The 2-2 Minnesota Vikings visited the 2-2 New York Giants on Sunday afternoon, still smarting from last week’s drubbing at the hands of the Chicago Bears. Earlier in the week, media rumours began that the Vikings were looking to trade wide receiver Stefon Diggs, followed by reports that Diggs was very unhappy with the Vikings this season (particularly the lack of receptions for him and Adam Thielen). Diggs failed to show for a team practice and meetings and was heavily fined by the Vikings for the absences. Quarterback Kirk Cousins has been taking a lot of heat for his sub-par performance in the first four games, and fans were hoping to see some signs of improvement in New Jersey. Cousins delivered … but mainly to Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook. Cousins threw for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns, both to Thielen, while Cook had a career day with 132 yards rushing on 21 carries and six receptions for 86 yards (but he did lose a fumble at the end of a run).
Christopher Gates:
This was exactly the sort of game that Kirk Cousins needed to have after his performance in Chicago. He completed 22-of-27 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns and looked as good as he has all season. Adam Thielen was the recipient of both of Cousins’ touchdown tosses, and finished the afternoon with seven receptions for 130 yards. After causing some controversy earlier this week, Stefon Diggs had three catches for 44 yards, while rookie Olabisi Johnson had four grabs for 43 yards.
Dalvin Cook had another outstanding game, both on the ground and in the passing game. He had his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the year, rushing for 132 yards on 21 carries. He also caught six passes for 86 yards, all in the first half. Alexander Mattison picked up 35 yards on six carries, and Ameer Abdullah chipped in with three carries for 24 yards.
The Vikings move to 3-2 on the season, and will host the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Giants fall to 2-3, and have a short week ahead of them, as they’ll travel to take on the New England Patriots for Thursday Night Football.
The Minnesota Vikings get a victory over the New York Giants in Week 5 NFL action, winning by a final score of 28-10 at MetLife Stadium. Thank you to everyone that got their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!
Judd Zulgad:
How fast can life in the NFL change?
A week ago, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was offering wide receiver Adam Thielen a public apology for getting him the ball only two times for 6 yards in a loss at Chicago. Another wide receiver, Stefon Diggs, decided to stay away from the team facility for a few days because of his frustration with the Vikings going to a run-first scheme under Gary Kubiak and Kevin Stefanski.
By halftime of the Vikings’ 28-10 victory over the feeble New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, Cousins had a season-high 278 yards passing, Thielen had a season-best six receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown and Diggs had, well, his involvement remained a work in progress (two catches for 24 yards).
Diggs added a 20-yard reception in the fourth quarter to finish with three catches for 44 yards, Thielen ended up at seven catches for 130 yards and two scores and Cousins completed 22 of 27 passes for 306 yards and the two TDs to Thielen. It was Cousins’ first 300-yard passing game since a 24-17 victory last Nov. 25 over Green Bay at U.S. Bank Stadium. That was nine games ago and also marked the last time Thielen had more than 100 yards receiving.
The Giants’ inability to stop the pass and the run didn’t hurt matters, but this was the exact type of game the Vikings needed after a week of drama that centered around a unit that isn’t even supposed to be the key to this team. Did this signify a turnaround for an offense that was held to 222 yards in a 16-6 loss to the Bears? Probably not, considering Chicago’s defense can be dominant and the Giants defense belongs in the XFL.
As usual after a Vikings game, Ted Glover provides his essential Stock Market Report on the day’s activities:
Buy: The offense was way better today. It’s really hard to find fault with an offense that had 490 yards, while the QB threw for over 300, RB1 had over 130 yards on the ground, and one of two WR1’s had 130 yards and two TD’s. It was a performance that was sorely needed for the team and the fans.
Sell: The Red Zone offense was better today. But nothing is perfect, and the Vikings struggled for the first time in the red zone today. On the opening drive of the game, they got down to the 13, but had to settle for a field goal. On their third drive Cook fumbled inside the five and the Giants recovered when it looked like he was going in to score. Granted, it turned out to not be a big deal, as the Vikings won handily, but it was mildly concerning.
Buy: What Diggs said needed to be said. Whatever the issue was had been simmering for awhile, and after the Bears game, it needed to be said. It worked, and the Vikings came together and had a whale of a football game. Hell, if it ends up with games like this, maybe he needs to call someone out every week.
Sell: The way Diggs said it. I’ve never been a fan of complaining to the press, though. Had the Vikings lost today, what Diggs said and did on Wednesday would have gone nuclear, and it would have taken on a life of its own. I get the frustration, as we all felt it, and I have no issue with calling people out when they’re underperforming. But like Diggs said himself in the locker room after the game, he could have handled it a lot differently. And yes, he wants to be in Minnesota.
Buy: This was a needed win. This win settled a lot of jittery nerves in Vikings Land. Not everything is all unicorns and rainbows yet, but at least the Vikings gave themselves a launching point to get to the unicorns and rainbows stage. A loss today would have meant death, pestilence, and plague across the land.
Sell: This win cures everything that ails the Vikings. They still have a tough schedule ahead. Philly comes to town this week, then a big road game against Detroit. The defense still had problems with drive extending penalties on third down, the offense had some issues in the red zone, and were it not for two Daniel Jones overthrows this could have been a completely different ballgame. Still, though, it was a good win, and that’s what matters for today.
Buy: The Vikings have a problem with penalties. We mentioned the defense and their mind numbing third down penalties. It killed them against the Bears last week, and it cost them again today. The Vikings are one of the most penalized teams in the NFL this year, and after five games it’s now officially “a thing”.
Sell: The amount of penalties in a typical game is good for the NFL. All of that said, it seems like the NFL is doing everything they can to make this great game unwatchable. Rules changes in recent years are making the game unrecognizable from what it was just 4-5 years ago. Referees are over legislating what penalties they do understand, are screwing up replay calls over what rules they don’t understand, and throwing ticky tack flags where everyone goes “wtf was that call” are dragging the game down.
