How the Vikings Can Stun the Ravens
The Minnesota Vikings can be victorious on Sunday over the Baltimore Ravens by effectively passing the football. Plain and simple.
It’s Baltimore’s kryptonite through eight weeks.
Unabashedly, the Vikings are a run-first team with Dalvin Cook on the roster, but they’ll have to taper that philosophy for one game — if they want to win.
Of course, there is always the chance Minnesota runs the pigskin, and that somehow works. Even though the team lost, Dalvin Cook ran all over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. And that was another squad, like the 2021 Ravens, that was stout against the run. Therefore, exceptions exist.
On the whole, though, Kirk Cousins must fling the football to his playmakers Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and K.J. Osborn. The math mandates this is the way to topple the Ravens. The Vikings WR3 recognizes this, too:
Mike Zimmer and Klint Kubiak will likely try to get Cook cooking, which is understandable. The Vikings tailback is a Top 3 running back in the business. Yet, early on in the first half, if the strategy isn’t fruitful, Cousins should be called upon to go get a road victory. He’s paid handsomely to do so. The stable of pass-catchers is there to accommodate the request. Fingers must be crossed, however, that Cousins will have time to throw it. Versus the Dallas Cowboys on Halloween, he did not, causing the Vikings signal-caller to check down more often than he preferred.
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On defense, Danielle Hunter was lost for the remainder of the season, so adjusting to life without the LSU alumnus will occur on the fly. Drawing Lamar Jackson during the first week sans Hunter is a challenging ordeal. But nothing can undo it. Michael Pierce and Patrick Peterson will also be unavailable, requiring Zimmer and his co-defensive coordinators to be creative. Jackson will “get his,” so the Vikings defense merely must be average or better. After all, they rank fourth in the NFL for defensive DVOA. Zimmer’s defense is not bad, although it does curiously allow humongous plays late in games. Based on the law of averages, that really should cease soon.
All in all, it’s as straightforward as that, right? Throw the ball, protect Cousins, allow wide receivers to make plays? Here’s the shaky part. Outwardly, the Vikings are committed to Cook — a totally sensible gameplan against a normal opponent.
Yet, the Ravens aren’t normal. They stop the run masterfully and play miserably against the pass. What’s left to determine is if Kubiak’s musings throughout the week were a smokescreen — or if Minnesota does the square peg in a round hole playbook despite the opponent’s weaknesses.
If they do — and the result is not akin to Cook’s success versus the Buccaneers last year — the Vikings will tumble to 3-5.
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).
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