Vikings run game vs. the Seattle defense
At the time of writing, Dalvin Cook has not practiced all week and his availability for Sunday’s game is in question. He was primed for a huge day after exploding in Week 2 but his health comes first. If he cannot go, Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah, assuming he is brought back to the roster, should have some success still.
The Vikings got a ton of production out of Dalvin Cook in Week 2 as he rushed for 131 yards on 22 carries and added 17 yards in the passing game. Seattle allowed 212 rushing yards against the Titans thanks to a huge day from Derrick Henry.
Henry carried the rock 35 times for 182 yards and three touchdowns on the day. The weak spot for Seattle is their front seven, provided you can stay away from Bobby Wagner as much as possible. Wagner racked up an incredible 20 tackles in Week 2 alone.
For the Vikings, getting a lot of chunk gains from Dalvin Cook in the run game will set the offense up for success. Kirk Cousins will settle in but the run game has to be working for the Vikings to really take off. It is clear that Seattle is not capable of stopping the run so far this season and another explosive back is set to meet their defense.
Now would be the perfect time for rookie Kene Nwangwu to get involved but he will be sidelined for at least one more week. I still think the Vikings can have a successful day on the ground with the offensive line doing a fine job so far this season.
Dalvin is primed for a huge afternoon on Sunday if he can go but perhaps even more of his usage will come as a receiver. Seattle so far this season has struggled with the coverage from linebackers and has some poor PFF grades from that group. The Vikings need to attack those guys in the passing game as well.