MINNEAPOLIS – Don’t look now, but the Minnesota Vikings have a two-game win streak – their first of 2020 – after beating up on the Detroit Lions in a 34-20 Week 9 victory.
Two weeks removed from their bye, the Vikings look re-energized after starting out the season 1-5. Minnesota appears capable of vying for one of the final NFC playoff spots in this year’s expanded field, especially if it keeps playing the way it did against Green Bay and Detroit.
The Vikings face Chicago next Monday, the last division opponent they have yet to play this season, and will then see the Bears and Lions again in Weeks 15 and 17, respectively. Those two opponents make up a favorable slate for Minnesota the rest of the way, along with the likes of Jacksonville and Carolina.
If the Vikings can keep beating up on bad teams and getting wins where possible, this could be the start of something good for a team whose playoff hopes felt out of reach not long ago.
Offensive breakdown: Kirk Cousins was excellent and he really didn’t have to do much again to help Minnesota secure back-to-back wins thanks to another monster day from Dalvin Cook. The Vikings seem to have found the sweet spot for their quarterback in terms of passing volume, bolstered by play-action, the screen game and quick throws to get Cousins in a rhythm. The quarterback completed 13 of 20 passes for 220 yards, three touchdowns, a 141.7 passer rating and did not commit a turnover for a second straight game.
Cousins executed a brilliant two-minute drive at the end of the first half with a host of running back screens and dump offs to give the Vikings a 10-point lead.
Once again, the Vikings rode Cook to victory against a Detroit defense that entered Sunday allowing 5.4 yards per touch to running backs. Cook ran for two touchdowns, his fourth game doing so this season (the most in the NFL this season), and eclipsed 200 yards from scrimmage in back-to-back weeks.
This is the game plan the Vikings have found works best for this offense. Mike Zimmer said he wants Minnesota to be a run-first team and to his credit, he’s stayed true to word these last two games. The Vikings formula for success on offense runs through Cook. Once that gets going, everything around him falls into place.
Buy/sell Irv Smith Jr.’s breakout performance -- BUY: Cook’s day running the ball set up some big opportunities for Smith, who blocked his tail off and added some big-time production as a receiver. The second-year tight end, who had a quiet start to the season, finished Week 9 with two touchdowns and emerged as an important redzone scoring option for Cousins. That’s a role the Vikings envisioned for him when he was drafted in the second-round in 2019. Smith is an explosive playmaker and should continue to see his role expand as such as the season goes on. He’ll be a big waiver pick up in fantasy this week.
Defense turning the corner? Following up on what they did in Green Bay against Aaron Rodgers, the Vikings defense turned in another good performance against the Lions. In fairness, despite being down three cornerbacks due to injury (Cameron Dantzler, Mark Fields II and Holton Hill), the Vikings secondary wasn’t tested by Detroit for some reason. Instead, the Lions stayed committed to a rushing attack that brought them nowhere close to victory.
The defensive line looked vastly improved with its pass rush from where it was weeks ago and was the catalyst behind several key run stops that stalled Detroit drives. Eric Wilson, Eric Kendricks and Harrison Smith all recorded interceptions, giving the Vikings nine total this season by days’ end.
Minnesota’s defense has been decimated by injuries this season and remains a work in progress. But if there’s any indication of things getting better for this unit, it’s the way the last two games have turned out where the defense has been able to wage multiple stops and help preserve the offense’s lead.