DAILY CLIPS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020

LOCAL NEWS: Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Star Tribune

Vikings' win over Texans shows has entered ' circle of trust By Ben Goessling https://www.startribune.com/vikings-win-over-texans-shows-justin-jefferson-has-entered-kirk-cousins-circle-of- trust/572637832/

Vikings' rookie cornerbacks face another test in Seattle By Andrew Krammer https://www.startribune.com/vikings-rookie-cornerbacks-face-another-test-in-seattle/572645092/

Pioneer Press

Vikings rookie cornerback slowly progressing By Dane Mizutani https://www.twincities.com/2020/10/05/vikings-rookie-cameron-dantzler-returns-from-injury-with-lots-to-learn/

Vikings’ starting to pile up rushing yards, and TDs, too By Dane Mizutani https://www.twincities.com/2020/10/05/dalvin-cook-proving-vikings-right-for-inking-him-to-long-term-deal/

The Athletic

Vikings takeaways: Just how good can the fast-starting Justin Jefferson be? By Arif Hasan https://theathletic.com/2116609/2020/10/05/justin-jefferson-vikings-takeaways-how-good-can-he-be/

Purple Insider

What did the Vikings' win over the Texans mean? By Matthew Coller https://purpleinsider.substack.com/p/what-did-the-vikings-win-over-the

NATIONAL NEWS: Tuesday, October 6, 2020

ESPN

Vikings find their formula for success in first win of season By Courtney Cronin https://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/30369/vikings-find-their-formula-for-success-in-first-win-of- season

Associated Press

Justin time: Vikings have full trust in rookie WR Jefferson By Dave Campbell https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-nfl-minnesota-vikings-football-minnesota- 830bb3bcd0c3bae28bf9f927c7929017

Maven Media

Harrison Smith Unlikely to Be Suspended After Week 4 Ejection By Will Ragatz https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/harrison-smith-unlikely-suspended-week-4-ejection-akins-seahawks

With Second Straight 100-Yard Game, Justin Jefferson Proves He's Here to Stay By Will Ragatz https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/justin-jefferson-vikings-100-yards-texans-rookie-lsu

VIKINGS ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK: Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Presser Points: Zimmer Recaps Sunday's Win Over Texans By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/mike-zimmer-recaps-sunday-s-win-over-texans

After Further Review: Vikings Gain Ground on Edge of Texans Defense By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/vikings-gain-ground-on-edge-of-texans-defense

Rookie CBs Dantzler & Gladney Take Pride in Dual Start at Houston By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/cameron-dantzler-jeff-gladney-pride-in-dual-start-at-houston

Stats That Stood Out: Vikings-Texans in Week 4 By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/stats-that-stood-out-vikings-texans-in-week-4

Lunchbreak: Vikings Earn B+ Grade for Win over Texans By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/lunchbreak-vikings-earn-b-grade-for-win-over-texans

PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 10/6/20

Vikings' win over Texans shows Justin Jefferson has entered Kirk Cousins' circle of trust

By Ben Goessling

Welcome to our morning-after Vikings blog, where we’ll revisit every game by looking at two players who stood out, two concerns for the team, two trends to watch and one big question. Here we go:

After he came off the field following the Vikings' final drive of their 31-23 win over the Texans on Sunday, Kirk Cousins was met by backup quarterback Sean Mannion, who asked in jest, "You been working on back- shoulders to Justin?"

It was a moment of levity between two passers who know the particular challenges of the back-shoulder throw — the hours of practice needed to perfect its timing and placement, the confidence it requires in a receiver's attention to detail and body control.

Cousins simply does not have much of the first commodity with rookie receiver Justin Jefferson after a shortened training camp and canceled preseason. So, when the Vikings needed to convert a third-and-6 in the fourth quarter on Sunday, Cousins banked on the second.

"At some point, you just got to play and believe he can do it," Cousins said of Jefferson. "And after he adjusted, found the ball, made the catch, kept his feet in bounds and made the play, I looked at whoever I was with — Dalvin [Cook] or Adam [Thielen] — as we were moving up the field and said, '18 can play. That's not easy to do.' Yeah, are we going to build trust over time? Yes, we're going to build trust. But some of the things we're doing, there is no trust. It's just raw ability and you're putting the ball out there hoping, believing that he's going to be able to make it happen."

The 22-yard back-shoulder throw Cousins completed to Jefferson, against man coverage from Texans cornerback Phillip Gaines, was the first-round pick's fourth and final catch on a 103-yard day. It made him the sixth rookie in Vikings history with back-to-back 100-yard receiving games, and it illustrated just how quickly he's worked his way onto the short list of Cousins' most trusted targets.

Cousins completed passes to only four receivers on Sunday — Thielen, Jefferson, Cook and Kyle Rudolph — and his average completion to Jefferson came with only 2.3 yards of separation from the closest defender, according to NFL Next Gen Stats (the league average this week was 2.84). The back-shoulder throw led to a 25-yard Cousins-to- Thielen connection with the quarterback rolling to his right, and ultimately set up the touchdown the Vikings would need to win the game.

“That's Kirk just trusting me to make that play," Jefferson said. "The funny part about it is we've never really worked on those back-shoulder throws, and to be able to go out there and do it in the game and complete for the first down, that's trust right there."

Trust, particularly for Cousins, seems to be a valuable commodity.

Consider the much-discussed deep shot he took to Tajae Sharpe on fourth-and-3 against the Packers in Week 1, when the quarterback overthrew Sharpe and coach intimated after the game he would have rather Cousins tried Thielen on the other side. Cousins pointed out the safety shaded to Thielen's side of the field, saying after the game he generally doesn't like throwing go balls with a safety over the top of a receiver.

The play became an emblem for the idea Cousins doesn't trust himself enough with tight-window throws or give his receivers enough chances to make plays, and on the Vikings' final series of the third quarter on Sunday, he took a second-down sack when he hitched with Jefferson open on a corner route.

On the following play, Cousins floated a throw for Jefferson against man coverage from Vernon Hargreaves, fitting the throw into a window where Jefferson could pluck it over the top of Hargreaves for 23 yards as Cousins got hit. Then Cousins hit Kyle Rudolph for 19 yards along the Vikings' sideline while retreating and falling away from the Texans' pass rush.

The Vikings' last two scoring drives on Sunday showed what the quarterback can do when he believes in his arm strength and his receivers, and what happens when he hesitates. It was a source of consternation in the relationship between Cousins and former Washington coach Jay Gruden, and it's an area where the Vikings have tried to nudge Cousins toward playing with more assertiveness. The Vikings' final two touchdown drives hinged on the fact he let it fly when it mattered most.

“It's just a feeling that you have," Zimmer said Sunday. "I think the more confidence he gets in understanding he can make those, the more he'll do them."

Cousins has now targeted Thielen or Jefferson with 51 of his 100 passes this season, and even as thrives with a 4-0 Bills team, Jefferson is quickly showing he can join Thielen as the kind of downfield option Cousins enjoyed with Diggs. Jefferson is tied for the league lead with eight catches of 20 yards or more; Diggs has the same number for Buffalo.

As the Vikings head home from Houston and prepare for a Sunday night matchup in Seattle (albeit in a less harrowing environment than CenturyLink Field would present with a capacity crowd), they'll likely need to be ready for a shootout with Russell Wilson. Jefferson's emergence, and Cousins' growing trust in him, gives the Vikings another reason to think they can compete in such a game.

Here's a look at one other player who stood out in Sunday's 31-23 win:

D.J. Wonnum:We could highlight a number of the usual suspects here — Cook ran for a forceful 130 yards, Thielen caught eight passes and combined 12 tackles with an impressive third-and-9 pass breakup — but we'll go with Wonnum, the rookie defensive end who played 18 snaps on Sunday and is getting a little more work in the Vikings' base defense. He raced in untouched for an easy sack of Deshaun Watson on Sunday, and tackled David Johnson after a four-yard gain on second down in the second quarter.

Two areas of concern Secondary in pass coverage:The Vikings were in a difficult spot on Sunday after Harrison Smith was ejected late in the second quarter. Zimmer said the team had worked George Iloka as its backup nickel corner with Mike Hughes injured, adding he asked Iloka on the sideline "if he knows what he's doing at safety" to make sure he could handle his assignments after a position switch. But the Texans' best stretches of offense on Sunday were when they sped up their tempo in an effort to sow confusion in a young secondary, and Russell Wilson will present an even tougher challenge on Sunday night. The Vikings had allowed more explosive plays than any team in the NFL before Sunday, according to Sharp Football Stats, and they allowed nine passes of 15 yards or more on Sunday.

The Vikings' ability to close out games:For the second straight week, the Vikings got the ball in position to wrap things up if they could put together a long drive and run out the clock. Against the Titans, they took possession with 6:31 left and gave Tennessee the ball back with 3:52 to go, allowing plenty of time for a Stephen Gostkowski go- ahead field goal. On Sunday, the Vikings got the ball with 5:52 to go after Watson's touchdown to Kenny Stills, but the Texans could use two timeouts after carries from Alexander Mattison that netted two and four yards, and Cousins slightly underthrew Thielen in man coverage on a third-and-6 that would have ended the game. Instead, it was a play the quarterback said after the game he wanted back, and it put the Texans in position to drive to the goal line before the Vikings' final stop sealed the game.

Two trends to watch Whether Irv Smith gets more involved:The second-year tight end has struggled to make an impact so far, and was targeted just once on Sunday in a game where he played 41 of the Vikings' 66 offensive snaps. The team uses Smith in enough different ways that it's unfair to judge his contributions solely as a receiver, but it did draft him to become the type of downfield threat against safeties it simply hasn't had. Rudolph has a $9.45 million cap number for 2021; in a year where the Vikings will be tight against the cap, Smith's emergence (or lack thereof) might be a factor in how they handle their soon-to-be 31-year-old tight end.

Special teams contributions:The Vikings' speed produced the game's only turnover on Sunday, when Mike Boone raced down the field to force DeAndre Carter's on a first-quarter punt return and former Penn State track and field athlete was there to recover the ball. But their average starting field position (their own 22.5-yard line) is still worst in the league, and they're still waiting on rookie K.J. Osborn to break out as a return man.

One big question Does Sunday's win create a "blueprint" for the 2020 Vikings?You're likely to hear some form of that idea throughout the week —after the Vikings beat the Texans with many of the same offensive tenets they used the week before against the Titans — and you're likely to hear Vikings coaches demur by talking about how things change week-to- week. But a quarter of the way through the season, we can say with some confidence that the 2020 Vikings' path to victory is likely to look different than any they've previously used under Mike Zimmer. They held the ball for 36:31 on Sunday, after losing time of possession battles for much of the year, but the Vikings' penchant for giving up big plays means they can't just expect to win by controlling the clock. They've stressed red zone defense this year, and won on Sunday while keeping the Texans out of the end zone on all three of their red zone trips, but have allowed points on 26 of 43 drives this season (a 60.4 percent clip) after never allowing teams to score more than 34 percent of the time during Zimmer's first six seasons.

So while trading scores in shootouts is something the Vikings might have to do more often this season, it's not necessarily a sustainable way to win. If Sunday's victory is to turn into any kind of successful reboot for the 2020 Vikings, they'll likely have to pair defensive improvement with an offense that appears to have three legitimate playmakers (Cook, Thielen and Jefferson) to go with the reliable Rudolph. The next three quarterbacks they'll face — Wilson, Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers, all veterans who have quarterbacked teams to Super Bowls — will test their young secondary. But as Harrison Smith said last week, nothing can match games against great quarterbacks as a developmental tool. Cousins, on his best days, is effective, not transcendent; the Vikings still need to play with leads to utilize Cook and make their quarterback comfortable. To do that, they'll have to repeat what they've done the past two weeks and get more stops that result in zero, not three, points.

PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 10/6/20

Vikings' rookie cornerbacks face another test in Seattle

By Andrew Krammer

Mike Zimmer couldn't recall the last time, if ever, he coached an NFL defense that started two rookie cornerbacks before and Cameron Dantzler did in the Vikings' 31-23 win on Sunday in Houston.

Zimmer's next-day assessments of his young corners weren't all that bad — they did "pretty well," actually, he said. Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson had six completions at halftime but still finished with 300 passing yards buoyed by a second-half comeback attempt.

Zimmer admitted "it's not going to get any easier" for Gladney, Dantzler and whichever young corners are available with Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson up next in Seattle.

"We've had to face [Aaron] Rodgers, and last week it was Watson, and [Ryan] Tannehill was playing good," Zimmer said Monday via videoconference. "The [Seahawks] receivers that they're playing and the quarterback, obviously, it's not going to get any easier for them. They've just got to keep going out and keep refining their technique, keep getting better at what they're doing, keep learning about NFL football and then go out and compete. Go out and challenge people."

It remains to be seen if the Vikings will have their full complement of cornerbacks. Mike Hughes has been held out for two weeks because of a neck injury. Dantzler, the third-round rookie, returned against the Texans after a two-game absence from what he called a "stressful" rib injury sustained Sept. 13 vs. Green Bay.

Gladney is handling "double duty," Zimmer said, defending the slot and outside while Hughes is sidelined. Dantzler, who had a miscommunication with fill-in safety George Iloka on Watson's first 24-yard touchdown pass, otherwise allowed two catches for 21 yards on four targets, per Pro Football Focus.

The rookie said he tried to make the most of his time off the field.

"I watched film with the older guys, just made sure I was on top of my game," Dantzler said. "[Defensive backs coach Daronte Jones] did a great job to make sure I was still always prepared, going over my plays and taking notes knowing I wasn't playing. Still doing the little things."

New protocols

The NFL held a conference call Monday with owners, general managers and head coaches to discuss adherence to COVID-19 policies, new protocols and punishment for repeat offenders in the wake of the Titans' outbreak and postponement of at least two games.

The league already warned teams that losing draft picks is a possible punishment for failure to follow protocols, but added forfeiture of a game as another consequence. On Monday, the NFL also announced a "leaguewide video monitoring system to ensure compliance" and more restrictions on tryouts and gatherings outside team facilities

The video monitoring system is for "particularly the mandate that all staff and players wear PPE while in a club facility and on travel at all times," according to the league's memo.

Vikings coaches, players and staffers are back to standard protocols this week after undergoing two-a-day COVID testing and holding all meetings virtually last week following the Titans game on Sept. 27.

No suspension expected for Smith

Harrison Smith could be fined by the NFL, but the All-Pro safety is not expected to be suspended for Sunday night's game in Seattle following his ejection from the 31-23 win in Houston.

Smith was flagged and thrown out for leading with his helmet on a hit that concussed Texans tight end Jordan Akins in the second quarter. Smith, the nine-year veteran, hadn't been ejected since his rookie season.

"I have not heard a word, so I anticipate him playing," Zimmer said.

Thielen's dance moves

Receiver Adam Thielen is trying to hit them with "The Griddy," teammate Justin Jefferson's signature celebration from LSU to the NFL, but he's admittedly a work in progress after he gave the cameras his rendition of the dance following a touchdown catch against the Texans.

"We've been joking about that since he got here, he's been trying to coach me up," Thielen said. "He won't acknowledge it, probably, or agree with it, but he makes me do it, so that's why I do it. We play this game to have fun, so I'm just trying to have fun with it." PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 10/6/20

Vikings rookie cornerback Cameron Dantzler slowly progressing

By Dane Mizutani

Vikings rookie cornerback Cameron Dantzler is finally back from a rib injury that forced him to miss a couple of games.

He still has a lot to learn.

While the Vikings were happy to get Dantzler back onto the field for Sunday’s 31-23 victory over , he was part of a miscommunication with safety George Iloka that resulted in speedy receiver Will Fuller scoring early in the third quarter.

“It was a miscommunication,” Dantzler said. “We just had to put that play past us and move forward. You’re going to make mistake. You have to build from that mistake, and that’s what we did.”

The first month of his NFL career has been a rough go for Dantzler. He got torched by Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers in his debut game last month, then he missed the next two games, against Indianapolis and Tennessee.

Asked how he stayed prepared during his absence, Dantzler credited cornerbacks coach Daronte Jones for staying on him.

“He did a great job to make sure I was still always prepared,” Dantzler said. “Just watching my film, going over my plays, and taking notes knowing I wasn’t playing.”

As for his rib injury, Dantzler credited Vikings athletic trainer Eric Sugarman for helping him recover as fast as possible. He added that he wasn’t worried despite appearing to re-injure himself early in Sunday’s game.

“It was a stinger,” Dantzler said. “I fought through it, and it went away, so I got back on the field and contributed to the win.”

While there is still obvious room for improvement, Dantzler said he’s getting increasingly comfortable with his role on the defense. And, of course, winning always helps.

“It was a great feeling,” Dantzler said. “We came up short a few times. It was a great feeling to finally pull it off. We just have to build that fire and continue to win.”

THIELEN’S GRIDDY In an ode to rookie receiver Justin Jefferson, veteran Adam Thielen hit The Griddy in the end zone after scoring a touchdown Sunday.

“We’ve been joking about that since he got here,” Thielen said. “He’s been trying to coach me up.”

What did Jefferson think?

“I was dying laughing,” Jefferson said. “It’s funny that he has that energy.”

Asked about the dance itself, Thielen said Jefferson has been coaching him up after practice.

“He makes me do it, that’s why I do it,” Thielen said with a laugh. “Just trying to give full effort and have fun while I’m doing it. That’s what I love about him as well. He’s serious. He’s a competitor. He wants to win. He’s also not afraid to have fun.”

TRASH TALK With no fans in some stadiums across the NFL, hot mics have picked up trash talk here and there. A perfect example came Sunday when Indianapolis quarterback Philip Rivers was caught chirping at Chicago linebacker Roquan Smith.

Asked whether the circumstances have created more trash talk or less this season, Thielen replied, “I guess I haven’t even thought about it, to be honest.”

“It’s always part of the game,” he said. “We’re out there competing. We’re trying to get ourselves pumped up. We’re trying to get our teammates pumped up. That’s part of the game. It’s definitely different with not knowing when the TV is going to catch it or not.” PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 10/6/20

Vikings’ Dalvin Cook starting to pile up rushing yards, and TDs, too

By Dane Mizutani

While most Vikings fans have been fawning of rookie receiver Justin Jefferson the past two games — and for good reason — star running back Dalvin Cook has been quietly going about his business.

Not to mention dominating opposing defenses in the process.

As of Monday afternoon, Cook led the NFL with 424 rushing yards thanks in large part to a standout performance in Sunday’s 31-23 victory over the Texans in Houston. In that game, Cook went over the century mark for the second straight week — 130 yards one week after rushing for 181 against the Titans — and also poured in arguably the most impressive run so far this season.

Just before halftime, with the Vikings threatening inside the 10-yard line, Cook took a handoff from quarterback Kirk Cousins, broke three tackles at the line of scrimmage, and benched-pressed Texans cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III en route to the end zone for his sixth touchdown of the season.

“It’s called the striking zone,” Cook said. “It’s been costly down there for us not finishing drives. We harped on that all week, (coach Mike Zimmer) did, about finishing drives. It’s about me beating my guy and helping my team win a football game.”

Or beating a handful of guys.

Those types of plays are a reminder that the Vikings were right to sign Cook to a five-year, $63 million extension this offseason. While some might suggest signing a running back to a long-term deal is a bad idea with the way the NFL is trending, Cook has used his play over the past couple of weeks to offer a rebuttal.

“You have to credit our offensive line and (offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak) for the run game they’ve been putting out,” Cousins said. “It’s been really effective.”

It’s been effective because of Cook. He does things that backup running back Alexander Mattison simply cannot, and unlocks another dimension for Kubiak while simultaneously taking the pressure off Cousins in the pocket.

As for the game against the Texans over the weekend, Cook was licking his chops heading into the matchup. He knew they were dead last in defending the run and that he could be in for a big day.

“It’s probably the biggest linebacker core I’ve seen,” Cook said. “We knew if we got those guys running sideways, and used our speed to get on the edge, and then get on the corners with receivers making good blocks, that we could get some yardage out there. We knew what we were getting into with those guys, and I think we did a great job, and Coach Koobs did a great job of calling plays.”

Still, some plays Cook made look good all by himself, most notably that touchdown run before halftime.

“He’s got great heart, great toughness and great physicality,” Zimmer said. “He’s a hard runner. He’s got really good balance. I thought our offensive line did a really nice job blocking for him and he scooted through there on some big- time plays.”

That’s becoming the new norm, and the Vikings certainly won’t complain about it.

“This offense can go wherever we want to go,” Cook said. “We just have to keep working and not be complacent. Just keeping chipping away at it.”

PUBLICATION: The Athletic DATE: 10/6/20

Vikings takeaways: Just how good can the fast-starting Justin Jefferson be?

By Arif Hasan

No matter what happens with the 2020 season, Vikings fans can at least be happy with the early returns on some of the key players for the future. Sunday against the Texans, Dalvin Cook put together another 100-yard day from scrimmage and Justin Jefferson followed up his incredible breakout game in Week 3 with another 100-yard day, joining Cook and Adam Thielen as skill-position players hitting the century mark.

A first-round draft pick, Jefferson wasn’t expected to replace Stefon Diggs one for one, but the Vikings knew they would need a lot from him in order to keep them in the running after trading away their most explosive player from last season’s playoff run. At his current rate, Jefferson might actually be able to replace the mercurial receiver. After four weeks, he’s Pro Football Focus’ No. 1-rated receiver, with Thielen right behind him at No. 2.

In fact, Jefferson’s start might seem familiar. His yardage total for the first four games of his career has only been beaten by one player in the last 10 years — Diggs.

That’s a fairly ridiculous statistic, and he lands in incredible company. I expanded the search terms beyond the last 10 years to find every player with at least 300 yards in their first four games in the last 30 years (1990-2020). As you can imagine, the further back one goes, the less likely it is that a receiver meets the criteria — the expansion of the passing game impacts receiver statistics just as much as it does quarterback statistics.

Anquan Boldin 2003 ARI 44 30 464 15.47 10.55 Stefon Diggs 2015 MIN 40 25 419 16.76 10.48 Justin Jefferson 2020 MIN 20 16 348 21.75 17.4 Andre Johnson 2003 HOU 41 26 346 13.31 8.44 Julio Jones 2011 ATL 38 24 342 14.25 9 Amari Cooper 2015 OAK 40 24 339 14.13 8.48 Marques Colston 2006 NOR 33 20 336 16.8 10.18 Kelvin Benjamin 2014 CAR 36 21 329 15.67 9.14 DeSean Jackson 2008 PHI 35 22 327 14.86 9.34 Will Fuller 2016 HOU 34 19 323 17 9.5 Terry Glenn 1996 NWE 47 23 319 13.87 6.79 A.J. Green 2011 CIN 33 19 312 16.42 9.45 Martavis Bryant 2014 PIT 24 14 310 22.14 12.92 Deion Branch 2002 NWE 37 28 309 11.04 8.35 CeeDee Lamb 2020 DAL 29 21 309 14.71 10.66 Terry McLaurin 2019 WAS 31 19 308 16.21 9.94 Marquise Brown 2019 BAL 34 18 304 16.89 8.94 Derrick Alexander 1994 CLE 28 17 300 17.65 10.71 That’s a phenomenal group to be a part of. The nearest receivers are Diggs himself, Anquan Boldin and a few surefire Hall of Famers.

Part of the recent expansion of receiver numbers has to do with more efficient passing in recent years, but most of it involves passing more often. There has been a substantial increase in receiver opportunity as a result. But that’s not quite true for Jefferson, who wasn’t a starter for the first two weeks. It could be the case that, once we adjust for opportunity, Jefferson’s first four games are even more impressive than at first glance.

We can use PFF data, which goes back to 2006, and find every first-year receiver who started out with at least 2.00 yards per route run — a mark that generally distinguishes a very high-level receiver.

Hakeem Nicks 2009 61 235 3.85 Justin Jefferson 2020 92 348 3.78 Robert Meachem 2008 69 235 3.41 Stefon Diggs 2015 131 419 3.2 Martavis Bryant 2014 107 310 2.9 A.J. Brown 2019 82 223 2.72 Kenny Britt 2009 100 271 2.71 DeSean Jackson 2008 127 327 2.57 Marques Colston 2006 134 336 2.51 Aaron Hernandez 2010 97 240 2.47 Marquise Brown 2019 124 304 2.45 Willie Snead 2015 100 240 2.4 Dwayne Bowe 2007 55 128 2.33 Amari Cooper 2015 146 339 2.32 Calvin Ridley 2018 116 264 2.28 A.J. Green 2011 139 312 2.24 Kelvin Benjamin 2014 147 329 2.24 Will Fuller 2016 148 323 2.18 2007 88 192 2.18 Dede Westbrook 2017 113 235 2.08 Jerry Jeudy 2020 115 234 2.03 Terry McLaurin 2019 152 308 2.03 Julio Jones 2011 171 342 2 That’s a great place to end up — only 14 receivers in the PFF era have finished their rookie season with 2.00 or more yards per route run with at least 75 targets: Marques Colston, Santonio Holmes, , A.J. Green, Julio Jones, Doug Baldwin, Keenan Allen, Odell Beckham, Mike Evans, Michael Thomas, Tyreek Hill, Cooper Kupp, Terry McLaurin and A.J. Brown.

By contrast, a four-game sample size is minuscule, but it certainly is encouraging, especially given how stable yards per route run is as a statistic when compared to things like targets, total yards and so on. With these small samples in mind, seeing the list of receivers to break 300 yards and 2.00 yards per attempt in their first four games is certainly instructive of the type of player that Jefferson can be.

What’s encouraging about his early returns is that he happens to be producing in ways that imply sustainability. If we look at the receivers on the first table that didn’t continue producing at a high level — Benjamin, Glenn, Bryant and Alexander — we see that they all had catch rates at or below 60 percent. Catch rate isn’t a remarkably useful statistic by itself, given how good receivers with low catch rates make up for it with big plays, but at extremes, it can be interesting.

Diggs, Jackson, Jones, Cooper and Fuller also had multiple 100-yard games and all of them are considered successes. The only receiver with multiple 100-yard games in the 300-yard group who didn’t make a big splash was Alexander. He nevertheless put together a remarkably respectable career with a five-year stretch where he averaged 69.1 yards a game or about 1,105.6 yards in a 16-game season.

Even Glenn and Bryant have caveats to their careers, where both juggled off-field problems in addition to injury that likely contributed to an early end to their careers.

All in all, this is a group that has demonstrated talent.

We can even compare Jefferson’s progress to select rookie performances over time to see where he stacks up in recent history.

While behind Diggs’ first four games by a substantial margin, he’s just ahead of Jones and Cooper. Odell Beckham’s surge doesn’t begin until his fourth game, where he earned 156 yards. All in all, the only worrisome player near Jefferson in rookie-year production is Benjamin — everything else is a rosy comparison.

There are other reasons to be excited about Jefferson. He’s producing in every way you can ask a receiver to produce. Below is Jefferson’s Week 4 route chart from Next Gen Stats combined with his Week 3 chart to get a handle on his production during his breakout and it reveals that Jefferson has demonstrated significant route variety.

Jefferson has won inside, outside and against a variety of coverages, winning at all three levels. He’s won on comebacks, crossers, over routes, corner routes, out routes and fade routes. He’s winning at the catch point in a plethora of ways as well, from contested catches to high-pointed comebacks to bucket catches in stride and even a back-shoulder catch that takes extraordinary concentration.

He has demonstrated positional versatility, route variety and the ability to win at the catch point, but he has also showcased skills that are more difficult to pin down. His releases off the line of scrimmage have been fantastic, and that was a concern of his coming out of college — not only did he need additional work, he wasn’t required to get off of press coverage given his consistent alignment in the slot in his final year.

As The Athletic’s Dane Brugler wrote in his draft guide, one of Jefferson’s few weaknesses was that his “releases are a work in progress, occasionally taking too many steps to shake free vs. press.” Much of that film had to come from Jefferson’s sophomore year, where he lined up outside much more often.

In the clip above, Jefferson imitates a signature move of Davante Adams by hopping off the line of scrimmage — something that The Athletic’s Robert Mays broke down with Adams in a piece he wrote for The Ringer.

“His patented move is a bit unconventional, but it accomplishes the ultimate goal of any receiver release: creating just enough cornerback hesitation from to get separation. ‘It feels like forever for the DB, because you’re hopping and it’s like a lull,’ Adams says. ‘And they don’t know what’s next.'”

Jefferson used a different type of hop at the release last week against Malcolm Butler — sometimes called a slide release because of how one foot slides into the other — but this week added the crossover step in-route, faking inside before continuing his outside release. So long as he continues to layer moves into his releases and add new ones to his repertoire, he’ll be difficult to counter.

He favors hesitation-type releases and generally does a good job keeping his chest forward instead of popping it up, allowing him to generate power and prevent defensive backs from pushing him back before he can get into the route.

He shows uncommon sharpness — even more than Thielen — in his in- and out-breaking routes, getting as close to 90 degrees as seems humanly possible when the route requires it. He’s not locked into that precision, however, and can float his routes to find seams in zones, which he often does on comebacks.

Rookie receivers who break out can do so in a variety of ways. Some have uncommon physical ability and will continue to need work on their technique, like Will Fuller or Mike Evans. Others are phenomenal technicians early on, like McLaurin or Michael Thomas. And of course, there are others that find some way to split the difference or had both, like Diggs or Cooper.

The ones who sustained their early success found their footing quickly as technicians — even Evans. There aren’t many technicians who succeed after a few games and then don’t finish out their rookie seasons with strong production. Players like Greg Jennings and Tajae Sharpe come to mind, but their early success wasn’t as explosive as Jefferson’s.

Overall, the signs are there early on that the Vikings have found a high-quality receiver. That’s a key part of any revival the Vikings hope to mount and given that they seem to be following the three-point plan I outlined last week to design a 35-point Vikings offense, Minnesota might be well on their way to giving their fans just enough to hope. PUBLICATION: Purple Insider DATE: 10/6/20

What did the Vikings' win over the Texans mean?

By Matthew Coller

Is it a sign of good things to come or was it a blip on the radar because the Houston Texans are very, very bad?

When trying to glean takeaways from the Vikings’ 31-23 victory on Sunday, that’s the prevailing question.

Are the Vikings going to build on a gutty win in which they came up with clutch third down conversions on offense and enough stops on defense without Harrison Smith to walk out of Houston with a victory or was the Texans’ ineptitude so great that anyone would have beaten them on Sunday?

As we pick that apart, we can start with the fact that the Vikings’ offense was driven by players who are supposed to be stars. There was nothing random about Dalvin Cook leading the NFL in broken tackles on Sunday with nine (per PFF) or Adam Thielen having 100-plus yards for the 19th time in his career.

It appears that Justin Jefferson’s 175-yard day against the in Week 3 was repeatable too. He picked up 103 yards on four catches, one of which was a marvelous back-shoulder grab on third-and-long.

“After he adjusted, found the ball, made the catch, kept his feet in bounds and made the play, I looked at whoever I was with -- Dalvin or Adam -- as we were moving up the field and said, ‘18 can play. That’s not easy to do,’” quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “Are we going to build trust over time? Yes, we’re going to build trust. But some of the things we’re doing, there is no trust. It’s just raw ability.”

The Vikings have risen to the NFL’s third best mark in yards per pass attempt with their downfield passing game clicking in the last two games. Per NFLNextGen, Cousins has the highest depth of target in the NFL at 11.0 air yards per attempt.

Here was his passing chart via NextGen:

Last year Cousins was one of the least aggressive quarterbacks in the NFL according to NextGen but this year he has the third highest percentage of throws into tight coverage among QBs who have played all four games. Against the Texans, he hit on key contested throws to Jefferson and Kyle Rudolph.

“I think the more confidence he gets in understanding he can make those, the more he’ll do them,” head coach Mike Zimmer said. “But at the same time we have to be smart with the ball. I don’t believe we turned the ball over today. That’s big too.”

Passing success is the most predictive indicator for a team’s success and over the last two weeks Cousins has gone 32-for-49 with 511 yards, four and two . If we toss out the Hail Mary pick against the Titans, that’s good for a QB rating of 118.7. The Vikings are also now third in the NFL in total rushing after a 130-yard day by Cook.

Their performance did come against a defense that allowed a 112.2 rating to opposing quarterbacks entering the game but the explosiveness of the offense in back-to-back weeks since Jefferson began starting is enough to offer intrigue going forward.

“We know what Adam [Thielen] brings to the table, Jefferson has shown why we took him at that pick,” Cook said. “I think he had like four catches for 100-and-some yards. That’s a guy that can create some plays and some different matchups. He’s taking a lot of pressure off Adam. This offense can go wherever we want to go.”

The Vikings’ upcoming opponents lend themselves to more showings like Sunday’s win. The have allowed the most yards against through the air of any team in the NFL and prior to the are giving up a 109.7 rating to opposing QBs.

The other element of the Vikings’ win that stands out is their resiliency.

Not only did they have a practice canceled this week but Zimmer explained that they had COVID testing results that caused a stir before the game. Several players had inconclusive tests, forcing them to re-test. The Vikings were even late getting in their inactive list because they weren’t sure about test results.

“Our guys overcame a lot of things during the week as far as all the different things that the league had us do,” Zimmer said.

On the defensive side, the Vikings continued to give up big totals. DeShaun Watson threw for 300 yards and had an opportunity on the final drive to tie the game. The Texans came within inches of doing so.

After Smith was lost for the game, veteran backup George Iloka was forced into action and several miscommunications led to explosive plays. Zimmer explained that Iloka wasn’t supposed to be the backup safety on Sunday. He was actually the backup nickel corner since Mike Hughes was out with a neck injury.

Zimmer was still frustrated after the game with the call to eject Smith, who was disqualified for “targeting” against Texans tight end Jordan Aikens.

“Harrison is not a dirty player, he's never been a dirty player and I feel like he tried to get his shoulder in there,” Zimmer said. “They told me that the league office ejected him. If they want to give us a penalty, fine, give us a penalty, but don't eject guys. This guy's one of the best players in the NFL and one of the best people in the NFL. He's not a dirty player, so that's kind of what irritated me.

The Vikings’ head coach, however, was pleased with their efforts early in the game. They mostly stifled Watson in the first half.

“I thought we played really, really well early in the ballgame,” Zimmer said of his defense. “We got a bunch of three- and-outs, the time of possession was really good in our favor, I thought we were good on third downs today, we were good in the red zone and we didn’t give up as many big plays as we had in the past.”

It’s challenging to judge whether the defense made real progress considering half the game was played without their most talented player.

The Vikings are currently the second worst team in the NFL in terms of yards per pass attempt allowed. However, they have improved in key spots, only allowing a total of 15 third down conversions on 47 attempts on the year. The Texans went 3-for-10 on third down and 0-for-3 in the red zone.

Does that mean the defense can play bend-don’t-break against good teams like Seattle? That’s more questionable than predicting the offense can continue to score with Pro Bowlers at QB, RB and WR.

But an improved defense in key situations does give them a puncher’s chance against upcoming teams that are similarly weighted toward the offensive side like Atlanta, Detroit and Dallas.

The Texans certainly deserve credit for being every bit as bad as their record. They continued to run David Johnson up the middle for short gains regardless of the circumstance, they struggled to scheme Watson easy passing options and the Texans made silly mistakes like fumbling at the goal line on the final drive and fumbling on a punt return.

So what does it mean?

Probably that any Tank For Trevor or Fail for Fields talk might have to be put on hold in the coming weeks if signs of vast improvement from Weeks 1-2 to Weeks 3-4 continue. Yes, it was a win over a bad team but even overall in terms of point differential, the Vikings are now better than Detroit, the Giants, Washington, Dallas and Philadelphia. In an NFC with numerous floundering teams, 0-3 might not turn out to be a death blow to the Vikings’ season.

Of course, it will take a lot more convincing wins than Sunday’s in order to start scheduling Vikings playoff games. Next week’s game against Seattle will be a true test of whether a bounce-back is on the horizon. PUBLICATION: ESPN DATE: 10/6/20

Vikings find their formula for success in first win of season

By Courtney Cronin

MINNEAPOLIS -- The walked away from their 31-23 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday with an offensive blueprint for how to win.

For the first time in two decades, Minnesota had two 100-yard receivers (Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson) and a 100-yard rusher (Dalvin Cook) in a game. The last time that happened was when , and Robert Smith played together on Nov. 19, 2000.

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In their first win of the season, the Vikings (1-3) leaned on their run game and asked quarterback Kirk Cousins to make big throws on the 22 passes he attempted, and he did just that. Minnesota ran by design on 39 of its 65 offensive plays (60%), its highest rate since Week 1 of the 2019 season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Remember that game? The Vikings beat the Falcons handily as Cousins threw only 10 times. There was a heavy notion of "that won't be the way things are every week," but when it works, it's worth sticking with.

Minnesota's 0-3 start had runs by design on just 43% of plays, which ranked 11th in the NFL. Offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak saw an opportunity to use Cook to wear down the Texans' porous run defense to open opportunities for Cousins.

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Cook ran 27 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns and had a career-high four rushes in which he gained at least 5 yards after contact. He had 5 YAC on his highlight-worthy 6-yard rushing touchdown when he rolled a defender off his back and threw a stiff arm on his way into the end zone.

Minnesota did things in Week 4 that it hadn't done in the three losses. The Vikings controlled time of possession. They utilized heavy pre-snap motion. Cousins thrived off play-action, going 9 of 11 for 180 yards and a touchdown on such passes. He had more completions off play-action in Week 4 than he did in the first three games combined (8-of- 16).

The Vikings' Dalvin Cook topped 100 yards rushing for the second straight week with 130 in a win over the Texans. David J. Phillip/AP Photo Most importantly, the offense responded any time Houston threatened to make it a close game in ways that it hadn't in Weeks 1-3. After Dan Bailey missed a 55-yard field goal and the Texans cut the Vikings' lead to 17-16 in the third quarter, Minnesota scored two touchdowns in 14 plays covering 148 yards to go up 31-16 with 10:54 left.

On consecutive drives, the Vikings put the ball in Cousins' hands and tasked him with making the types of throws he hadn't consistently made in the first three weeks. The types of throws that show he trusts his playmakers in coverage.

"I told [Kubiak] during the game, I said: ‘Go ahead and be aggressive here; don't worry about throwing the football,'" coach Mike Zimmer said. "They were trying to load up on us to stop the run and I said, ‘Don't be afraid to throw the ball.' I thought Kirk made some great throws, and he got some help from Jefferson, and Thielen was wide open on a couple of them. Jefferson made a couple of tough catches."

Jefferson had catches of 23 and 25 yards on consecutive drives, the first of which set up Thielen's 9-yard touchdown. The 25-yard reception, on a back-shoulder throw from Cousins late in the game, put the Vikings in the red zone to score two plays later.

Each of Jefferson's four catches went for more than 20 yards. It's evident that it didn't take long for him to gain the trust of his quarterback, either.

play 0:15 Thielen scores a TD, celebrates by hitting the GriddyAdam Thielen hauls in the nine-yard touchdown, then hits the Griddy on the sidelines like his teammate Justin Jefferson did a week prior. "When we came off to the sideline after the drive, [backup quarterback] Sean Mannion said, ‘You been working on back shoulders to Justin?' In other words, we don't have that time or years banked," Cousins said. "At some point, you just got to play and believe he can do it. And after he adjusted, found the ball, made the catch, kept his feet in bounds and made the play, I looked at whoever I was with -- Dalvin or Adam -- as we were moving up the field and said, ‘18 can play.' That's not easy to do.'

"Yeah, are we going to build trust over time? Yes, we're going to build trust. But some of the things we're doing, there is no trust. It's just raw ability, and you're putting the ball out there hoping, believing that he's going to be able to make it happen."

Minnesota didn't score in the final 10:50 and had to stave off a late-game scare with a goal-line stop from its defense. The next step for the offense will be closing out games on its own, which is no small part of the formula the Vikings need to execute to get win No. 2, beginning Sunday night against the Seahawks in Seattle.

"It's going to take all 11," Jefferson said. "Everybody playing their part and everybody making those plays that keep the drive going. We just can't give it to the defense and have them go out there and stop them. We wanted to rely on us. And we want to be the last ones with the ball in our hands." PUBLICATION: Associated Press DATE: 10/6/20

Justin time: Vikings have full trust in rookie WR Jefferson

By Dave Campbell

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — With the Minnesota Vikings clutching a one-possession lead in their own territory early in the fourth quarter at Houston, Kirk Cousins sent a deep throw on third-and-6 toward the left sideline where rookie Justin Jefferson was running a fade route in tight coverage.

The ball was aimed at Jefferson’s back shoulder, an angle that’s practically -proof but consistently one of the most difficult to complete for even the most seasoned and talented quarterback-receiver tandems.

The lanky rookie from LSU turned his body at just the right time to secure the 25-yard catch and extend a drive the Vikings finished with a critical touchdown to fuel their first victory of the season.

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Four games into his NFL career, after missing the typical spring practice time with his new team because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jefferson made clear the Vikings made wise use of the 22nd overall pick in the draft.

“We don’t have that time or years banked. At some point, you’ve just got to play and believe he can do it,” said Cousins, who connected with Jefferson four times for 103 yards in the 31-23 win over the Texans on Sunday that improved the Vikings to 1-3.

Cousins added: “We’re going to build trust, but some of the things we’re doing, there is no trust. It’s just raw ability, and you’re putting the ball out there, hoping, believing that he’s going to be able to make it happen.”

After a quiet first two games for Jefferson mirrored a rough start for the offense, offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak and Cousins made a concerted effort to get Jefferson more involved. There’s no going back now with this budding star.

Against the Texans, Adam Thielen (114 receiving yards) and Dalvin Cook (130 rushing yards) gave the Vikings their first 100-yard trio in a game since Nov. 19, 2000, with Cris Carter, Randy Moss and Robert Smith. Jefferson is third in the league with an average of 21.8 yards per reception.

“I guess you could say this is my preseason,” Jefferson said, “and I’m just getting started.”

After Jefferson’s breakout 175-yard performance on Sept. 27 against Tennessee, Thielen saw a noticeable shift in coverage focus and strategy in Houston.

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“They can’t really key in on one person. Otherwise it’s going to be a long day for someone else,” Thielen said, adding: “I think this league knows that he can make plays and that he’s the real deal.”

WHAT’S WORKING

Cook was particularly successful running to the outside, as the Vikings pressed the edges of a Houston defense that ranks last in the NFL in rushing yards allowed. Cook matched his career high with 27 carries and had his sixth two- touchdown game.

WHAT NEEDS HELP

The Vikings allowed a 300-yard passer for the first time this season. Cornerbacks Mike Hughes (neck) and Kris Boyd (hamstring) were on the inactive list at Houston, the second straight absence for Hughes. Jeff Gladney played every snap and Cameron Dantzler returned from a rib injury, taking all but two plays, as the Vikings in a rarity started a pair of rookies. Holton Hill played extensively, too, in his hometown, contributing a handful of key pass breakups.

STOCK UP

Rookie D.J. Wonnum has been fourth in the defensive end rotation, behind Yannick Ngakoue, Ifeadi Odenigbo and . He had his first NFL sack in Houston, taking down Deshaun Watson to force a first-quarter punt that set up Minnesota’s first touchdown drive.

STOCK DOWN

Tight end Irv Smith Jr. has only two receptions for 14 yards through four games, with Thielen, Jefferson and Cook the focal points of the offense. Smith has seen plenty of action as a blocker, taking 143 of 237 possible snaps — more than 60%.

“There were some plays called for him,” Zimmer said, and sometimes they just get them played.”

INJURED

The Vikings have four players on injured reserve: defensive end , linebackers and Anthony Barr and right guard Pat Elflein. Barr (pectoral) is done for the season, and Hunter (neck) might be headed that way after seeing a specialist in New York for a second opinion. Dye (ankle) and Elflein (thumb) have shorter-term injuries, but the Vikings have not indicated when they’re expected back.

KEY NUMBER

6.42 — Yards per play for the Vikings, the fourth-highest rate in the NFL. They haven’t averaged more than 6 yards per play since 2004, the last full season for Moss in Minnesota. The previous time the Vikings ranked in the top 10 in the league in that category was 2007.

NEXT STEPS

Continuing to receive favorable results from recent COVID-19 testing will lead the list of goals for the week. The Vikings appear to be in the clear eight days after playing the infected Titans, with no positives turning up, but constant vigilance is needed to stay ahead of and away from the virus.

Then there’s the matter of figuring out how to stop a six-game losing streak to the Seahawks, who are 4-0 for the first time since their Super Bowl-winning 2013 season. Four of Minnesota’s defeats have come under Zimmer, including December trips to deafening CenturyLink Field in each of the past two years. Russell Wilson already has 16 touchdown passes for Seattle, tied with Peyton Manning (2013) for the most in NFL history over the first four games of the season.

PUBLICATION: Maven Media DATE: 10/6/20

Harrison Smith Unlikely to Be Suspended After Week 4 Ejection

By Will Ragatz

Late in the first half of the Vikings' win over the Texans on Sunday, All-Pro safety Harrison Smith was controversially ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Houston tight end Jordan Akins. The NFL's replay center in New York decided that the hit warranted an ejection, but Mike Zimmer was livid on the sidelines about his best defensive player getting tossed.

Whenever there's an ejection, there's always the possibility of a further fine or suspension. It sounds like Smith has at least avoided the latter. Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Smith "isn't expected to be suspended" for the play.

That's important news for a Vikings defense that already faces a daunting task of going against Russell Wilson and the Seahawks' high-powered offense in Seattle next Sunday. Doing so without their veteran leader would've been extraordinarily difficult. George Iloka filled in for Smith in the second half in Houston and had some unsurprising struggles.

Here's the hit from Smith on Akins:

And here's what Zimmer had to say about it after the game:

"I love Harrison Smith like he's my son, first of all," Zimmer said. "My issue has always been, the quarterback's gonna throw the ball in the middle of the field and there's no repercussions whatsoever, and Harrison is not a dirty player, he's never been a dirty player, and I feel like he tried to get his shoulder in there. They told me that the league office ejected him. If they want to give us a penalty, fine, give us a penalty, but don't eject guys. This guy's one of the best players in the NFL and one of the best people in the NFL. He's not a dirty player, so that's kind of what irritated me, I guess."

Upon watching the replay, it does appear that Smith was leading with his shoulder. Akins dropped his head while falling to the ground, making it a difficult thing for the defensive player to avoid. The fact that there didn't seem to be any ill intent, combined with Smith's reputation as a clean player, probably contributed to the lack of a suspension.

Smith is currently PFF's No. 4 safety in the league. He recorded his 24th career interception against Ryan Tannehill in Week 3.

The Vikings and Seahawks play on Sunday Night Football in Week 5. PUBLICATION: Maven Media DATE: 10/6/20

With Second Straight 100-Yard Game, Justin Jefferson Proves He's Here to Stay

By Will Ragatz

Justin Jefferson arrived in Week 3, galloping and Griddying his way to 175 yards and a touchdown in a breakout game against the Titans. One week later, he did something arguably more important: proved that he's here to stay.

Eager to show that his spectacular performance at U.S. Bank Stadium was no fluke, Jefferson looked the part of a star once again in the Vikings' 31-23 win over the Texans on Sunday. He was targeted just five times, but made them count, catching four passes for 103 yards. Jefferson's second straight 100-yard performance served as a confirmation of sorts; yes, this 21-year-old from Louisiana is the real deal.

The numbers stand out, but it's the way he got them that tells the story. Just like the previous week, Jefferson primarily lined up on the outside in Houston. One of the concerns some analysts had in the pre-draft process was that he was just a slot receiver and would struggle to separate on the boundary. Over the past two games, that has been all but put to rest.

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Jefferson's first catch was a 29-yard gain on a deep crossing route. On his second, he beat man coverage on a corner route for 26 yards. No. 3 on the day was a clutch contested catch on third down for 23 yards. And his final reception of the day was maybe the most encouraging, as it came on a back-shoulder throw from Kirk Cousins to move the chains and pick up 25.

“When we came off to the sideline after the drive, Sean Mannion said, ‘You been working on back-shoulders to Justin?’" Cousins said. "In other words, we don’t have that time or years banked. At some point, you just gotta play and believe he can do it. And after he adjusted, found the ball, made the catch, kept his feet in bounds and made the play, I looked at whoever I was with – Dalvin or Adam – as we were moving up the field and said, ‘18 can play.' That’s not easy to do. Yeah, are we going to build trust over time? Yes, we’re going to build trust. But some of the things we’re doing, there is no trust. It’s just raw ability and you’re putting the ball out there hoping, believing that he’s going to be able to make it happen.”

All four of Jefferson's catches led to a Vikings touchdown. He's quickly become a critical piece of this offense, and his emergence has taken some of the load off of Adam Thielen, who racked up eight catches, 114 yards, and a touchdown on Sunday. Getting the ball to their two star receivers and the NFL's leading rusher, Dalvin Cook, has worked out pretty well for Cousins, Gary Kubiak, and the Vikings over the past two games.

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Jefferson's slow start to the year – he had five catches for 70 yards in Weeks 1 and 2 while splitting playing time with – feels like ages ago at this point. The Vikings unleashed him in Week 3 and he hasn't looked back. Jefferson has shown off all of the tools that helped him dominate at LSU and become a first-round pick: speed, route- running, contested catch ability, YAC skills. He's been so good that he's making fans forget about Stefon Diggs, who is tied for the league lead in receiving yards after a torrid start to his Bills career.

"Jefferson has shown why we took him at that pick," Cook said. "I think he had like four catches for 100-and-some yards. That’s a guy that can create some plays and some different matchups. He’s taking a lot of pressure off Adam."

All of a sudden, Jefferson is on pace for nearly 1,400 receiving yards. Here are a couple notable stats from the first month of his career:

PFF has given Jefferson grades of 91 or better in two straight games. He's currently their highest-graded receiver in the NFL (and Thielen is No. 2). Jefferson's 348 yards are the second-most in a receiver's first four games over the past decade, trailing only Diggs. He's eighth in the NFL in receiving yards despite not starting until Week 3. Jefferson is tied with Diggs for the NFL lead with eight catches of 20-plus yards. Among players with at least ten catches, his 21.75 yards per reception trails only Seattle's DK Metcalf. Jefferson is really good – right now. He has all the tools needed to have consistent success in this league, and gives the Vikings a legitimate No. 2 option and big-play threat in the passing game. He's not going to have 100 receiving yards every week, but he's proving that it doesn't take much for him to reach that mark on any given Sunday. Jefferson's rapport with Cousins is growing rapidly, with the Vikings' quarterback looking more and more willing to trust him to make a play in big situations.

ADVERTISEMENTSCROLL TO CONTINUE READING With that said, the most important thing Jefferson has done is give the Vikings hope for the future. At 1-3, this team almost certainly isn't going to the playoffs. But if they've found a future star at receiver, that makes a disappointing start to the year much easier to swallow. Jefferson's personality, energy, and talent are going to be fun to watch not only for the rest of his rookie season, but for many years to come.

"It's only my fourth game of my career," Jefferson said. "We didn't have any preseason or anything before this, so I guess you could say this is my preseason and I'm just getting started." PUBLICATION: Vikings Entertainment Network DATE: 10/6/20

Presser Points: Zimmer Recaps Sunday's Win Over Texans

By Eric Smith

EAGAN, Minn. – It's never easy to win on the road in the NFL, which made the Vikings victory Sunday in Houston a special one.

But add in the fact that the Vikings had to endure a wild week of enhanced COVID testing and protocols — plus an on-the-fly practice schedule — and Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer was pleased with his team's resiliency over the past week.

"I thought we handled the week really well. It seemed like they threw all kinds of things at us," Zimmer said. "I got a text at 9 p.m. — I think it was Wednesday or Thursday — that said I had to change practice and the schedule because I couldn't do it that way [based on timing].

"That's the kind of things we had to deal with, not only as players and coaches, but our staff, [too]," Zimmer added. "It's part of the way things are now. I was proud of how resilient they were, there was really no complaining."

Zimmer quipped that players asked if they could have a virtual Wednesday schedule, which they had adjusted to last week, since the preparation ended with a win.

Zimmer said the team will meet and hold practice as regularly scheduled on Wednesday, as things are now back to normal in preparation for Week 5's road game against the Seahawks on Sunday Night Football.

"Normal week. Just testing once a day and so on and so forth," Zimmer said. "So we're done with two-a-day testing."

Full Highlights: Vikings 31, Texans 23 Here are four other topics Zimmer discussed Monday:

1. Zimmer expects Smith to play

Vikings safety Harrison Smith was disqualified just before halftime in Sunday's game, in a ruling that came from the league office in New York.

And while Zimmer was heated about the ejection in the moments after — and passionately defended his longtime safety postgame — it appears Smith will be available for Sunday's game in Seattle and won't face additional discipline.

"I have not heard a word [from the NFL]," Zimmer said. "So I anticipate him playing, yes."

George Iloka, who mostly worked at nickel instead of safety in practice last week, played 43 total defensive snaps against Houston.

Zimmer said that with Mike Hughes and Kris Boyd inactive for the game, Iloka was viewed as the backup slot cornerback before having to focus on safety.

"Well he gets some reps [at safety], but we had one nickel going into the game," Zimmer said. "We're just trying to make sure he understood that position. He still got reps at safety, just not as many as he normally would."

Big Head Mode: Vikings-Texans View photos of the Vikings in "Big Head Mode" following the 31-23 victory over the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium.

2. Good in goal-to-go

The Vikings were at their best — on both sides of the ball — inside the red zone in Sunday's win.

Minnesota's defense shut the door on Houston all three times the Texans had goal-to-go situations, including on their final possession.

The Texans only managed a pair of field goals in those three sequences, as Houston was 0-for-3 on touchdowns inside the Vikings 20-yard line.

Zimmer explained the team's longtime focus on that key area of the field.

"Yeah, we've put an emphasis on inside the 5-yard line and we've put a big emphasis on the low red zone, I guess you'd call it," Zimmer said. "Those two areas have been just points of emphasis. You've probably heard me talk about third downs in the red zone on both sides of the ball and how it equates to points for either team.

"So that's some of the areas that we've been working on," Zimmer added. "I think I said this [Sunday]: There's some art to playing in the red zone and understanding where the players have to be in relationship to the receivers and so forth, and if you can run the ball in, it makes it especially difficult on the defense."

Offensively, the Vikings were 3-for-3 in the red zone and in goal-to-go situations. Adam Thielen had a 9-yard touchdown catch, while Dalvin Cook had touchdown runs of 5 and 7 yards.

Frame-By-Frame: Dalvin Cook's Second Touchdown In Houston View photos of RB Dalvin Cook's second touchdown during the Vikings-Texans game on Sunday at NRG Stadium.

3. All about the process

Of the 53 active players on Minnesota's roster, more than half of them are under the age of 25.

And while nobody in the building is pleased with a 1-3 start, Zimmer said Monday that he does like the progression that the Vikings young players have made so far. Minnesota has 30 players who are 25 or younger.

"Well I think the biggest thing right now, the young guys are all getting better," Zimmer said. "It's just obviously taking more time with the lack of OTAs, training camp, things like that."

Zimmer, who broke into the NFL as the Cowboys assistant defensive backs coach in 1994, relayed a story from his early coaching days about how a team was molded into a winner.

Despite winning three Super Bowls in a four-season span after the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons, most of the key players on those teams endured a tough 1-15 season in 1989.

"When I went to Dallas, they reminded — Troy Aikman and those guys … Darren Woodson — they'd always remind them they were 1-15 their first year before they started learning how to win and learning how to do things," Zimmer added. "Sometimes it just takes more of a process when you have a younger team."

Vikings 2020 Roster in Photos View photos of the Vikings 53-man roster as of October 4, 2020.

4. Assessing the linebackers

Linebackers Eric Kendricks and Eric Wilson put in a full-day's work in Week 4, as both played all 65 snaps on defense. They were joined by safety Anthony Harris and rookie cornerback Jeff Gladney.

Hardy Nickerson (nine) and Todd Davis (eight) combined for 17 snaps in Minnesota's base defense, as the Vikings continued to adjust with captain Anthony Barr, who is out for the season with a torn pec.

Zimmer gave credit to that unit, and the rest of the Vikings defense, for staying on-point against a dual-threat quarterback in Deshaun Watson.

"It's getting better. We miss Barr, obviously," Zimmer said. "When it first happens, it's kind of a little bit of a shock and what [do we do] with the communication. It's getting better now.

"I thought our linebackers did a really nice job, especially [with Houston] running the tight end back and they run the option, where [the quarterback] can hand the ball off to the back or he can pull it out and run bootleg," Zimmer added. "I thought our defensive ends and our linebackers did a great job on that because it's very complicated. We had to work really hard on that last week, especially with a short week."

Yannick Ngakoue and D.J. Wonnum were credited with sacks on Watson, who rushed for just nine yards on five attempts, while a third sack was credited as a team. PUBLICATION: Vikings Entertainment Network DATE: 10/6/20

After Further Review: Vikings Gain Ground on Edge of Texans Defense

By Craig Peters

The Vikings revved their running game Sunday against a Texans squad that has struggled to corral opponents.

Minnesota totaled 162 yards on 40 attempts and three scores on the ground by utilizing the perimeter for a significant part of a 31-23 victory.

Dalvin Cook led the Vikings with 27 attempts for 130 yards and two scores.

According to Next Gen Stats, Cook rushed outside the tackles 17 times for 91 yards and a score, and 15 of Alexander Mattison's 17 yards were gained on runs outside the tackles.

Cook's average of 4.8 yards per carry was impressive, considering it wasn't inflated by a run longer than 15 yards. As the carry chart below shows, Cook wasn't tackled for a loss on any of his 27 carries.

1005FurtherReviewDalvinChart Three of the Texans starting four linebackers are listed at 257 pounds or more, so Minnesota wanted to get Houston's large linebackers lumbering sideways instead of enabling them to play downhill.

Houston's Zach Cunningham (6-foot-3, 238 pounds) is the rangiest of the bunch. He's joined by Bernardrick McKinney (6-4, 257), Whitney Mercilus (6-4, 258) and Brennan Scarlett (6-4, 263).

"It's probably the biggest linebackers core I've seen," Cook said after Sunday's game. "We knew if we got those guys running sideways and used our speed to get on the edge and then get on the corners with receivers making good blocks, then we could get some yardage out there. We knew what we were getting into, we knew what type of atmosphere we were getting into with those guys, and I think we did a great job, and [Offensive Coordinator Gary Kubiak] did a great job of calling those."

Kubiak, a Houston native who grew up about 5 miles from NRG Stadium (and its Astrodome predecessor) told "Voice of the Vikings" Paul Allen on Monday's episode of 9 to Noon that the perimeter plan was "because of some of the things they were doing."

"We needed to stay committed to running the ball. It was good, but it sure as hell wasn't easy," Kubiak said. "We battled all day, and we made some big plays in the pass game. We got the ball down the field and those types of things. There was a little bit to that, but at the same time, it was probably more about how we were being played."

The Vikings used pre-snap motions on multiple plays to get the Texans to show their hand on whether they were in man or zone defense and incorporated a bit of trickery early to get other players to the edge. Receiver Adam Thielen recorded a gain of 8 on a reverse, and Kirk Cousins gained 5 to convert a fourth-and-2 with a designed run.

Here's another look at those runs by Thielen and Cousins.

Q1, 1:07 remaining — First-and-10 at the Houston 35

Minnesota has just gotten the ball in prime territory after Mike Boone forced a fumble by punt returner DeAndre Carter that was recovered by Dan Chisena.

Minnesota opens the series with 21 personnel (Cook, fullback C.J. Ham and tight end ). The Vikings line Conklin out wide before motioning him inside of Thielen before the snap.

Cousins takes the snap and fakes a handoff to Cook, who heads toward Conklin, commanding attention from Cunningham. McKinney is able to adjust and begin pursuit, eluding a block by right guard .

1005FurtherReviewThielenRun Ham, however, delivers a cut-block on McKinney that allows Thielen to get to the corner and accelerate before he is slowed by cornerback Bradley Roby. Scarlett, who began the play on the line of scrimmage, is able to catch Thielen from behind after the gain of 8.

Q2, 5:15 remaining — Fourth-and-2 at the Houston 30

The Vikings have 11 personnel in the game with Cook at running back, Kyle Rudolph at tight end and receiver Justin Jefferson, and Thielen in the game.

Minnesota lines up Cook as a wide out and sees Cunningham matched against him. Every other Vikings player (and consequently every other Texans player) is tight between the numbers.

Cousins motions Cook before the snap, and Cunningham tracks him across the field, leaving Jefferson with the opportunity to block cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III on the edge and Beebe (5-10, 183 pounds) the task of Mercilus.

1005FurtherReviewKirkRun Left tackle Riley Reiff then pulls around those two blocks and cuts safety Justin Reid, allowing Cousins ample room to pick up the first down.

"We got the look we wanted, so that play had the right look and that's largely why it worked. I think we did a great job blocking it," Cousins said. "I think Chad Beebe had to block someone about three times his size and he held up well, and that's what allowed me to get to the edge and get the first down."

Cook scored his second touchdown five plays later for a 17-6 halftime lead. PUBLICATION: Vikings Entertainment Network DATE: 10/6/20

Rookie CBs Dantzler & Gladney Take Pride in Dual Start at Houston

By Lindsey Young

EAGAN, Minn. – Two first-year cornerbacks made an impact on Minnesota's first win of the 2020 season.

Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler, whom the Vikings drafted in the first and third round, respectively, started at Houston on Sunday. The pair of rookies helped contribute to a Minnesota secondary that has seen its share of struggles to start the season but saw better results against the Texans.

The game marked the first time the Vikings have started two rookie corners since 1999. Minnesota played four games that season in which Kenny Wright started on the outside and Chris Rogers started in the slot. Veteran Jimmy Hitchcock started all 16 games on the outside that season.

"Coming in, when they drafted us, me and Jeff talked when we first got picked," Dantzler told Twin Cities media members on Monday. "We knew we had to come in and play because they lost a lot of big-name guys last year, so we just took pride in that. We couldn't let [Vikings Head Coach Mike] Zimmer down."

Game Photos: Vikings-Texans View game action images as the Minnesota Vikings take on the Houston Texans in Week 4.

The Vikings are working with a young cornerbacks group after the departure of Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes and this offseason. Dantzler started Week 1 before a rib injury sidelined him for games against the Colts and Titans. Gladney has started the past two games in place of an injured Mike Hughes.

Against the Texans on Sunday, Gladney totaled five tackles (press box stats), one tackle for loss and a pass defensed. Dantzler added three tackles on the day.

"Coach Zimmer has confidence in two rookies starting the game off, so we take pride in that," Dantzler said. "I just feel like at the end of the day, me and Jeff, we can't let Coach Zimmer down – [or] ourselves down.

"We're very confident in our game. We step out there and just do what we've gotta do to win and stop our guy from catching the ball."

According to Dantzler, the Vikings defenders kept their cool when All-Pro safety Harrison Smith was flagged for targeting and ejected from the game late in the second quarter.

"You know, when Harrison went out, [Anthony Harris] stepped up. Harry is a great leader, but Ant' is a great leader also," Dantzler said. "We had to stay positive. George [Iloka], he's played a lot of years in the league, so he's a great player and very smart.

"We didn't panic; we just kept going and came out on top," he added.

Full Highlights: Vikings 31, Texans 23 Dantzler acknowledged that there was a miscommunication between him and Iloka on the 24-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller V early in the third quarter.

He emphasized, though, that it's important to not dwell on mistakes but learn from them and get better.

"You know, it was a miscommunication, but we just had to put that play past us and move forward, and that's what we did," Dantzler explained. "In the secondary, you're going to make mistakes and it's just how you build from that mistake. That's what we did, just moved forward."

After brutal losses in Weeks 1 and 2 and losing a close one to Tennessee last week, a win in Houston felt especially rewarding.

"It was a great feeling to finally pull one off," Dantzler said. "We just have to build that fire and continue to win."

The Vikings young secondary has been tested by tough quarterbacks week after week, and the upcoming Sunday Night Football game in Seattle will be no different. Not only will they play in prime time for the first time this season, but Dantzler and Co. will face one of the NFL's toughest signal-callers in Russell Wilson.

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FREE TRIAL Dantzler has admired Wilson's game from afar but realizes the magnitude of this outing will far outweigh a Madden matchup.

"Russell Wilson is just a great quarterback, one of the tops in the league," Dantzler said. "We just have to prepare like we do every week, practice real hard and study on the things that he does. I feel like we're going to do that and try to come out with a win.

"I've watched them growing up, but I'm playing against them, so I can't get excited," he added about the caliber of QBs he'll be facing. "I have to stay focused and get prepared every week. That's how they feed their family and how I feed my family, so at the end of the day, I just have to prepare for those guys."

The Vikings first injury report of the week won't roll out until Wednesday, so it's too early to know if Dantzler and Gladney will both start again in Week 5. But ultimately, Dantzler said, it doesn't matter.

"At the end of the day, I feel like all of us have one goal, and that's to win. No matter who starts," he said. "No matter if I start, Jeff, Mike, Holton [Hill] – it doesn't matter. I feel like we have a connection to where we're going to be there for our brothers. Whoever starts, starts. We're just going to come in and contribute together." PUBLICATION: Vikings Entertainment Network DATE: 10/6/20

Stats That Stood Out: Vikings-Texans in Week 4

By Craig Peters

The Vikings outlasted the Texans 31-23 on Sunday in Houston for Minnesota's first victory of the 2020 NFL season.

Defensive success in the red zone included a final stand with less than two minutes to go for a short-handed defense that also overcame the disqualification of Harrison Smith.

Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson combined for historic production, and when crunch time hit, the Vikings snapped back.

Mike Zimmer improved to 58-41-1 in his 100th regular-season game as head coach of the Vikings.

Here are three stats that stood out:

1. All In the intermediates

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins enjoyed substantial success on intermediate passes Sunday.

We noted on Friday in Final Thoughts that Cousins had nine completions on passes between 10 and 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage in the first three weeks combined. That included 1-for-1 with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph in Week 3.

On Sunday, however, Cousins was 7-for-9 on such passes, totaling 162 yards and his touchdown pass. The throw to Thielen was officially a 9-yard score, but he was midway into the end zone.

Counterpart Deshaun Watson found much less success on intermediate routes, going 4-for-9 for 72 yards and a touchdown. (The 24-yard score to Will Fuller V was 19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage). Watson, however, did continue a run of foes that have done well on deep passes against Minnesota. He was 3-for-3 for 93 yards and a touchdown (the 24-yarder to Kenny Stills).

1005StatsPassingChart According to Next Gen Stats, Cousins' 72.7 completion percentage on the day was 16.2 percentage points higher than the expected rate of 56.6 percent, which was the best performance above expectations in Week 4 (not counting Monday's games).

Watson, however, had an expected completion percentage of 65.1 and an actual rate of 60.6 for a negative of 4.5 percent that was the fifth-lowest in Week 4.

Cousins also led the week in average completed air yards (11.1).

2. Outside the tackles

Cook's best recipe Sunday involved runs outside the tackles.

He headed for the perimeter on 17 of his 27 total rushes (63.0 percent) and gained 91 of his total 130 yards on the ground (70 percent). His 10 carries for 39 yards and another touchdown between the tackles also were solid.

Cook faced a box with eight or more defenders 33 percent of the time (sixth-highest rate in Week 4) and gained 24 yards above what he was expected to gain (seventh-most in Week 4), according to Next Gen Stats.

The Vikings defense was able to limit David Johnson to 63 yards on 16 carries for the day. Johnson faced an 8-man box just 12.5 percent of the time, and his yardage total was 13 below expectations.

3. Going the distance

Thielen recorded the longest play of Week 4 when he found a huge opening in the Texans defense at the Minnesota 45-yard line near Houston's sideline. Thielen then traversed the entire width of the field on his way to the Houston 36.

Next Gen Stats measured his distance traveled at 99.9 yards during the 39-yard gain, the longest play of Week 4.

Next Gen Stats: Thielen Covers 99.9 Yards on 39-Yard Grab Bradley Roby, who eventually escorted Thielen out of bounds, covered 63.4 yards for the longest tackle of the week.

Vikings cornerback Jeff Gladney traveled 43.2 yards in tackling Fuller on a 43-yard completion from Watson. That was the 12th-longest tackle of the week.

Defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo recorded the 15th-longest tackle of the week, traveling 42.4 yards to limit Watson to a gain of 1 during a scramble with under two-and-a-half minutes remaining.

PUBLICATION: Vikings Entertainment Network DATE: 10/6/20

Lunchbreak: Vikings Earn B+ Grade for Win over Texans

By Lindsey Young

Happy "Victory Monday," Vikings fans.

Minnesota notched its first win of the season at Houston on Sunday. CBS Sports' John Breech gave the Vikings a B+ for their performance that included a trio of playmakers on offense and a defense stout in the red zone. He wrote:

With 0-4 staring them straight in the face, the Vikings went to Houston and gave one of their best offensive performances of the season. Dalvin Cook steamrolled through the Texans defense for 130 yards and two touchdowns, but more importantly, the Vikings passing game looks to be back on track. For the second straight week, rookie receiver Justin Jefferson proved to be a key weapon for Kirk Cousins as he caught four passes for 103 yards. Adam Thielen also came up big for Minnesota with 114 receiving yards and a touchdown. The ability of the Vikings offense to keep Houston's defense guessing in this game was a huge factor in Minnesota's success, especially in the red zone, where the Vikings came away with four touchdowns on five trips.

The Vikings now share a 1-3 record with the division-rival Lions, who fell 35-29 to a Saints squad without star receiver Michael Thomas. Breech gave Detroit a D grade for an outing in which the team "jumped out to an early double-digit lead and then completely fell apart."

This collapse was a team fail. Defensively, the Lions gave up five straight touchdown drives to New Orleans after picking off Drew Brees on the first play of the game. The Lions secondary got dissected by Brees, who had struggled through the first three weeks of the season. The Lions offense also disappeared after jumping out to an early 14-0 lead. One of the biggest mistakes of the game for Detroit came fromMatthew Stafford, who threw an ugly interception in the end zone midway through the second quarter. After that pick, the Lions didn't get near the Saints end zone again until the third quarter was almost over.

The Bears, who moved to 3-1, also received a D for their loss to the Colts.

Breech pointed out that Chicago's defense is a "top-10 unit in the league" and held the Indianapolis offense to under 275 yards, "which should be good enough to win a game."

Here's the problem – the offense wasn't any better under Nick Foles than it was [with] Mitchell Trubisky. Chicago failed to score an offensive touchdown in Foles' first start until the Colts went into soft coverage late in the fourth quarter, a hard task since the former Super Bowl MVP faced the No. 1 ranked defense in points and yards allowed and the No. 1 pass defense – in typical Chicago October weather. Foles finished with less than 250 yards passing and was not good outside of a drive where he went 5-for-6 for 82 yards – which led to the Bears only points. Foles will still be Chicago's quarterback, but this was a bad first start and wasn't helped by [Head Coach] Matt Nagy's questionable play calling.

The Packers will face the Falcons as part of the Monday Night Football double-header. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:50 p.m. (CT).

Dalvin Cook's Best Plays From The Win Over Houston Vikings offense found 'blueprint' for success against Texans

Following Sunday's slate of games, ESPN beat reporters offer takeaways for their respective teams around the league.

Courtney Cronin focused in on Minnesota's impressive outing offensively, saying that the unit has "discovered its blueprint for how to win games: feed Cook early and often, and then strike with Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson." Cronin wrote:

Minnesota's win in Houston was the first time the Vikings had two 100-yard receivers and a 100-yard rusher in a game since Nov. 19, 2000 (Cris Carter, Randy Moss and Robert Smith). The Vikings controlled time of possession and were able to respond any time Houston got within striking distance. What we're seeing with Cousins is a level of comfort and trust in his playmakers that hasn't always been there. That will be the key to the offense's success moving forward in being able to carry the rest of the team and close out games.

ESPN's Brady Henderson wrote the following of the Seahawks, whom the Vikings will face on Sunday Night Football this weekend:

The Seahawks defense showed it can cover. That was a big question mark after it allowed an NFL-record 1,292 passing yards over the first three games, something few saw coming after they added Jamal Adams and Quinton Dunbar to their secondary. Seattle's defense produced two interceptions and didn't allow Miami to find the end zone until under two minutes were left. That was without Adams, Dunbar and first-round pick Jordyn Brooks, whose absences provided a test of Seattle's defensive depth. It passed.

Cook: It Definitely Feels Good To Win A Football Game Cook again nominated for FedEx Ground Player of the Week

For the second straight week, Cook has been nominated for FedEx Ground Player of the Week after his 130-yard, two-touchdown performance in Houston.

FedEx gives fans the opportunity to recognize top-performing quarterbacks and running backs through the FedEx Air & Ground Awards in games played on Thursday through Sunday. Voting for this week's nominees is open until 2 p.m. (CT) Wednesday at NFL.com/FedEx. Fans can also vote on Twitter the NFL published polls.

Cook was named the FedEx Ground Player of Week 3 after racking up 181 yards and a touchdown against the Titans.

This week, Cook is up against Bengals running back Joe Mixon (151 yards and 2 TDs) and Broncos running back Melvin Gordon (107 yards and 2 TDs).