The winless Lions let the Bears rush for yards. Minnesota has Detroit at home and another week to get Dalvin Cook who looked like he might have reinjured an ankle in the third quarter up to speed — or hand the reins to Alexander Mattison again — so the Vikings can do the same. The defense played somewhat well, although Baker Mayfield certainly aided their efforts.
They recorded three sacks and made a big fourth-down stop in the first half. The ground game was awful and Kirk Cousins was good, but not great after an effective and efficient opening drive. The opening drive ended with a TD, but the Vikings wouldn't sniff the end zone for the rest of the game. The defense was sensational yet again. The Minnesota ground game was held to 2.
Greedy Williams essentially ended the game with an interception. They like their blockers so much they even rolled out a seven-lineman package against Penn State. The Gophers have a confident group, too, having clearly moved past the mess their run defense was in Gibbens and Mariano Sori-Marin have solidified the linebacker spots.
The Gophers led the division at this time two years ago, too, when they beat Penn State to stay undefeated before losing at Iowa, winning at Northwestern and losing to Wisconsin to watch the Badgers get the conference championship game berth. Quarterback Tanner Morgan, one of several starters from the team, mentioned those losses as a lesson for the Gophers entering this final stretch. This time, they start November against Illinois and travel to Indiana between the game at Iowa and the finale against Wisconsin.
Illinois quarterback Brandon Peters, who lost the starting job and regained it when Art Sitkowski broke his arm against Penn State, went 14 for 19 for yards and two touchdowns last week against Rutgers. Bielema had a candid conversation with the sixth-year player prior to the game.
The Illini had their final drive halted at the yard line with left in the defeat by Rutgers. In three other losses, the Illini also had the ball at the end within one score but came up short against UTSA , Maryland and Purdue Both Irving and Thomas have topped the yard mark in each of the last two games, but the depth at the position remains precarious.
Enter Derik LeCaptain, a backup linebacker and special teams ace who joined the program as a walk-on in and was awarded a scholarship during preseason camp. LeCaptain had 5, career rushing yards at Southern Door High School in Wisconsin, so his experience made him a natural choice for the position switch.
LeCaptain had a yard touchdown run last week against Northwestern, prompting the Minnesota sideline to erupt with joy. Quite interesting. Everything about the Vikings defense has improved as the season has gone on but per PFF the run has been a specifically smooth curve upward. The Minnesota Vikings have the horses to stop the run and play good overall defense, even without Michael Pierce. Dalvin Tomlinson is known for his ability to stop opposing running backs.
For context, there are only six defensive tackles in the NFL above an 80 run grade this season. Vikings' Cook on lawsuit: 'Truth will come out'. Suit accuses Cook of assault; RB denies claims. NFL Power Rankings: poll, plus one bold second-half prediction for each team. Have the Minnesota Vikings hit their ceiling? And if so, now what?
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