Dalvin Cook Scores Four Touchdowns as Vikings Stun Packers at Lambeau
So that's why the Vikings paid Dalvin Cook.
Fresh off signing a five-year, $63 million extension this offseason, Cook returned from a groin injury and almost single-handedly led the Vikings to a shocking 28-22 upset over the Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday. The star running back dominated Green Bay's defense to the tune of 226 yards from scrimmage and tied a franchise record with four touchdowns.
Feeding Cook and getting a few second-half stops from their depleted defense was all the Vikings needed to take down Aaron Rodgers and the 5-1 Packers, picking up their second victory of the season in unlikely fashion.
Here are three takeaways from the Vikings' upset win:
Dalvin Cook is absurdly good
There's a line of thinking in the modern NFL, mainly driven by the analytics community, that running backs "don't matter." While that may be true in a broad sense, it's pretty clear that Dalvin Cook is one of the few true exceptions to that rule.
The Vikings are simply a different team with Cook on the field. That was clear last year when they lost to the Packers in Week 16 with Mike Boone at running back, and it was clear in the loss to the Falcons before the bye that Cook missed due to injury. For as talented as backups like Alexander Mattison and Boone are, they can't do everything that Cook can.
Very few people can. Cook continues to make the case for himself as the best running back in the league, with his only competition being players like Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffrey, and Derrick Henry.
The fourth-year Florida State product did everything for the Vikings' offense on Sunday. He touched the ball 32 times, running for 163 yards and adding 63 receiving yards for a total of 226 of the team's 324 yards from scrimmage, scored all four touchdowns, and generally did whatever he wanted to on a play-to-play basis. Cook burst into the end zone from 21 yards out to open the scoring, scored a pair of one-yard touchdowns, and capped off his day with one of the highlights of the season, a 50-yard scamper to the house on a screen pass.
Cook showed off everything during his career day: vision, power, speed, balance, agility, and more. The Packers' defense had no shot against him. Cook now has 11 touchdowns on the season, which is as many as the Giants have as a team and three more than the Jets.
He's a running back who matters.
Cook's blockers deserve credit
Cook did plenty of work on his own, but he obviously can't receive all of the credit. The Vikings who paved the way for him played a major role in Cook's success.
Of course, that starts with the offensive line. Rookie Ezra Cleveland had an excellent day in his second career start at right guard, showing off his mobility and power. With Garrett Bradbury, Cleveland, and Brian O'Neill, the Vikings probably have the most athletic right side of a line in the NFL. On that 50-yard touchdown, both Bradbury and Cleveland made impressive blocks in the open field to chop down a Packers defender and spring Cook loose.
It wasn't just the offensive line who made things happen. Tight end Irv Smith Jr. had a great game as a lead blocker, including this excellent block on Cook's first touchdown:
Fullback C.J. Ham was also an important part of the equation, as always. The combination of good blocking and Cook making plays in the open field led to a massive day.
The depleted defense stiffened in the second half
The Vikings came into this game against Rodgers and the Packers without their top defensive end, two of their top four linebackers, and two of their top four cornerbacks. They lost two more corners throughout the course of the game, with Cameron Dantzler suffering a scary injury to the head/neck area and Kris Boyd exiting with a lower-body injury.
On the final drive of the game, the Vikings' three corners were rookies Jeff Gladney, Harrison Hand, and Josh Metellus (who is a safety). And yet, they still did enough to win the game. Rookie D.J. Wonnum hit Rodgers as he was attempting to throw a Hail Mary, resulting in a game-ending fumble.
After giving up touchdowns on the first two Packers possessions, the Vikings held Green Bay to eight points in the entire second half. They got just enough pressure on Rodgers to make him uncomfortable, Gladney and Harrison Smith made some plays in the secondary, and the defense got a couple key stops. Eric Kendricks had an excellent day with 12 tackles and an impressive pass breakup against Davante Adams.
It was an inspired performance from Mike Zimmer's defense, considering all of the injuries and the opponent.
Against all odds, the Vikings went into Lambeau Field and took down their division rivals.
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