Philadelphia Eagles catch a major break with Dalvin Cook injury
In a rematch of the NFC championship game, looks like the Philadelphia Eagles won’t have to worry about Dalvin Cook in their Week 5 bout against the Minnesota Vikings.
As the Philadelphia Eagles gear up to face off against the Minnesota Vikings in Fox’s Game of the Week, it looks like the Birds won’t have to worry about one of offensive coordinator John DeFilippo‘s most potent playmakers.
That’s right, after struggling with a pesky hamstring injury all season, it looks like the Vikings will be without star rusher Dalvin Cook in their return to Lincoln Financial Field.
Simply put: Philly just caught a solid break.
The #Vikings are not expecting RB Dalvin Cook (hamstring) to play Sunday vs. the #Eagles, sources say. It would take an impressive turnaround for him to be on the field.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 7, 2018
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According to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport, the Vikings do not expect Cooks to be available in Week 5, and will instead have to rely on a motley crew headlined by Latavius Murray in their rematch of the 2017 NFC Championship game.
And behind Murray? The Vikings have almost nothing.
Outside of Cook and Murray, Minnesota’s third-leading rusher is their quarterback, who’s rushed for 61 yards on 12 attempts thus far this season. While this is obviously bad, it gets even worse, as the Vikings don’t have a single running back on their roster with more than two carries on the season.
No wonder they are currently ranked dead last in rushing this season, averaging a paltry 63 yards per game over the 2018 NFL season’s first four weeks.
Now granted, this prognosis could change, as we won’t officially know if Cook will play until the inactive list comes out roughly an hour before the game, but if Dalvin is out, he will be sorely be missed by a Vikings squad that’s struggling to find an offensive identity behind a new quarterback and coordinator.
While the Eagles’ defense is notoriously hard to run the ball against, allowing the least rushing yards of any team since the start of the 2017 season, Cook’s absence will make the Vikings game plan that much more one-dimensional, a fact that I’m sure won’t be lost on Jim Schwartz.
Don’t get me wrong, the Vikings can certainly beat opposing teams through the air, as they boast a receiving corps absolutely loaded with talented playmakers like Laquon Treadwell, Kyle Rudolph, and their dynamic one-two punch on the outside in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, but at least Philly knows what to expect in their Week 5 homecoming.
Is Jalen Mills going to get burned over the top? Sure.
Is Ronald Darby going to miss a sure-fire tackle? Probably.
Will the Eagles ragtag safety rotation struggle to fill Rodney McLeod shoes? Most definitely, but does that spell disaster for Phillies chances of going 3-2? No way
Next. Isaac Seumalo deserves a chance to start. dark
This is a match that will more likely than not be won or lost in the trenches, and without a strong rushing option between the tackles, that turtle is a whole lot harder for the Minnesota Vikings to overcome. Even with Derek Barnett out, the Philadelphia Eagles pass rush is lethal, and without having to worry about Cook running the ball, they should give Kirk Cousins flashbacks to his days in Washington.