Hercules Mata'afa #51 and Shamar Stephen #93 of the Minnesota Vikings sack Matthew Stafford #9 of the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 08, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - What a difference a couple weeks and two NFC North Division wins makes for the Minnesota Vikings.
Two weeks ago, the Vikings were 1-5 and weighing their short and long-term future during the bye week. They were one of the worst teams in football, playoff hopes fading fast and they had two options: Trade veterans to contending teams and build for the future, or try to climb their way out of it.
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Vikings celebrate another divisional win
The Minnesota Vikings are celebrating their second win in a row, this time coming against the Detroit Lions.
It appears Mike Zimmer and his team have chosen the latter. The result? A 28-22 win at Green Bay, and Sunday’s 34-20 win over the Detroit Lions. Suddenly, there’s new life at TCO Performance Center again after the team’s worst start under Zimmer.
“Part of it is just sticking to it and believing that you can get some wins. I talked to them a few weeks ago about just believe. You’ve got to believe that you’re going to pull these games out,” Zimmer said Monday.
Up next for the Vikings is a trip to Chicago for Monday Night Football against the Bears. Despite a troubled past at Soldier Field, the Vikings go in as slight betting favorites. Following that match-up are three straight home games against the Cowboys (2-7), Panthers (3-6) and Jaguars (1-7).
That’s three home games against teams currently a combined 6-20, and the Cowboys are without Dak Prescott the rest of the season. There’s plenty to play for with eight games left.
“I’m just going to put my head down and work, I feel like that’s what everyone’s mindset is at this point. A lot of stuff we can’t control, but there’s a lot of stuff we can control as well and we have all that stuff in front of us,” linebacker Eric Kendricks said.
Eric Wilson has big day for Vikings defense
With a beat up secondary, Anthony Barr out for the season and new faces along the defensive line, more is on the plate for Eric Wilson and Kendricks. Wilson had arguably his best game with Minnesota Sunday, leading the Vikings with 13 tackles and a half sack. He also had one of three interceptions on the day.
“That was amazing honestly. I don’t know if anyone is playing at a higher level than Eric Wilson right now. The man is a walking turnover,” Kendricks said.
Kendricks had his own interception on a Matthew Stafford pass intended for T.J. Hockenson in the end zone. Then with Stafford out of the game in the concussion protocol, Harrison Smith intercepted Chase Daniel.
The Vikings sacked Stafford twice, had 5.5 tackles for a loss and made big plays when they were needed. Detroit needed 74 plays to amass 421 total yards, 5.7 yards per play. They did enough to get a win.
“I said to some of the defensive coaches today we might be doing our best job coaching we’ve done, we’re still giving up 400 yards a game. It’s a work in progress. As long as we play hard, we play with energy, get in the right spots for the most part, I feel like we got a chance,” Zimmer said.
Detroit’s defensive gaffe on Dalvin Cook’s 70-yard touchdown
It’s no secret Minnesota’s offense goes as Dalvin Cook goes. Gary Kubiak said as much a few weeks ago. Cook ran for a career-high 206 yards and two touchdowns, and added 46 receiving yards.
Cook ran for a 70-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that essentially put the game on ice, giving the Vikings a 34-13 lead. Turns out, the Lions offered some help. They had only 10 defenders on the field for the snap. Cook broke one tackle, and was off to the races.
“They were lining up and we had the play call. I remember looking to my left and I’m like somebody should be here. Before we snapped it, I was like this could be a big one,” offensive lineman Dakota Dozier said. “I wasn’t necessarily thinking 70, but it was definitely fun to get it done.”
“We just happened to be running it to the right spot where they were missing a guy, so that helped. It doesn’t always work out that way,” Zimmer said.
Cook leads the NFL in rushing with 858 yards, and in rushing touchdowns with 12. Sunday, the Vikings as a team ran for 275 yards. That’s the most they’ve had in a single game since Nov. 4, 2007, when Adrian Peterson broke the single-game record and the team ran for 378 yards.
The Vikings ran for more than eight yards per carry Sunday. Cook ran for 9.4 per attempt.
“When you got Dalvin back there, blocking for him it’s even that much more fun. Give him a crease, give him just the smallest hole, he can do something special, make somebody miss. He puts on a display each week,” Dozier said.
Giving Cook the ball at every opportunity and a defense that gets better every week might prove to be the combination to get the Vikings to the NFC Playoffs after a 1-5 start.