Minnesota Vikings: 3 Players that must shine vs. Chiefs in Week 9

2. Dalvin Cook

Dalvin Cook is off to a really strong start to the 2019 campaign, his third season in the NFL and with Minnesota in his professional career. So far through eight games while remaining fully healthy through the first half of the regular season, Cook has been one of the top running backs in the league this season.

In eight appearances, he leads the NFL in rushing yards with 823 yards on the ground, leading the second-place Leonard Fournette with 791 total rushing yards for the top spot in the league. Along with leading the NFL in rushing yards, Cook has a league-best nine rushing touchdowns on 156 rushing attempts, averaging 102.9 yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry.

In the Week 8 win over Washington on Thursday Night Football, Cook was once again stellar in the victory for Minnesota. He finished the contest with 98 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries on the ground, while also recording 73 yards receiving on five catches.

In the game this weekend against Kansas City, Minnesota will need to focus on getting its young stud running back involved in both the ground game and passing game in order to out-perform Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium.

If the Vikings are able to get Cook involved early on and he is able to continue to have performances like he did in Week 8 and for a majority of the year leading up to this point, Minnesota should be sitting in a good spot to try and steal a game on the road and grab its seventh victory of the season on Sunday afternoon.