Minnesota Vikings: Running game will be key vs. Packers in Week 16
With the Minnesota Vikings going into a big Week 16 game against the Green Bay Packers, here’s why the Vikings running game will be a key in the contest.
With two games remaining on the 2019 schedule, the Minnesota Vikings will be taking on their biggest test and challenge of the year in Week 16 in Minneapolis. The Vikings welcome one of their biggest rivals in NFC North opponent the Green Bay Packers for Monday Night Football.
The matchup between the two divisional squads is not only a big contest whenever the two take the same field in any given game throughout the season, but this game will feature a contest that has a lot riding on it while looking ahead to the postseason.
Minnesota, which will come into the game at US Bank Stadium in Week 16 with an overall record of 10-4, sits just one game behind Green Bay (11-3 overall) in the NFC North standings, looking to try and move into a tie atop the division alongside the Packers with a win.
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The Vikings, who also hold a nearly guaranteed spot in the NFC Wild Card race while sitting in the No. 5 seed currently, will look to try and leap over the Packers to get out of the Wild Card position, improve their seed in the NFC Playoffs and ultimately host a playoff game in a few weeks.
There are several things Minnesota must do to win in the national spotlight on Monday. But perhaps the biggest aspect and challenge that the Vikings will be faced with while going up against the Packers will lie within the running game and what Minnesota will be able to do on the ground against its division rival.
For the season, the Vikings have averaged 135.9 rushing yards per game on the ground. That mark ranks fourth-best in the NFL behind only the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens. By comparison, the Packers rank 17th in the league in rushing yards per game, averaging a total of 106.5 yards per game on the ground going into Week 16.
So far in 2019, Minnesota’s rushing attack has been spearheaded by Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, who has put together a Pro Bowl season and one that has raised some eyebrows around the NFL. In Week 16 against Green Bay, however, Cook is expected to be inactive.
Leading up to the game on Monday Night Football, ESPN NFL Reporter Adam Schefter reported that Cook is “unlikely to play in the big showdown with the Green Bay Packers on Monday night” while trying to fully recover from a shoulder injury he suffered in the Week 15 win on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers last weekend.
If Cook is ultimately unable to go for the Vikings in the game, that means Minnesota backups Alexander Mattison and Mike Boone, among others, will have to step up and fill in the hole left behind by Cook.
Mattison, however, missed the Week 15 contest in Los Angeles with an ankle injury and it is unknown yet whether he will be healthy enough to go on Monday night in Week 16, just like Cook. If both Cook and Mattison are out in the contest, that means the Vikings will have to rely on Boone and maybe even Ameer Abdullah, the two remaining running backs on the depth chart.
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As the week progresses leading up to the Week 16 showdown at U.S. Bank Stadium, we will learn more as to whether or not Cook, Mattison and others will be ready to take the field this weekend in a big NFC North showdown against Green Bay.
Either way, the Vikings running game will be a big key to Minnesota ultimately trying to take down Green Bay, while grabbing both their 11th win of the year and inching closer to trying to claim the division title in 2019.