Stud: Kirk Cousins
Over the last handful of weeks while Minnesota has turned things up a notch and been a dominant force in the NFC and NFL in general, Kirk Cousins’ game has played a large role in the success of the team and such was the case again in Week 10 against Dallas.
In the win on the road, Cousins managed to finish the game converting on 23 of his 32 overall pass attempts. With 220 yards, he threw for two touchdowns and didn’t throw an interception in the contest. More importantly, Cousins stepped up on a big stage for Minnesota after receiving a lot of heat up to this point in his career for not being able to step up and perform well on a national platform.
So far this season, Cousins and the Vikings are 2-0 in primetime games and have appeared to perhaps turn the corner in that regard. If that is indeed the case, that is incredibly good news for both Cousins and Minnesota moving forward towards the postseason while wrapping up the remainder of the regular season schedule in 2019.
Dud: Late-game penalties
Penalties have played a key role for the Vikings through 10 weeks, often times occurring at big moments of the game that ends up allowing the opposition more chances to try and win the game.
On Sunday Night Football against Dallas, Minnesota nearly allowed the Cowboys with a big opportunity down the stretch of the contest. Specifically, the Vikings appeared to have forced the Cowboys to turn the ball over and ultimately put the game to rest, but a penalty on Harrison Smith allowed Dallas the opportunity to get the ball back and try and win the game late.
That mistake didn’t ultimately hurt Minnesota in the end, but it needs to clean things up as far as penalties go and providing an opponent with multiple chances moving forward.