Vikings take aim at Arizona, rookie QB Rosen
The Minnesota Vikings righted the ship somewhat against the Philadelphia Eagles last week, avenging last year's NFC Championship Game loss and getting back to .500 at 2-2-1.
With only one road trip between now and Nov. 18, Minnesota has a great opportunity to put together a string of wins ahead of back-to-back NFC North showdowns in Weeks 11 (at Chicago) and 12 (vs. Green Bay).
First up will be a visit Sunday from the Arizona Cardinals, who bagged their first win last week over the San Francisco 49ers to move to 1-4.
The Cardinals have little time to celebrate, as they host the Broncos back in Glendale, Ariz., just four days after their trip to Minneapolis. The tight schedule could be particularly taxing for a defense that faced 98 plays in San Francisco.
"You'll definitely feel different," said safety Antoine Bethea, who racked up 13 tackles without missing a snap. "There's a little bit of wear and tear. You've got to get in the cold tub, hot tub, do whatever you've got to do to get back right. It's a six-day process."
That unit will be charged with slowing down a surprisingly high-volume passing game, as the Vikings have leaned very heavily on $86 million man Kirk Cousins. Averaging 45.2 pass attempts per game, Cousins is on pace for 723 this season, well beyond his career high of 606.
Slinging it so often isn't normal for a Mike Zimmer-coached team, but he doesn't mind if it produces results.
"I don't really care about statistics," Zimmer said. "I just want to get wins. I don't care how we do it. Obviously, I have a philosophy, but we have to do what we have to do to win football games."
Running back Dalvin Cook remains limited by a hamstring injury and might not play Sunday.
While Zimmer hits the gas with Cousins, the Cardinals have been less aggressive with rookie quarterback Josh Rosen, who has 52 attempts in two starts, and the results have been inconsistent. After moving the ball well despite receiver drops in Week 4, Arizona gained more than 39 yards on just one drive last week, a 75-yard TD on its first play.
Rosen said he and the whole group need to execute better, as various players have taken turns short-circuiting the attack at different times.
"We have just sort of one-off mental mistakes everywhere," Rosen said. "Me, linemen, receivers, running backs. ...When you have eight or nine people making one mistake on separate plays, you almost just want to be like, `Alright guys, let's all screw up this first play together and then play great from then on.'"
Entering his second road start, Rosen is embracing what should be a more hostile environment than the sparse Levi's Stadium crowd he saw last week.
"I love people yelling and screaming at you," he said. "...The quick silence of a tough third down in the red zone, those are pretty fun."
Rosen's top receiver, 15th-year veteran Larry Fitzgerald, is looking forward to the trip for a different reason. A Vikings ball boy in high school, Fitzgerald has never won or caught a touchdown at Minnesota in five games.
Fitzgerald (hamstring/back) joined tackles D.J. Humphries (knee) and Andre Smith (hamstring) and left guard Mike Iupati (shoulder) in missing Wednesday's practice, but all should play Sunday, per head coach Steve Wilks.
For the Vikings, left tackle Riley Reiff (foot) and safety Andrew Sendejo (groin) were out, while Cook (hamstring) was limited after missing games in Week 3 and 5.
Zimmer was pleased with how Rashod Hill, who moved to the left side, and rookie Brian O'Neill, who came in on the right, played after Reiff was hurt on Sunday.
--Field Level Media
