Cook is heading into another run-friendly matchup
In their upset win over the Saints last week, the Vikings got a big performance out of running back Dalvin Cook. In his first action since Week 15, Cook found the end zone twice and finished with a total of 130 yards on 31 touches.
If Minnesota is going to have any shot at making a run to the Super Bowl, they’re going to depend on their top running back to come up big every week.
On Saturday, the Vikings will actually be going up against a 49ers defense that performed worse against the run in 2019 than Minnesota’s opponent last week.
During the regular season, San Francisco gave up the 16th-most rushing yards, so not terrible. But in terms of yards allowed per carry, the 49ers’ defense gave up the seventh-most in the NFL this year.
San Francisco already knows they are going to have their hands full with Cook and Vikings rookie running back Alexander Mattison, so a heavy portion of their focus will likely be on stopping these two from gashing them. But the Saints thought they could contain Cook and Mattison last week too and look what happened to them.