The Cardinals finally got their first win of the season last weekend and came into Minneapolis hoping to get their second. The Vikings, returning home after a hard-fought win against the defending Superbowl champion Philadelphia Eagles were just hoping that they didn’t have a relapse to the Buffalo game a few weeks back.
The Vikings had to re-shuffle their offensive line yet again, as starting left tackle Riley Reiff was unable to suit up for the game with a foot injury, so Rashod Hill slid over to the left side and rookie Brian O’Neill got his first NFL start on the right. Despite the change, the line was able to open some gaps for running back Latavius Murray (starting in place of the injured Dalvin Cook) who logged the Vikings’ first rushing touchdown and first 100-yard rushing game this season. That didn’t mean that quarterback Kirk Cousins was untroubled by the Cardinal pass rush: he had several passes batted down at the line and he was sacked four times and lost a fumble that Cards safety Budda Baker scooped and ran back for a defensive touchdown (and a tie game). The Vikings took a 3-point lead into the half, and then dominated most of the second half both statistically and on the scoreboard. The Cardinals put together one efficient scoring drive, but that was all they could muster.
Adam Thielen continued to do Adam Thielen things:
"This is unbelievable."
You're absolutely right. #Skol pic.twitter.com/9OICgliJ5G
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) 14 October 2018
1500ESPN‘s Matthew Coller on the sudden, unexpected re-appearance of the Vikings running game:
Latavius Murray led the way with 155 yards on 24 carries, including a 34-yarder and a 21-yard touchdown.
“We’ve been wanting to run the ball that way all season,” Murray said. “We knew that we were capable of doing that, it was just a matter of going out there and doing it.”
The Cardinals have struggled to stop the run all year, giving up the third most total rushing yards in the NFL and most rushing touchdowns heading into Sunday’s game.
”They have been vulnerable to the run so far this season and we wanted to take advantage of that,” Murray said.
Last year Murray was the team’s leading rusher on a team that combined for more than 1,400 yards on the ground between he and Jerick McKinnon. With Dalvin Cook in and out of the lineup while battling a hamstring issue, the team turned to Murray and Mike Boone for a quality rushing attack.
The Vikings haven’t needed a run game to put points on the board — as evidenced by a 31-point performance against Los Angeles and a win against Philadelphia — but they needed to hand off effectively when receiving the ball with around three minutes remaining in the game to close things out and leave no openings for a Cardinal comeback.
”Not giving them a chance to go down and score or try for an [onside kick] or all that crazy stuff that can happen at the end of a game, giving an opportunity to put the game away is huge,” Murray said.
At the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Chris Tomasson talks about Adam Thielen’s historically good start to the season:
Another game, another 100 yards for Adam Thielen.
The Vikings receiver caught 11 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s 27-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals at U.S. Bank Stadium.
He is the second player in NFL history with 100 or more yards receiving in each of the first six games of a season. Charley Hennigan of Houston did it in the first seven games in 1961 when the Oilers were in the American Football League; AFL records were absorbed by the NFL after the 1970 merger.
Thielen wasn’t the only Vikings offensive player to come up big against the Cardinals. With Dalvin Cook missing his third game out of the past four with a hamstring injury, Latavius Murray put some life into Minnesota’s struggling running game. He carried 24 times for a career-high 155 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for a 7-3 lead.
Kirk Cousins completed 24 of 34 passes for 233 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter to Thielen that gave the Vikings a safe 20-10 lead. Cousins then scored on a 7-yard run later in the quarter to put Minnesota up 27-10.
And to explain the Vikings’ odd touchdown celebration dance:
Important info: Vikings call their dance celebration the "dead arm dance." Said Kirk Cousins: "I've been at some parties where people who can't dance do that. I like to embrace my limitations as dancer. I said, well, that's a dance I can get behind."
— chipscoggins (@chipscoggins) 14 October 2018
