The Vikings posted 128 rushing yards against the Lions in Week Nine, which represented their best total since a Week Six win over the Cardinals and their second-highest total of the year.
Head coach Mike Zimmer believes that improvement is right in time. The Vikings play on the road in three of their next four games and there’s a good chance that it will be chilly for their matchups with Chicago, New England and Seattle, which is something that Zimmer thinks will increase the importance of making plays in the ground game.
“I do think with some of these games as it starts to get colder, it is going to be more of a factor,” Zimmer said, via KFAN. “I think we’re getting better at a lot of the areas in the running game. We have to continue searching for more ways to pound the ball.”
The spike in productivity against Detroit came with Dalvin Cook back in the lineup and contributing 89 yards to the effort. With the rest afforded by the bye week, the hope in Minnesota is surely that the second-year back’s health won’t be an issue any longer and that he’ll help provide the kind of success that Zimmer is looking for over the second half of the season.