is definitely Eric Kendricks. The Vikings defense was able to step up and slow down the high-powered Packers’ offense enough today to hold them to just 22 points, giving Minnesota a shocking win against their division rival. The defense was missing a ton of pieces, and corners kept getting hurt in the secondary, putting guys deep down the depth chart into key roles. That didn’t seem to matter as the unit still stood strong, and a lot of that had to do with the play of Kendricks.
The Vikings’ middle linebacker has been playing out of his head all season long and clearly doesn’t get enough credit for the type of impact he’s making. Today he had an impressive 12 tackles and was all over the field. Whether it was stuffing the run when the Packers were trying to convert a 3rd or 4th and 1, or running stride for stride with Davante Adams down the field, Kendricks can do it all. He’s a phenomenal player and it showed today.
Without No. 54 making plays all over the field, the Vikings definitely would not have won this game.
Kendricks is on another level when it comes to most NFL middle linebackers. His ability to cover a wide receiver, come up and lay a bone-crunching hit and fly to the football no matter where it is makes him an irreplaceable part of the Vikings’ defense. He’s one of the best in the game today.
The Vikings can win with an efficient Cousins
The Vikings proved today that they can win with Cousins being nothing more than an efficient caretaker of the football. They don’t need him to drop back and throw the ball 30 times — all he has to do is hand off to Cook and let the dynamic back make plays that only he can.
Cousins just needs to make the plays he has to. Whether that is finding Irv Smith Jr. open on 3rd and 4 or hitting Adam Thielen on a shallow cross to pick up a first, Cousins just needs to be accurate in these situations to extend drives and keep the chains moving. While this may not be the type of offense that makes Cousins’ contract worth it, using him in this role is the Vikings’ best chance of finding success this season.
Offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak needs to basically make this the blueprint moving forward: Give Cook the ball 30 times and have Cousins make a few throws here and there. It is what could bring this team back to life and into contention moving forward.
