Minnesota Vikings: 3 Players that must shine vs. Raiders in Week 3
1. Kirk Cousins
The final player that is going to need to have a nice performance and must shine for Minnesota to come out on top against Oakland is veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins. In his second season in Minnesota with the Vikings, Cousins has gotten off to a slow start. Something that needs to turn around quickly if Minnesota wants to try and make a return to the postseason this year after missing the playoffs a season ago.
Through two weeks while entering the Week 3 showdown with the Oakland, Cousins has converted on 22 of his 42 pass attempts while recording a total of 328 passing yards with an average of 7.8 yards per pass. He also comes into the third week of the regular season with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
In the Week 2 loss to Green Bay, Cousins threw for a total of 230 yards while connecting on just 14 of his 32 pass attempts. With one touchdown pass, he also threw two key interceptions in vital points in the defeat and was sacked once.
On Sunday afternoon at home in US Bank Stadium, Cousins and the Vikings are hoping to get the veteran quarterback on track early on in the year, resulting in him being the top player that must step up and shine in the contest.
As mentioned in the previous slide while highlighting Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, Oakland’s defense has struggled against its opposition so far this season. The Raiders have the NFL’s worst-ranked passing defense, allowing opponents to tally 342.5 yards per game through two games.
Another example of Oakland’s struggles on defense reflects in the fact that it has also allowed opposing quarterback to record a quarterback rating of 120.5 per game while allowing five touchdowns through the air along with forcing no interceptions thus far.
Next. 20 Bold predictions for NFL Week 3. dark
Along with being back at home in front of their home crowd, the Vikings will have a good opportunity to move back above the .500 mark on the season while grabbing their second win of the season on Sunday afternoon.
One key aspect to Minnesota accomplishing that against Oakland in Week 3 is getting its $84 million quarterback rolling within the offense once again.