25 Things to Know before Vikings at Cardinals
Dustin Baker
|
The Minnesota Vikings (0-1) take on the Arizona Cardinals (1-0) at 4:05pm EST on Sunday at State Farm Stadium.
Here are 25 stats, facts, and things to know leading into the NFC contest.
1. The franchises first met in 1963, and the Vikings lead the head-to-head series 17-11. The Vikings defeat the Cardinals 61% of the time.
2. With Mike Zimmer as the head coach, the Vikings are the NFL’s 10th-best road team, winning 48% of all road games since 2014.
3. This will be Kyler Murray’s first regular season matchup versus Minnesota.
4. Adam Thielen needs 158 receiving yards to pass Ahmad Rashad for 7th place on the Vikings all-time receiving yards list.
5. The Vikings haven’t won in Arizona since 2008 — 4,662 days ago.
6. The last time the Vikings won in Arizona, Tarvaris Jackson threw the most touchdown passes (4) in a single game during his career.
7. The Cardinals showdown will be the Vikings first game against an NFC opponent without Kyle Rudolph on the roster since the 2010 season.
8. When the kickoff happens, Harrison Smith will have played more games as a Viking than Karl Kassulke.
9. When the kickoff happens, Danielle Hunter will have played more games as a Viking than Ben Leber.
10. Kirk Cousins has now started 105 games in his career. In those first 105 starts, he’s thrown 188 touchdown passes. Through 105 starts, Tom Brady tossed 186 touchdowns.
11. Dalvin Cook has never faced the Cardinals. When the Vikings played the Cardinals in 2018, Cook was injured.
12. Despite losing to the Bengals, the Vikings defensive 3rd conversion percentage of 21.4% is currently the 2nd-best in the NFL.
13. With 21 passing yards, Kirk Cousins will have more career passing yards than Rich Gannon (56th-most all-time).
14. Under Kliff Kingsbury, the Cardinals are 6-9-1 (.406) at home. That is the 10th-worst home record in the NFL since 2019.
15. With one sack on Sunday, Chandler Jones will move into the NFL’s Top 50 all-time. He currently has 102 sacks in his career. J.J. Watt has 101.
16. Kirk Cousins averages 263.9 passing yards per game against NFC West opponents in his career.
17. Minnesota has scored a touchdown in 71 consecutive games (including playoffs). This is the 2nd-longest active streak in the league behind the Houston Texans (79 games).
18. In the regular season, Greg Joseph’s game-tying field goal last weekend was the Vikings first since 2012 that was 50+ yards in the 4th Quarter with the game score margin less than 7 points.
19. As head coach of the Vikings, Mike Zimmer is 25-19 (.568) in games after losses.
20. Throughout NFL history, 12% of teams that start a season 0-2 reach the postseason.
21. The Vikings are 4-8 (.333) in the late afternoon timeslot under Mike Zimmer. That is the 6th-worst record in the league since 2014.
22. Joe Mixon’s 127 rushing yards against the Vikings in Week 1 was the most leaguewide by a single player in Week 1.
23. Eric Kendricks led the NFL in tackles (15) after Week 1.
24. 5 of the last 6 Vikings-Cardinals games (before Sunday) have taken place in Minnesota.
25. The last time Minnesota scored a defensive touchdown was Week 15 of 2019 at the Los Angeles Chargers.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).