3 things the Vikings need to improve heading into Week 14

Running the Football

Throughout most of the 2019 season, the Vikings have had no problem running the football. Early in the year, it essentially was their offense.

But sometime during the last few weeks, Minnesota has become a passing team and Kirk Cousins has been on fire leading the attack through the air.

The Vikings haven’t rushed for over 100 yards as a team since their win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10. Granted there is a bye week in there, and they went against a good Denver Broncos defense in Week 11, Minnesota still should’ve been able to find more running room against the Seahawks on Monday.

Teams seem to be focusing on taking the run away from the Vikings, especially not allowing Dalvin Cook and company to get the outside edge. Minnesota needs their offense to be more balanced and they need to get their running game going against the Lions this week.

How exactly the Vikings will do this is the question. Detroit isn’t especially great against the run this season, so that alone will help. Having C.J. Ham lead runs on the outside and having a tight end crackdown on the edge could help too.

Just getting healthy will also help restore the power of this running game. Cook’s chest issues have flared up during the last couple of games. There have also been a handful of starting offensive linemen who have missed time with injuries recently and that has not helped Minnesota’s run game out one bit.

The Vikings simply need to find their groove on the ground this week and the Lions are the perfect team to get this particular aspect of their offense back on track.