Dalvin Cook’s 183 total yards (97 rushing, 86 receiving) and one touchdown helped lead the Minnesota Vikings to the 28-24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys almost exactly a year ago. The Cowboys would no doubt like to contain him a little better this time around, but that might be easier said than done considering he’s red-hot entering this Week 11 matchup.
The Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl running back is having himself quite a 2020 season He’s already close to hitting the 1,000 yard mark a little over halfway through the season and averaging impressive 6.0 yards per carry doing it. That has a lot to do with the fact he’s also averaging a little over 122 rushing yards a game. And if that’s not impressive enough his 12 touchdowns should be.
“He’s on fire!” – NBA Jam.
That’s what the Dallas Cowboys defense will be tasked to try to contain when they take on the Vikings in Week 11 this week. This is the same unit who gave up over 300 rushing yards to the Cleveland Browns in Week 4 and that was after Nick Chubb exited the game early. Containing arguably the best RB in the league right now won’t be easy.
Mike Nolan’s defense has been playing better as of late over the past two games, but there’s no excuse for their embarrassing performance the rest of the year though. They’ve been mostly hide this year with very little seek, meaning there’s not really any way to know for sure which unit will show up in Week 11 against Minnesota.
Now I don’t expect the Dallas Cowboys to completely shut down Dalvin Cook because better defenses haven’t been able to do that all season. That would simply be too much to ask from a defense still trying to find their way. What do I expect though is for them not to allow Cook to run free all afternoon. That after all should be a large part of the defensive game plan.
The Cowboys defense is talented enough to get the job done, although execution will be key. Sadly, that’s been the problem for them all season. They haven’t executed as well as they could have and that’s unfortunately been a big reason why they have a 2-7 record right now. Hopefully that’s behind them now though.
Coming off their bye week the Dallas Cowboys should be as rested and prepared as they possibly could be for this matchup with the Vikings. Whether or not that helps them contain a red-hot Dalvin Cook has yet to be seen. Any help they can get is no doubt welcomed, especially considering the way Cook is playing right now.
