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As Dalvin Cook took an inside zone handoff in the second quarter Sunday, he stepped through a hole in the Detroit Lions’ front a few yards away from where his left knee buckled against them last October.
And as Cook sprinted away from the Lions defense, touching 22.08 mph on the speedometer as he finished the longest run of his career, he gave the Vikings reason to think his injury issues might finally be a thing of the past.
Cook recorded the fastest speed by a ballcarrier in the NFL this season on his 70-yard run, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. The Vikings — who had planned for Cook to play only 15-20 snaps in his return from a hamstring injury that had caused him to miss all but one game since Week 2 — relaxed their limitations on the second-year back once they saw how comfortably he was running.
http://www.startribune.com/vikings-dalvi...499737331/
Before Sunday, the Vikings had seen only glimpses of the Cook who ran for 354 yards in four games last season before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against the Lions. With Cook back, though, the Vikings were able to use him and Murray as part of a two-back formation, motioning Cook out to the slot while keeping Murray in the backfield.
They’ll also have opportunities to lean on the tandem after their bye week, when three of their first four games will be outdoors in Chicago, New England and Seattle.
“I do think with some of these games, as it starts to get colder, it’s going to be a factor,” Zimmer said. “I think we’re getting better in a lot of areas in the running game. We’ve got to continue searching for ways to pound the ball.”
With one of their most dynamic players again available to them, the Vikings might be able to open up a facet of offensive coordinator John DeFilippo’s playbook they haven’t been able to explore in great detail yet.
A healthy Dalvin Cook can take this offense to another level. Hopefully they can find the right balance of run/pass to put points on the board. For as good as we ran the ball against the Lions, the offense still only put up 17 points. Cousins needs to take better care of the football because that interception around mid-field and the fumble deep in Detroit territory kept that game a lot closer than it should have been.
Hope so, because if you watch the replay on the toss fumble late in the game, he catches that cleanly he takes it to the house. There was a massive lane opening up with the pulling guards and a race from the middle of the field safety to catch Cook.
No doubt he offers a different dynamic than Tay Train, the two of them with an improving OL down the stretch will be a dynamic duo
I don’t really see Cook coming back changing our playbook at
all.
Our limitations are due to the OLine. If we play weak defensive teams or our OLine
is having a good day, we’ll have a productive, balanced, offense. If not, we’ll probably be leaning on the
quick passing game to take up some of the slack from an underperforming run
game. I think Cook adds a little extra
over Murray, but it’s not really going to change thing beyond things just
working a little better, or an extra big play here and there.
Quote: @medaille said:
I don’t really see Cook coming back changing our playbook at
all.
Our limitations are due to the OLine. If we play weak defensive teams or our OLine
is having a good day, we’ll have a productive, balanced, offense. If not, we’ll probably be leaning on the
quick passing game to take up some of the slack from an underperforming run
game. I think Cook adds a little extra
over Murray, but it’s not really going to change thing beyond things just
working a little better, or an extra big play here and there.
I agree the OL limitations are what they are. But one more big play a game in the NFL is a big deal and can swing the odds incredibly in our favor.
Also, KC is one of the very best @ play action...We just haven't gotten to see it with a running game that's been anemic - in spite of heroics by LM.
Quote: @medaille said:
I don’t really see Cook coming back changing our playbook at
all.
Our limitations are due to the OLine. If we play weak defensive teams or our OLine
is having a good day, we’ll have a productive, balanced, offense. If not, we’ll probably be leaning on the
quick passing game to take up some of the slack from an underperforming run
game. I think Cook adds a little extra
over Murray, but it’s not really going to change thing beyond things just
working a little better, or an extra big play here and there.
I think you're underestimating the kind of talent Cook is, and the kind of impact he'll have on how defenses play us. We didn't have a great offensive line last year either and through three games he was the 2nd leading rusher in the NFL with several gains over 20 yards. As good as Murray's been he doesn't present that kind of fear.
He played only half of the teams 56 plays last week. He broke one for 70. The fumbled play looked to be a long gainer and the play where he tripped that Zimmer refers to in the article looked like another potential long gainer.
What makes this offense scary isn't just Cook...it's Cook, Diggs, Thielen and Cousins together. As we've seen, Diggs forces the slot corner to play Thielen, which is a huge mismatch. You get a nice run or two from Cook and the play-action will start to click. Get a few chunk plays in the passing game and the run game gets easier. It all feeds together.
If everyone gets (and stays) healthy, I think the offense we're about to see down the stretch will be like nothing we've seen since '98.
I think the playbook has been opened up for a while now. Defillipo has done a great job with Cousins and having Cook back helps, but I think Murray is just fine for this offense.
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