Questions Answered: The Red Rifle, Vikings Player to Watch, Dalvin on a Pitch Count?
Dustin Baker
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The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by PurplePTSD. Today is the September 30th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
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Q: Doesn’t it feel like the Vikings end up facing Andy Dalton over and over?
A: Why, yes, they do — especially for a quarterback who played most of his career in the AFC.
The Vikings will have faced Dalton as a member of four different teams in his career by the end of business Sunday — the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, and probably Saints.
Jameis Winston is doubtful because of a back injury, and Dalton is the next man up.
Here are his career numbers versus the Vikings:
- 4 Starts (CIN, DAL, CHI)
- 66.4% Comp
- 251.0 Pass Yds/GM
- 8 Passing TDs
- 5 INTs
- 91.5 Passer Rating
- Sacked 13 times
- Teams are 2-2 vs. MIN
Q: Do you have a Vikings player to monitor who could be an unsung gamebreaker?
A: The interior defensive line.
What the Saints do best — is what the Vikings struggled to contain. And that’s rushing the football. Alvin Kamara is trending to play, and Minnesota has shown no serious wherewithal to stop the run in 2022.
Ergo, Harrison Phillips, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Jonathan Bullard must step up to stop the rush. Otherwise, the game could emulate the Eagles snafu, particularly if Dalton is on his game.
Q: Will Dalvin Cook be on a pitch count?
A: He should be if he’s not.
The Vikings have the strategic luxury of employing Alexander Mattison, Ty Chandler, and Kene Nwangwu. It’s a deep RB room. While Cook is hurt (or kind of hurt?), Minnesota should lean on the reservist backs because that’s why they’re on the depth chart in the first place.
We’d recommend about 15 touches for Cook, as Mattison and the gang receive carries, too.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).