Minnesota Vikings: 3 Players that must shine vs. Raiders in Week 3
2. Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs
Although this isn’t specifically one player (yes, I’m breaking the rules here), a duo that is collectively going to have to stand out and shine for the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon in front of their home crowd is the wide receiver pairing of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.
Through two weeks of the regular season, Thielen and Diggs have put together solid performances for Minnesota, but we have yet to see them put together the caliber of games that we witnessed from the duo just a season ago.
Part of that is due to the hot start from running back Dalvin Cook, who leads the league in rushing coming into the third week of the year, but the other thing that has been concerning is the lack of balance within the offense led by quarterback Kirk Cousins and specifically the lack of targets in the direction of both Thielen and Diggs.
Coming into the Week 3 matchup against Oakland, Thielen and Diggs have combined to haul in a total of 204 yards and two touchdowns on 11 catches as a duo. Neither wide receiver has topped the 100-yard mark in a game yet this season after doing so what seemed like every week during the first half of the 2018 campaign.
Thielen has recorded 118 yards and one touchdown on eight catches so far this season, ranking 48th in the NFL in total yards receiving while ranking 58th in the league in total catches.
On the other side of the field, Diggs is currently at 86 yards with one touchdown on just three catches so far in 2019. He ranks 78th in the NFL in total receiving yards and 154th in total catches.
On Sunday against Oakland, however, Thielen and Diggs will need to emerge as the reliable targets they were just a season ago, and they will likely be presented with the opportunity to start doing so.
Coming into Week 3, the Oakland defense has let opposing offenses average 342.5 yards per game, which ranks last in the league among defensive units. That should bode well for Minnesota’s offense and should present it with the opportunity to get the passing game on track.
In order for the Vikings to be able to mix things up and not be forced to lean so heavily on Davin Cook and the rest of the running back group, Thielen and Diggs must help Cousins behind center in balancing the offense out with passing game on Sunday against the Raiders.