MINNEAPOLIS—With the NFL market now open, as teams try to make the math work to support their off-season shopping, the Minnesota Vikings have so far been doing more subtracting than adding.
EAGAN, Minn.—Adam Thielen learned in college the psychological art of pivoting from a bad play, courtesy of a toy toilet the Minnesota State team kept on the sideline during games to flush away negative feelings and leave them in the past.
EAGAN, Minn.—Minnesota's investment in Kirk Cousins has yet to yield a post-season victory. The hyper-scrutinized quarterback's first opportunity to get one with the Vikings has arrived this week, on the heels of his career-best season.
Travelling to the Superdome to take on New Orleans in the first round isn't exactly a soft launch.
EAGAN, Minn.—The priority during the bye week for Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer and his staff was not difficult to discern.
Pass defence that has uncharacteristically been a problem in several recent games needed some work.
MINNEAPOLIS—The Minnesota Vikings had barely moved the ball at all, when they gathered in a humbled locker room after an awful first half.
Picking up the pace with the two-minute offence was about their only hope of a comeback. They delivered one in stunning fashion against the Denver Broncos.
EAGAN, Minn.—When Adam Thielen left the previous game in Detroit because of a hamstring injury he suffered in the first quarter, the Minnesota Vikings didn't miss a beat without their two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver.
EAGAN, Minn.—For an accomplished, experienced group like the Minnesota Vikings' defence, maintaining that edge is more of the goal than plowing new ground.
MINNEAPOLIS—Each of Dalvin Cook's first two seasons was interrupted by injury, and the Minnesota Vikings were subsequently much more driven by the pass.
His skill set no longer under wraps, Cook has given this Vikings a clear and old-school identity.
EAGAN, Minn.—Near the end of an already flawed performance, Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings were in prime position to pull ahead of the Green Bay Packers and make all the cringe-worthy plays that came before moot.
MINNEAPOLIS—After dropping back to pass a mere 11 times for Minnesota, Kirk Cousins joked that this defence-and-running-dominated performance felt like youth football.
He was more than happy to hand the ball off and get out of the way.
