Minnesota Vikings Week 14 Superlatives

For purely personal health reasons, it sure would’ve been nice if Thursday’s Minnesota Vikings-Pittsburgh Steelers game ended after the first half. That game should never have come down to the final play. Still, it’s a win. Now, the Vikings have over a week to somehow rid their play of the excruciating tendency to take games to the final play. Here are some of the players that stood out in the Week 14 win.

Offensive Player of the Week

This one’s easy.

Dalvin Cook

27 carries

205 yards

2 TDs (29,7)

1 catch

17 yards

He wasn’t expected to play. His injured shoulder was supposed to keep him out of this game. At best, he was expected back in Week 15. Instead of sitting, resting, healing, Cook took over the game in the first half. His 153 yards was halfway to Adrian Peterson’s single-game record. The holes were huge and Cook was rarely touched until he was in the secondary. His late 17-yard catch was a key play in the much-needed win. In short, Dalvin Cook was incredible on Thursday night. 

Defensive Player of the Week

If the game ended at the half, there’d be a handful of candidates. The Vikings defense was excellent in the first half. The fourth quarter was rough. Ben Roethlisberger kinda had his way. 

Eric Kendricks was great, Bashaud Breeland had an interception, Sheldon Richardson played well, five players had sacks. Considering game-long impact the choice becomes clear. 

Harrison Smith

If his only play was knocking the ball out of the hands of Pat Freiermuth in the end zone as the clock hit zeroes, he’d be deserving of defensive player of the week. He did much more than that. 

5 tackles

1 sack 1 tackle for loss

It looked like he’d added a forced fumble to his game resume but replay took that away. Smith was great. After an uneven start to the season, Harrison Smith is starting to look a lot like Harrison Smith. 

Special Teams Player of the Week

This comes down to punt returner Dede Westbrook and punter Jordan Berry. 

Dede Westbrook is starting to make an impact with his returns. He had three for 31 yards against the Steelers. His 15-yard third quarter return set the offense up nicely on the Steelers 34-yard line. If the offense had punched it in for a touchdown, this game probably would’ve been the blowout that it should’ve been. I get the feeling that Westbrook is getting close to taking a punt back for a score. 

Jordan Berry averaged 48.7 yards on three punts. His final punt pinned the Steelers on the 4-yard line with just over two minutes to play. It’s not his fault that the defense let the Steelers cover most of the 96 yards in front of them.