Minnesota Vikings: Positives and negatives from 2020 season

Positive: Offense continued to impress

The biggest bright spot of the season for Minnesota, outside of putting together a strong stretch in the middle of the year to battle back into playoff contention, was the play of the offense led by a balanced attack in both the passing game and running game.

Overall, the Vikings had one of the top offenses in the league led by quarterback Kirk Cousins, running back Dalvin Cook and wide receiving duo Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.

Minnesota finished the 16-game slate in the top half and in the top 10 in multiple offensive categories. It managed to average 26.9 points per game throughout the year, finishing with a total of 109.3 yards per game as a group.

In the passing attack led by Cousins, the Vikings completed 349 of their 516 pass attempts, totaling 4,009 yards and 35 touchdowns through the air. Minnesota averaged 8.3 yards per catch for an average of 250.6 yards per game while only committing just 13 interceptions along the way.

When it came to the running game, the Vikings were one of the top teams in the league in that area as well, led by Cook who was a top-three running back throughout the entire season. On the ground, Minnesota ran the ball 468 times for 2,283 yards and 20 touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per carry and 142.7 yards per game on the ground.

Specifically for Cook, he managed to tally 312 rushing attempts (second in NFL) for 1,557 yards (second in NFL) with 16 touchdowns (tied for second in NFL) in just 14 games. He ran for an average of 111.2 yards per game (second in NFL) with an average of 5.0 yards per carry along the way.

Although the success of the offense might have been overshadowed by the struggles on defense and special teams and the end result of a 7-9 record, Minnesota once again had an impressive offense to continue to build on this offseason leading into the 2021 season.