Minnesota Vikings First Quarter Review: Offensive MVPs

In the first quarter of the 2018 season, the Minnesota Vikings offense has been grossly unbalanced. They rank at the top of the league in passing and at the very bottom in rushing. Their most valuable players through four weeks are indeed in the first category, while questions on the latter continue.

A great deal of press, pro and con, surrounded the mega-signing of quarterback Kirk Cousins to the 2018 Vikings’ offensive roster. For those who subscribed to the deal, Cousins has hardly disappointed in his numbers, but in regard to his team’s performance, there still sits a mixed-bag.

With the sudden death of the Tony Sparano, the Vikings’ offensive line coach, there was the harbinger of early misfortune for the 2018 Vikings. Within the same time frame, their reliable veteran guard Nick Easton was lost for the season, while 2017 starting center Pat Elflein was also missing, recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.

The line was shuffled to include journeyman guard Tom Compton in a dicey starting assignment, and the Vikings’ were compelled to sign former New York Giant guard-center Brett Jones to replace Elflein.

Running back Dalvin Cook had rehabbed successfully from his 2017 Week 4 ACL tear, but almost immediately found himself suffering from a hamstring injury. After a fairly respectable output in a season-opening win against the 49ers, the Vikings’ rushed for 68, 14, and 54 yards, respectively, in Weeks 2, 3 and 4.

But the Vikings had indeed pulled the trigger on QB Cousins, and Cousins, in turn, pulled the trigger on an explosive Minnesota passing game.

The 30-year old signal-caller, working with his prolific tandem of wide-receivers Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, have now put up numbers the Vikings and their fans have never seen before in the first quarter of a season.  At 1-2-1, however, the Minnesota offense has been at times remarkable, but certainly not exactly what was planned or expected.