Know the Foe: Five Questions About the Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings have had a winning record in four of the last five years and have not finished worse than 7-9 six seasons under current coach Mike Zimmer.
Two games into this season, though, they are winless, they are last in the league in time of possession and they are 30th in total offense and total defense.
We asked Will Ragatz of Inside the Vikings (part of the SI.com NFL community) about what is going on in Minnesota and what is likely to happen Sunday when the Titans face the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.
1) Kirk Cousins has completed 58.8 percent of his passes and has thrown twice as many interceptions as touchdowns. What is the reason for his struggles?
Cousins' struggles have been the result of a number of factors. Losing his top weapon in Stefon Diggs this offseason has made things tougher on him, with Adam Thielen basically the only guy he really trusts in the passing game right now. The Vikings probably have the worst starting guards in the NFL, which has led to a fair amount of interior pressure on Cousins (pictured). Also, of the four interceptions, one was on a Hail Mary attempt and another bounced off a receiver's hands.
Still, with all of that said, Cousins simply hasn't been good enough so far. He has played extremely poorly in the first half of both games so far, and the garbage-time production he had against the Packers in Week 1 went away last week against the Colts. That game in Indianapolis (11 for 26, 113 yards, 3 picks) was probably the worst of his entire career in this league. He's clearly better than this and has shown the ability to bounce back in the past, and the Vikings need that to happen as soon as possible. But Cousins is a guy who relies heavily on the supporting cast around him, so the loss of Diggs might mean he never reaches the level of play he showed last year.
2) A number of big names on the defense no longer are with the Vikings. Which player or players does that unit miss the most right now, and why?
Oh man, they miss a lot of those guys right now. A great deal of attention has been given to the fact that the Vikings lost all three starting cornerbacks from a year ago. Their young group at that position (four players under 24, including two rookies) has had a rough start to the season, but there's reason to believe they'll improve as the season progresses.
Instead, I'd have to say the two players that the Vikings miss the most right now are defensive linemen Everson Griffen and Linval Joseph. I think they assumed Griffen would wind up back in Minnesota after his free agency dragged into August, but he chose to sign with the Cowboys, leaving the Vikings weak at defensive end. They traded for Yannick Ngakoue from the Jags, but then had to place Danielle Hunter on IR. Without Hunter and with Ngakoue still getting up to full speed (much like Jadeveon Clowney in Tennessee), they haven't gotten nearly enough pressure on the quarterback in the first two games.
As for Joseph, he was a key piece of this defense ever since Mike Zimmer arrived in 2014, holding things down in the middle as one of the league's best nose tackles. They replaced him with free agent Michael Pierce from the Ravens, but then Pierce – who is high-risk due to his asthma – opted out of the season. As a result, the Vikings' defensive tackle play has been among their biggest weaknesses.
3) Dalvin Cook is a different type of back than Derrick Henry, but both finished among the NFL's top 10 in yards from scrimmage in 2019. In what ways does Cook challenge a defense?
Cook is a pretty complete back, which is why the Vikings felt compelled to sign him to a lucrative contract extension one day before the season began. He's a fantastic runner who has great vision, elusiveness, acceleration, and power. The Vikings love to use him on outside zone runs to try to get him in space and set up cutbacks. Cook also can catch the ball out of the backfield and is dangerous if he has blockers in front of him. I'm curious to see if Gary Kubiak makes a concerted effort to get Cook more involved in the passing game this week; he has just three catches for six yards so far after averaging nearly four catches and 37 receiving yards per game last season. The fact that the Vikings have spent so much time trailing has limited Cook's opportunities, but he's still been productive in the red zone with three rushing touchdowns already.
On a related note, this could be a monster week for Henry against a struggling Vikings defensive front that just lost linebacker Anthony Barr for the season.
4) Of the 45 points Minnesota has scored this season, 32 have come in the fourth quarter. Is this a case of opponents trading points for time off the clock while protecting a lead, or has the offense eventually managed to find something that works?
It's definitely the former. The Vikings have gotten off to decent starts, scoring on both of their opening drives this year. They actually outscored the Packers and Colts by a combined seven points in the first quarter. The issue is the second quarter, where Kirk Cousins has thrown three picks and taken two safeties and the Vikings have been outscored 34-3. That's a great way to turn a decent start into a disaster in consecutive ballgames. They haven't been good in the third quarter, either.
Like you mentioned, four of their five touchdowns have come in the fourth quarter when the game has already been out of reach. The Packers were content to play prevent defense and know that even if the Vikings scored, the defense didn't have any shot to stop Aaron Rodgers on the ensuing possession. That's how they put up 24 points in the fourth back in Week 1. The offense should get minimal credit for those scoring drives and must prove that it can get the job done when the outcome is still in the process of being decided.
5) Let's hear your prediction. Were the first two weeks a fluke or is this a team that has to take a step or two backward this season in order to go forward?
Unfortunately for the Vikings, these first two weeks didn't look like a fluke. This is a team with major holes at guard, defensive tackle, and cornerback, with a struggling quarterback and some key injuries not helping things either. The Vikings are probably still going to win 5-7 games because they have plenty of talent and some young players should improve, but I can't pick them to win this week based on what I've seen so far. Titans 27, Vikings 17.
