Minnesota Vikings MVPs: Week 1 vs. Green Bay Packers

Offensive MVP – Honorable Mentions

This game was not kind to the offense of the Vikings. A struggling offense combined with long Green Bay drives kept the time of possession heavily in the favor of the Packers. The purple and gold only had the ball for 18 minutes and 44 seconds in the entire game, making it hard to put points on the board.

Aside from a great opening drive and some big plays, first downs were hard to come by until Green Bay had a double-digit lead on Minnesota. However, there were still some players who shined in this game.

Even though these guys weren’t named the MVP, the following players are are deserving of an honorable mention for the award.

Dalvin Cook – RB

Any time your running back can get you two touchdowns, that’s a big positive. Cook was also effective when not plowing into the end zone, earning 4.2 yards per carry on his 12 attempts, netting him 50 total yards in the game. A solid showing from the recently extended star.

Alexander Mattison – RB

Taking over for Cook later in the game, Mattison acted as a bowling ball for Minnesota and picked up some nice yardage against Green Bay. He ran the ball six times for 50 yards, totaling 80 yards on the day.

Kirk Cousins – QB

Yes, Kirk Cousins had a pretty bad interception and took a safety in this game. However, he also had some great deep throws and started to turn up the heat late in the game. Cousins finished connecting on 19 of his 25 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns.