As abysmal as the Vikings looked on offense throughout much of Saturday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, a glimmer of hope existed in the form of Dalvin Cook busting off an 85-yard touchdown run to electrify the home crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium.
While it only took about 15 seconds from the snap of the ball to the time Cook crossed the goal line, it showcased how special the Vikings could be this season be with him leading the way.
After employing a pass-happy approach last season under maligned offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, the Vikings have shifted to a run-heavy approach this season with Cook as the focal point.
Asked if he thinks the Vikings are going to run more this season, Cook juked the question, simply responding, “I don’t call the plays; I just execute them.”
His ability to execute — and improvise — was on full display on the 85-yard touchdown run. He took a handoff to the left side, aggressively cut back against the grain, got to the second level with relative ease and scampered the rest of the way into the end zone.
This cutback is so nasty pic.twitter.com/l2YwKhVguK
— Dane Mizutani (@DaneMizutani) August 24, 2019
“He makes a great cut to get back and someone got out of their gap, clearly, and then he made them pay,” Kirk Cousins said. “Once he got to that second level, third level, it’s pretty much a one-man show at that point.”
What did Cook see that made him cut back?
“Touchdown,” Cook said with a smile. “Touchdown.”
A deeper look at the play itself shows that Cook goes for the home run as soon as he sees it, taking on a pair of defenders, confident he can split them, rather than bouncing the play to the outside.
“I’m always confident,” Cook said. “That’s just me. I feel like if I get to the second level it’s my job to change the scoreboard.”
It was a slow build to this point for Cook as he was held out of preseason games against the New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks before the Vikings finally decided to take the bubble wrap off the budding superstar.
“Just been waiting my turn,” Cook said. “These coaches do a good job of putting me in the right situation. They know when to put me out there. Just been waiting for when they called my number.”
There’s a chance Cook could’ve gotten a few more carries in the game had he not been so efficient on that one play. Not that anyone is complaining with the result.
“I was just being protective of him,” coach Mike Zimmer said. “There was no other reason for not playing him. I just wanted him to go in there a little bit today and get tackled and feel good. That one play he never did get tackled.”
You literally can’t draw it up any better than that.
“That was was part of the plan,” Cook said with a laugh. “It was definitley fun getting back out there with the guys. They stepped up in big moments and made some big blocks. It definitely was good to get back out there and get a feel for it.”
