All Day Affair: The time Adrian Peterson dominated the Bears
The future Hall of Famer introduced himself to the NFL 12 years ago in Chicago, and as he prepares to face the Bears again, we revisit that performance.




















The future Hall of Famer introduced himself to the NFL 12 years ago in Chicago, and as he prepares to face the Bears again, we revisit that performance.
Dalvin Cook became the first Viking to rush for 100 yards in the team's first three games of a season as Minnesota routed the Raiders on Sunday.
Kirk Cousins lauded Rick Dennison and Gary Kubiak for creating effective game plans that have allowed the Vikings to establish and consistently maintain a dominant run game, which is a credit to the outside zone scheme those two brought with them to Minnesota: "When you get a really good scheme and you have a really good (running) back, that can be a really good marriage to have an effective run game."
The Vikings have averaged 193.7 rush yards per game this season but Sunday was the first time Kirk Cousins was able to take full advantage in the passing game. Cousins went 7-of-9 for 107 yards and a TD of play-action Sunday. He went 8-of-15 for 72 yards and 0 TD on those plays the first 2 games, per ESPN Stats and Info.
The Vikings and the Colts were the only two teams in the NFL with more rushing yards than passing yards. The uniqueness of that in today's league predicated on passing isn't lost on Vikings players but rather realized and appreciated based on Mike Zimmer's mentality: "It's part of our head coaches identity," Dalvin Cook said. "That comes with the old school rules. We know the type of defense we've got, if we can keep this thing close and keep this thing manageable for us to go win the football game, that's part of running the football and taking big shots and making plays and just converting. That's what Zim likes to do . I like it, if that's what Zimmer likes to do."
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and running back Dalvin Cook easily dispatched the Raiders early, setting up a crucial game with the Bears.
NFL rushing leader Dalvin Cook cruised past the 100-yard mark for the third straight game, Kirk Cousins rebounded from his rattled performance the week before with a turnover-free afternoon, and the Minnesota Vikings rolled by the Oakland Raiders...
Vikings have a 21-7 lead going into halftime, the byproduct of outgaining the Raiders 205-139 in total yards, 15-7 in first downs. Kirk Cousins has had some ups and downs but has mostly looked good so far. A stat line of 8-14 passing for 115 yards, a touchdown and no turnovers is the type of performance he needs to continue on with to find some firmer ground after what happened last week. The game flow has dictated that Cousins doesn't have to do too much against this defense, and his stat line would suggest the same.
Anthony Barr went through an on-field warm up starting around 10 CT and was doing several lateral movement exercises seemingly to test how his injured groin felt. Appears it's still not where it needs to be in order to play, as he's one of seven inactives today. Full inactive list: Barr, Mackensie Alexander, Brett Jones, Dru Samia, Oli Udoh, Jalyn Holmes, Armon Watts.
They're paying him like a franchise quarterback, but the Vikings might have to recognize that Kirk Cousins isn't the QB they thought they were getting.
Carlson's Vikings tenure lasted all of two games, but it might have been the best thing to ever happen to his career.
The three running backs are among the players in question for Week 3. Get the latest updates on their prognoses from our NFL Nation reporters.
Cousins says he's "not going to be playing quarterback here if I go out and play the way I did this past Sunday for much longer."
The oft-injured Cook is the center of the offense and leads the NFL in rushing. Whether he can maintain that workload is the Vikings' great unknown.
While we track teams moving up (Cowboys, Ravens) and down (Saints, Steelers) in our rankings, we also identify each team's early-season surprise.
(Sara Ziegler, sports editor): Aside from a Jets-Browns matchup that I know we're all excited about, Week 2 is in the books.
The Vikings had fewer than three wide receivers on the field for 46 of their 60 offensive plays against the Packers, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Minnesota trailed most of the game.
Minnesota fell behind 21-0 in the first half and three Kirk Cousins turnovers prevented the Vikings from pulling off a win at Lambeau Field.
| RD(PK) | PLAYER | POS | SCHOOL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1(18) | Garrett Bradbury | C | North Carolina State |
| 2(18) | Irv Smith Jr. | TE | Alabama |
| 3(38) | Alexander Mattison | RB | Boise State |
| 4(12) | Dru Samia | OG | Oklahoma |
| 5(24) | Cameron Smith | ILB | USC |
| 6(17) | Armon Watts | DT | Arkansas |
| 6(18) | Marcus Epps | S | Wyoming |
| 6(20) | Olisaemeka Udoh | OT | Elon |
| 7(3) | Kris Boyd | CB | Texas |
| 7(25) | Dillon Mitchell | WR | Oregon |
| 7(33) | Olabisi Johnson | WR | Colorado State |
| 7(36) | Austin Cutting | LS | Air Force |

