Dalvin Cook is expected to play against the Packers, per Tom Pelissero. Cook suffered a minor injury against the Seahawks in week five and sat out against the Falcons in week six.
A career that has been plagued by injuries continues. Cook suffered a torn ACL his rookie season, a thigh hamstring strain his sophomore season, and a shoulder A/C joint sprain his third season. Sports Injury Predictor gave him a 96% chance of injury in 2020.
Even though he only sat in week six, Cook is coming off two weeks of rest. The Vikings bye week was week seven, so he got two full weeks to recover.
Cooks Stats This Season
*all stats from pro-football-reference.com*
So far this year, Cook has 489 rushing yards on 92 attempts. He has seven rushing touchdowns and an average of 97.8 yards per game.
In the Vikings week three game against the Titans, Cook ran for a career-high 181 yards.
Against the Packers, in four games, he averages 13 carries for 67.8 yards and 0.8 touchdowns.
The Vikings Recent Struggles
The Vikings, who aren’t even living up to their lowest predictions, do not look the same at all. Adam Rank predicted the Vikings to go 7-9, and right now, that looks generous. Their season only gets harder as they face the Bears (twice), Saints, Buccaneers, and Packers (this week).
An offense that seems to look better on paper than they do on game day, they rely heavily on the run game. When Dalvin Cook runs for over 65 yards, the Vikings have won the game or been within one touchdown of winning. An exception is when Cook ran for 65 yards against Seattle, but he was on his way to another 80+ yard day if he didn’t get hurt.
When the Vikings offense can set up the run game, Kirk Cousins can effectively run the play-action and create opportunities for his receivers.
When Cook runs for over 100+ yards in games, there has been at least one Vikings receiver who had 100+ receiving yards that day. It is no doubt that he impacts the Vikings in a huge way when he’s healthy.
Cook and the Vikings face off against the Packers in Lambeau today at 1 PM EST.
