Minnesota Vikings: Studs and duds vs. Redskins in Week 8

Stud: Dalvin Cook

Dalvin Cook has been a key contributor for the majority of the year for Minnesota and has entered himself into some early-season MVP conversations with his performance through eight weeks of the regular season.

On Thursday night at home at US Bank Stadium, Cook once again put on a show for the Vikings and led the offense to yet another victory in front of their home crowd.

Cook did a little bit of everything in the contest for Minnesota, including hurting Washington both on the ground and through the air, while also recording the lone touchdown in the contest between both teams. Cook finished the game with a total of 98 yards and one touchdown on the ground on 23 carries. Through the air, he finished with 73 yards receiving on five catches and six overall targets, averaging 14.6 yards per reception.

Dud: Penalties

Penalties were a problem for Minnesota on Thursday, mainly on the offensive end of the ball. Even more specifically, the Vikings tallied a decent amount of holding penalties among their offensive line that brought back a few large volume plays and ended up putting a halt to any momentum the offensive unit was trying to obtain to ultimately get into the endzone in the game.

Minnesota finished the game with a total of seven penalties which resulted in putting them back a combined 74 yards in the contest. Seven penalties aren’t the end of the world, but the timing of the penalties and the holding calls that mainly went against the offensive line in the game was something that the Vikings will need to clean up moving forward.