Vikings

What We Learned From the Vikings Win Over the Panthers

Nov 29, 2020; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Chad Beebe (12) catches a touchdown pass against the Carolina Panthers during the fourth quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Vikings kept their scant playoff hopes alive by winning an emotional back and forth game against former quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon. While Chad Beebe and Olabisi Johnson stepped up in Adam Thielen‘s absence, K.J. Osborn had his role reduced, Dalvin Cook was neutralized and Kirk Cousins delivered a game-winning drive — proving he can be more than a game manager.

Minnesota overcame plenty of blunders to earn the victory. Here are some things we learned about the team in the victory:

THIS TEAM NEEDS TO GET TOUGHER

For the second week in a row, the Vikings got outmuscled by a team that isn’t known to be especially strong on their offensive or defensive lines. Their defensive line was pushed around by the Panthers’ offensive line even though they were down a starter. Mike Davis, Rodney Smith and Trenton Cannon aren’t exactly top-echelon backs, but they were getting huge chunks of yardage on the ground early in the game. Carolina was running the ball with ease, and it was all because their offensive linemen were just flat out more physical than the Vikings interior defensive linemen.

The same can be said for the Vikings offensive line. They were clearly not as physical as the Panthers front seven, and Cook struggled to find room in the running game because of it. This is a troubling turn of events for an offensive line that looked like it was beginning to turn the corner. They brought it to the Green Bay Packers after they bye, dominated the Detroit Lions and stuck toe to toe with the Chicago Bears. In the last two games, they have been on the receiving end of the physicality and need to toughen up.

The Vikings simply need to play with more aggression in the trenches. They want to be a team that imposes its will on their opponents, and they can’t do that if they are getting pushed around on both sides of the ball.

K.J. OSBORN IS NOT A RECEIVING OPTION THIS YEAR

This was something we learned before the game even started. The Vikings’ list of inactive players came out 90 minutes before the game, and Osborn was not listed on it. After his bobbled punt last week against the Dallas Cowboys, and Mike Zimmer mentioned that they may need to make a change there, it wasn’t surprising that he was inactive. What made it a bit shocking was that Thielen was out and the Vikings would need to look for some other options in the passing game, and yet Osborn was superfluous.

The move to make Osborn inactive shows how far he is from being a viable option on the Vikings’ wide receiving depth chart. They decided to roll with Bisi Johnson, Chad Beebe and Tajae Sharpe before giving their fifth-round choice from last year a shot. Osborn clearly isn’t on the Vikings’ radar when it comes to being a part of their offense, and the fact he has struggled in his job as the primary returner doesn’t bode well for his future with the team.

KIRK COUSINS IS NOT A GAME MANAGER

When the Vikings started their three-game winning streak, Cook led the way. The Vikings rode him hard, and Cousins only had to make the throws that he needed to in order to convert first downs and find an open receiver in the red zone.

Cousins played this part well and the team was winning, so it was easy to ignore the amount they were paying him to be a game manager. He was nearly perfect in the loss against the Cowboys, and in Sunday’s game against the Panthers he put the team on his back and led them to victory.

Cousins was without Thielen, and the Panthers were able to neutralize Cook. This forced Cousins to dust off seldom-used weapons like Johnson, Beebe and Kyle Rudolph. He spread the ball around and made some beautiful throws and smart decisions. He was also able to escape pressure with his legs and even ran for almost 20 yards. He didn’t manage this game, he won it with ballsy throws. Cousins showed that while in some games he is a manager, he can put the team on his back and make all the plays needed to win games.

DALVIN COOK CAN BE NEUTRALIZED

Cook had been playing like a man possessed in recent weeks. He had run for 163, 206, 96 and 115 yards in the Vikings’ last four games. The Vikings weren’t afraid to feed him the ball an absurd amount of times to get the victory. Cook has rare speed that he uses to burst through the tiniest of seams to get huge gains. He is truly on another level and was playing so well, he was getting his name mentioned in MVP talks.

Cook was on such a roll that it looked like he couldn’t be stopped. Even in the loss to Dallas, Cook rushed for 115 yards and gained 45 more through the air. It was clear that Carolina’s defensive gameplan going into this game was to take Cook out of the Vikings’ offense, and for the most part, they succeeded in that.

The Panthers’ defensive front played with a ton of fire and were much more physical than the Vikings’ offensive line. They also utilized run blitzes and had their safety Tre Boston come shooting in multiple times with the sole intent of taking Cook out. The plan worked. Cook was held to just 61 yards on 18 attempts and caught four passes for 21 yards.

These numbers are a little skewed as Cook missed the majority of the third quarter with an injury, and with the team falling behind by two scores, they went into passing mode, so Cook didn’t see many more opportunities. While the Panthers didn’t win this game, they proved that Cook can be neutralized — and that he is, in fact, human.

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Nov 29, 2020; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Chad Beebe (12) catches a touchdown pass against the Carolina Panthers during the fourth quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

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