7 takeaways from the Vikings Week 3 win over the Raiders

Cook is an early MVP candidate

There are few players in the entire NFL who have performed as well as Dalvin Cook has in the first three games of the 2019 season.

During the Vikings’ first three matchups this year, Cook has basically been unstoppable. He’s gained 375 yards on the ground, he’s averaging 6.6 yards per carry, and he’s found the end zone four times.

Cook’s rushing total through so far this year is the second-most any Minnesota running back has ever put up during the team’s first three games of a season.

Adrian Peterson had 392 rushing yards after the first three weeks of the 2010 season. But if Cook had the same amount of carries that Peterson had during his first three games that year (70), then he would have likely shattered the Vikings’ all-time record.

At his current rate, Cook is on pace to finish the season with 2,000 rushing yards. Even to rush for 1,500 yards this year, all he has to do is average 86.5 yards per game for the rest of the season.

Cook has been a gigantic factor in Minnesota’s two wins this year and he almost carried the team to a victory in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers. Without him in the backfield, it’s hard to imagine the Vikings’ rushing attack being as lethal as it has been to begin the season.