Dalvin Cook named the NFC’s best offensive player of Week 15

The Minnesota Vikings running back earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors after his impressive performance in Week 15 against the Miami Dolphins.

For the majority of the 2018 season, the Minnesota Vikings have struggled to get anything going on the ground. In 13 games under former offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, the Vikings had one of the worst rushing attacks in the NFL.

But it was a much different story for Minnesota during their Week 15 win over the Miami Dolphins.

With interim offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski calling the plays against the Dolphins, the Vikings carried the ball 40 times and rushed for 220 yards and three touchdowns. Minnesota’s rushing total was the most they have had in a single game since their Week 10 win over the Oakland Raiders in 2015.

Leading the Vikings’ charge on the ground against Miami was running back Dalvin Cook. During Minnesota’s victory, Cook carried the ball 19 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns.

Before the game against the Dolphins, the young Vikings running back had never scored more than once or rushed for more than 130 yards in a single matchup.

Thanks to his excellent performance for Minnesota in Week 15, Cook has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week.

It’s the first time the running back has earned this honor and the first time a Vikings player has been selected for the award since former quarterback Sam Bradford earned it after his performance against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1 of the 2017 season.

Cook is just the third Minnesota player to be named NFC Offensive Player of the Week since Mike Zimmer became the team’s head coach in 2014. Under Zimmer, eight different Vikings have also been selected as the NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

So in Cook’s first week with someone new calling the plays for the offense, he had a career-best  performance. It seems safe to assume that the young running back is pretty satisfied with Minnesota’s decision to replace their offensive coordinator.