Lunchbreak: Highs, Lows & Opportunity for Vikings Down the Stretch

Viktor

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Mar 19, 2019
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It’s rare than an NFL team goes through an entire season without facing some adversity.


Even those who win the Super Bowl usually have to overcome challenging obstacles along the way, whether it’s injuries or inconsistent play.


With every team now having played at least eight games — half of the regular season — ESPN’s group of NFL beat writers assessed where each team is at entering Week 10.


Vikings reporter Courtney Cronin summed up Minnesota’s 6-3 season so far as one that features both highs and lows.


Cronin wrote:


It has been the best of times (a stretch of wins that lasted the entire month of October), and the worst of times (heartbreaking losses to Green Bay, Chicago and Kansas City) for the Vikings. Kirk Cousins put together a stretch where he statistically was the best QB in the NFL, leading the league in completion percentage and yards per attempt from Weeks 5-8.


But he's still struggling in big moments, including Sunday's 26-23 loss at Kansas City when he had chance to lead Minnesota to a win in the final 2:30. Instead, he is now 0-10-1 in his Vikings career when trailing in the fourth quarter.


The defense, meanwhile, isn't the same unit it was in 2017 despite having most of the same pieces that got this team to the NFC Championship Game. For all the moments where this defense stole the show (against Philadelphia, for example), there have been others where Mike Zimmer's unit came up painfully short (i.e., getting gutted by big plays in Kansas City).



Cousins has completed 174 of 253 passes (68.8 percent) for 2,217 yards with 16 touchdowns and three interceptions through nine games. His passer rating of 112.0 ranks third in the NFL.


Minnesota now ranks fourth with 17.6 points allowed per game, and is seventh at 320.9 yards allowed per game.


Cronin also selected a first-half MVP and went with running back Dalvin Cook.


The running back leads the NFL in rushing (894 yards), has a team-high nine touchdowns and his 1,232 yards from scrimmage through nine games are the second-most in Vikings history. Cook's first two seasons were disrupted by knee and hamstring injuries, but this season he's shown the ability to be an explosive playmaker in the passing game, helping the Vikings become one of the best teams at executing running back screens with his 10.2 yards per catch.


The Vikings have seven games remaining in 2019, including five against fellow NFC opponents. Three of those games are at home, and each of them are against NFC North foes.


Minnesota is also scheduled to play four of its final seven games in prime time, starting with this weekend’s game in Dallas on Sunday Night Football.


Cronin wrote that the second half will be a success for the Vikings if they earn statement wins on the road.


If Minnesota wants to advance further than the Wild Card round of the playoffs, it has to earn wins at Dallas and Seattle. Cousins needs a victory against a team of that stature to quiet the notion he can't win "the big one" and instill the confidence he can get his team past the NFL's best should the Vikings still be playing in January.


If the season ended today, Minnesota would be a Wild Card team and the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoff picture.
 
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