The Vikings beat the Lions 42-30 today in what I thought was a must win. Partly because it was a division game which they needed a win and partly because their schedule in the second half of the season is not going to be easy. It was nice to see a well balanced attack on the offensive, which given this teams weapons is what we should see most games. Detroit certainly had us holding our breath in this one but the Vikings put it away at the end. Here’s my good, bad and ugly from this game.

THE GOOD
Dalvin Cook: With his 142 yards and two touchdowns, he continues to show why he is ONE of the best running backs in the NFL. (that Christian McCaffery is pretty good too)

Cousins 4 TD Passes: Second straight game with Kirk throwing 4 touchdowns. Third straight game throwing over 300 yards.

Offensive Line: You can tribute Cousins doing well these last few games to the o-line protecting him and giving him time.

Stefon Diggs: He had himself another nice game. 142 yards receiving and what should have been a touchdown…but more on that later.

The "Other" Vikings Receivers: Bisi Johnson, Irv Smith Jr. and Kyle Rudolph stepped up nicely after Thielens’ injury. Irv Smith is looking more and more like the heir apparent to Rudolph every week.

BAD
Stefon Diggs: He did have a great game but also missed on what should have been a touchdown catch. His dropped passes and near misses happen more often than I like.

Penalties On The Defense: Sure, it wasn’t as bad as it’s been in previous games but it’s still something they need to clean up. Especially when you are playing good teams. Those can come back to haunt you.

Defense In General: I don't know if it wasn't enough blitzes being called or just the lack of good coverage but sometimes this defense be a little soft sometimes.

UGLY
"X"avier Rhodes:  He is terrible. Seriously, for what he gets paid, he is terrible. We were hoping last year was just a fluke. Nope. It’s rolled into this year. I’m surprised he didn’t come get “injured” after that last Jones touchdown since he seems to do that after he gets beat on a play. Opposing teams should be targeting him whenever they play the Vikings. The team should seriously try to trade him. Find some team that’s desperate for a corner or thinks that they can turn him around. The sooner the better before he has more bad games.

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