MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota Vikings have rarely shied from a ground-oriented approach on offense in seven seasons under coach Mike Zimmer, never more apparent than in their last game.
Dalvin Cook has made this strong-arm strategy viable, rather than some tired relic. With 30 rushes for 163 yards and three touchdowns – plus two catches for 63 yards and another score – Cook carried the Vikings to a potentially pivotal victory at Green Bay. As Kirk Cousins only attempted 14 passes, Cook became the first player with 30 carries for Minnesota since 2013.
”We’re going to have to ride this guy,” Zimmer said.
The Vikings have had a player reach 30-plus rushing attempts 17 times in their 60-year history, including six by single-game franchise record holder Adrian Peterson (35). The Vikings are 16-0-1 in those games.
When asked this week to assess Cook’s unique traits, Zimmer paused briefly before invoking the name of the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith.
”Really good feet. Quick accelerator. Powerful runner. Good vision,” Zimmer said.
The Vikings have run the ball on 49.6% of their plays, the third-most in the league. Baltimore, the NFL leader, employs a run-heavy quarterback in 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.
”We just run yards like Swiss chard,” Cook said, using the leafy green vegetable for a clever rhyme.
The nutritional value is unmistakable, as long as they’re controlling the ball and scoring points. That’s the way they tried to win with Cook’s predecessor, too. Peterson, coincidentally, will be in Minnesota on Sunday with his latest team, the Detroit Lions.
The Vikings (2-5) have a lot of catchup to do.
They blew double-digit second-half leads and lost be one point to Tennessee and Seattle. They were also no-shows in one-sided defeats to Green Bay, Indianapolis and Atlanta. Their performance against Detroit (3-4) will reveal a lot about whether they’re truly a darkhorse contender for the expanded playoffs or better off refocusing on the future.
That summary might sound familiar to the Lions, who were unsure if quarterback Matthew Stafford would be available after placing him this week on the COVID-19 reserve list.
”We’re doing some things really well,” coach Matt Patricia said. ”We just have to learn how to finish better. I think that’s true all the way across the board.”
BACKUP PLAN
If Stafford is not cleared in time to play, the Lions would have to choose between Chase Daniel or David Blough. The 34-year-old Daniel has started just five games in his career with seven touchdowns and five interceptions, though he helped lead Chicago to a 16-6 victory over the Vikings last season by going 22 of 30 with a touchdown in relief of an injured Mitch Trubisky.
Blough went 0-5 as a starter last year when Stafford was out with a broken back, with four touchdown passes and six interceptions after the undrafted rookie was acquired from Cleveland. That included a loss at Minnesota, when Blough had one touchdown, was sacked five times and intercepted twice in a 20-7 loss.
REMEMBER THEM?
Everson Griffen expected to face his former team this month, but the reunion was moved up two weeks when Dallas traded him to Detroit. The 11th-year defensive end with 77 career sacks will make his debut with the Lions on Sunday, a convenient addition to the lineup with defensive end Trey Flowers going on short-term injured reserve.
In addition to Peterson and Griffen, backup safety Jayron Kearse will make his return to Minnesota. Griffen could find himself lined up across from Vikings left tackle Riley Reiff, who’s been blocking as well as ever in his fourth season with the team. He played his first five years with the Lions.
HALL PASS
Marvin Hall has taken only one-fourth of Detroit’s offensive snaps, behind Marvin Jones, Kenny Golladay, Danny Amendola and rookie Quintez Cephus, but he has given the Lions a legitimate deep threat with an average of 24 yards per catch. With Golladay hampered by a hip injury this week, Hall could find more opportunity against a struggling Vikings secondary.
”The thing that he brings for us is speed,” Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. ”You can feel it, and that can really change some things in the back end.”
CORNERBACK CRUNCH
The Vikings, who have surrendered 30.6 points per game for the fourth-worst average in the league and rank third-to-last in passing yards allowed, have been fighting a dual challenge of inexperience and injuries at cornerback all season. The only one who has played in every game is rookie starter Jeff Gladney. Chris Jones, a recent waiver claim from the Lions, could see his first action for Minnesota with five other cornerbacks dealing with injuries this week.
HOMEWORK TIME
The Vikings have lost five straight at U.S. Bank Stadium, since beating Blough and the Lions on Dec. 8, 2019. That’s their longest such streak since 2011 and approaching the franchise record, set between the 1966-67 seasons when the Vikings lost six consecutive games at Metropolitan Stadium and tied a seventh before stopping the skid.
Zimmer spoke to the players this week about restoring their home-field edge, even if the absence of fans has negated the usual noise advantage.
”We need to bring our own energy. We need to bring our own excitement. We need to play like the fans are there,” Zimmer said. ”Hopefully they can do it through it through osmosis or something.”
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DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
