Dalvin Cook went over 100 rushing yards in Sunday’s 34-14 win over the Raiders and that made him the first Vikings player in history to rush for at least that many yards in each of the team’s first three games.
The Vikings have won two of those games and their run game has been so effective in those wins that they haven’t tried a pass in the fourth quarter. That’s a stark difference from last year and it’s the kind of running game that head coach Mike Zimmer said the team was missing during the 2018 campaign.
Tight end Kyle Rudolph called Cook’s production “unbelievable” after Sunday’s win and Cook said he likes the way the offense is taking shape.
“It’s part of our head coach’s identity,” Cook said, via Jon Krawczynski of TheAthletic.com. “That comes with the old school rules. We know the type of defense we’ve got, if we can keep this thing close and keep this thing manageable for us to go win the football game, that’s part of running the football and taking big shots and making plays and just converting. That’s what Zim likes to do. I like it, if that’s what Zimmer likes to do.”
There will likely be weeks when Cook finds the slogging a bit tougher, but it seems unlikely that the Vikings will change anything about their approach until it is absolutely necessary.