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MINNEAPOLIS – Dalvin Cook surpassed the NFL’s early lead and put on another career day in the Minnesota Vikings’ 34-20 win over the Detroit Lions.
The day had special meaning for the fourth-year running back to make it in front of a future Hall of Famer and the player he replaced in Minnesota after being drafted in the second round in 2017.
With Adrian Peterson on hand, Cook rushed for 206 yards – a career-high – and two touchdowns in 22 carries and caught two passes for 46 yards, setting a new personal best for scrimmage yards with 252. Cook reached his previous career high (226 yards) last week in a win over Green Bay.
“It means a lot to me,” Cook said of Peterson’s presence on his milestone day. “A guy who did it before me and was in the same situation as me a few years ago. It means a lot. When I was drafted I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. thought I was going to be a guy who just came in and played behind Adrian. But they drafted me out to play right away, and I had to be ready. I was just a kid; I didn’t know. Just to play on the pitch with Adrian, it’s always a blessing for me to soak up that, every time. “
Last week, Peterson called Cook a “deadly weapon,” a compliment the Vikings star embodied in back-to-back wins for a Minnesota team (3-5) that suddenly comes close to hunting one of the last places in the NFC playoffs.
“Lethal weapon, yes it made me feel good,” Cook said. “Like I said, I can’t say enough about him. We can sit here and I can tell you so much about him, how I feel about him. I’m just, if he hears this or if he doesn’t, I’m just glad I got the chance to watch him grow up as a young child. To see that, that was something special for me. He doesn’t know how he influenced my career as a running back. I appreciate him for everything. Just for being my big brother for anything. All day keep doing you man and I appreciate him. “
Despite missing 1.5 games after injuring his groin in Seattle in Week 5, Cook now leads the NFL in the sprint with 858 yards and the league’s top 10 rushing touchdowns. In his last two games, the running back has amassed 478 scrum yards and six total touchdowns, the fourth player to achieve the feat in two games.
Cook’s performance in week 9 was filled with many highlights. Some, like the 70-yard touchdown run he interrupted in the fourth quarter, have remarkable statistical value. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the expected rushing yards on this TD were 7 yards, meaning Cook had 63 rushing yards above expectations. This is the fourth time this season that the Vikings return has posted at least 30 rushing yards above expectations on an attempt this season. As it stands, no player has more than two such races this season (Miles Sanders and Sony Michel each have two).
“I think the most impressive run for me, among others, was the flip,” said quarterback Kirk Cousins. “We threw the game on him late in the game with a corner blitz. And he missed the corner and was able to rush onto the pitch for a big win. That game didn’t look good with that corner blitz. But when you got it made. a great player like that that can make someone miss, it turned into a big win and that says a lot about Dalvin and his abilities. “
Others will not appear on the stat sheet but were of equal importance to the success of the Viking attack. On Irv Smith’s second touchdown, Cook landed a critical block as the tight end moved through the formation to give Cousins room to find Smith in front of the end zone.
“Dalvin is a great player because it doesn’t matter to him,” said coach Mike Zimmer. “Obviously he wants to gain 200 meters every week but he’s going to do all the dirty work… he’s going to do everything. That’s why he’s captain. That’s why he comes to work every day. a great leader, he energetic and the guys in the locker room really love him. “
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