Second Thoughts: In Dalvin Cook's return, Vikings opened up the playbook to open big holes

While he watched the Vikings' loss to the Lions on Sunday sitting at home with a dislocated left shoulder, Dalvin Cook did a rehabilitation workout that left him feeling curiously optimistic about returning to play against the Steelers on Thursday night.

"I was just doing stuff at home, and I'm moving around, and I'm like, 'I feel good,'" Cook said. "And the next day I go in, I tell [head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman] how I feel, I see the doc, they test me out. The only thing I had to do was go show them my strength was back and everything was back, and I was good. They were still kind of skeptical about it, but they trust and believe that I won't put myself in harm's way, to go out there and not be productive for the team. I just commend the coaches for believing in me."

Cook was a limited participant in the Vikings' two practices this week, getting first-team snaps on both days. On Thursday night, he surpassed 200 yards for the second time in his career as the centerpiece of a Vikings run game that delved deeper into its playbook than it has all season.

The Vikings complemented their zone running game with more gap scheme runs (12, according to Pro Football Focus) than they've used all season. Their first run of the game — a 20-yard Cook gain — came off an old-fashioned counter trap play that had Ezra Cleveland and C.J. Ham out in front of the running back. Cook's 30-yard run later in the first quarter came out of a spread formation where Justin Jefferson motioned out of the backfield and brought a Steelers defender with him, leaving the Vikings' offensive line to take advantage of a light box. And on Cook's 29-yard touchdown in the second quarter, the Vikings lined up with Luke Stocker and offensive lineman Blake Brandel (as an extra tight end) next to C.J. Ham on the line of scrimmage, running a duo play that Cook bounced outside before strolling into the end zone.

"Tight ends, receivers, they all did a good job of giving me the edge and giving me the opportunity to put my speed on and get to the edge," Cook said. "So you've gotta commend those guys up front for just opening those big holes up. The holes were big all night. So you've gotta give those guys credit up front. They're my guys. They did a great job of blocking for me tonight. Receivers, tight ends, everybody did a great job of blocking for me tonight. I'm just hitting holes and trying to find some space out there."

Zone runs remain the base of the Vikings' scheme, employing the kinds of mobile, athletic linemen that general manager Rick Spielman has prioritized in the draft, but coach Mike Zimmer talked this spring about wanting to get bigger up front. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has incorporated a few more power runs in the Vikings' playbook than they've used in the past.

On Thursday night, at least, the Vikings combined those plays, with zone calls that took advantage of Steelers defenders who overran their gaps and got walled off by center Garrett Bradbury, right guard Mason Cole and Cleveland.

The results were evident all night: Cook averaged 4.07 yards before contact per carry, according to PFF. He had eclipsed 4 yards per carry before contact in only one other game this season (against the Ravens), and had averaged more than 2 yards before contact in only three games.

Cook's surprise return turned into a striking on-field success, on a night where two oft-maligned Vikings entities (their offensive coordinator and their run front) made things easier for him than they had all season.

"I think our two lines played, offensive and defensive line, played the best of the groups last night," Zimmer said. "I thought offensively we made some creases in there and were able to get some big runs. It's more accustomed to what I've been seeing. I thought Blake Brandel came in and did a nice job as far as the muscle tight end. I thought he did a nice job last night and then as far as the guards, I think they both did fine."

TWO PLAYERS WHO STOOD OUT

Harrison Smith: From his sack of Ben Roethlisberger to his last-second pass breakup and all of his blitz disguises throughout the night, the 32-year-old safety had a vintage performance. He came unblocked to take Roethlisberger down in the third quarter on his only pass-rushing effort of the night, but lined up off the edge on a number of plays where the Vikings showed double-A gap blitz looks, bailing to a deep safety alignment as the Steelers' shaky offensive line tried to sort out who was rushing. His breakup on Roethlisberger's throw to Pat Freiermuth, which kept the Steelers from attempting a two-point conversion that could have tied the game, was just one of the intuitive plays Smith made throughout the evening. It appeared he'd forced a first-quarter fumble, too, before officials ruled that Chase Claypool's knee was down before Smith swatted the ball out of his hands as he tried to stretch for a first down.

Michael Pierce: With a sack of Roethlisberger and an impressive night in the middle of the line, the nose tackle made his presence felt in his second game back from the elbow injury that cost him seven games. The Steelers ended up with 106 rushing yards for the night but had little success running up the middle, as Pierce controlled his matchups against Pittsburgh's interior linemen.

TWO AREAS OF CONCERN

Cornerbacks: This could perhaps be titled "cornerbacks not named Patrick Peterson," though James Washington caught a 30-yard touchdown pass over the veteran and safety Xavier Woods in the fourth quarter. But the Steelers constructed much of their comeback by going after the Vikings' corners, particularly Bashaud Breeland, who gave up seven catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, according to PFF (though he did have an interception). With Breeland vomiting into a garbage can on the sideline in the second half, the Vikings put Kris Boyd in the game; he gave up three catches for 64 yards and earned a 15-yard penalty for taunting Washington, two plays after the receiver caught a 29-yard pass when he came down with the ball at the same time as Boyd.

"I thought Boyd competed really well," Zimmer said. "He had the one poor penalty. He did a nice job on things like tackling, but if he's on top of that receiver, that ball is not thrown or has to be a back-shoulder fade, which is a much, much tougher. And I don't think [Cameron] Dantzler played very good in the red zone."

A night full of highs and lows for the receivers: Jefferson had several passes go off his hands, including Kirk Cousins' first interception and a couple of passes that could have turned into touchdowns. And while K.J. Osborn caught a 62-yard touchdown pass (perhaps with the help of a hand to the helmet of Cameron Sutton) that put the Vikings up by two scores in the fourth quarter, he stumbled against press coverage from Ahkello Witherspoon on the Vikings' next possession, giving the cornerback a chance for his second interception of the night.

"To prevent it from happening, I know I can just run a better route," Osborn said. "It was a great play by 25 [Witherspoon] on that route. I can try to knock the ball down or something so it's not intercepted, but I mean, you've got to own it. That's the game we're in. You make good plays, you make bad plays, but there's a lot of plays in the game where you have to keep rolling."

ONE BIG QUESTION

Exactly what are the Vikings doing here? We've asked some variation of that question all season, and it seems as apropos as any today. Had the Vikings blown a 29-point lead at home on Thursday, four days after losing to the winless Lions, it's fair to wonder whether the Wilfs would have fired anyone. Instead, the Vikings remain a half-game out of the NFC's final playoff spot, with four conference games left and a chance to enter the postseason with as good of a playmaking duo (Cook and Jefferson) as any team in the NFL.

Zimmer was still punchy, hours after the win, in his Friday morning news conference; "I just got done talking to coaches and I watched the film — that's why I'm grouchy right now," he said.

His biggest issues seemed to be with technique errors in the Vikings' secondary, and whether the group can do enough to stop the Rams' and Packers' offenses could determine the Vikings' postseason fate. Zimmer gave players three days off this weekend, and they'll return Tuesday for to begin preparations for a Monday night game in Chicago on Dec. 20. That figures to start with a crash course for his secondary on how to close out games, after a week that included a Jared Goff comeback and a near-catastrophe against Roethlisberger.

Though the Vikings practice two-minute drill situations every week, Peterson said they're some of the most difficult to rehearse, because it's hard to simulate the chaos of a last-minute drive at full-speed. It's in those areas, he said, where a veteran's intuition matters the most.

For the Vikings to save their season, their young defenders might need to hone some of that intuition quickly. We'll give the last word to Peterson, who recalled in precise detail on Friday morning exactly when he learned how much the details matter.

"It was, for me, my rookie season. It was early in the season, maybe Week [4]," he said. "It was against the New York Giants. We was in a Cover-2, but I did not jam the receiver good enough to get him wide enough to get him off the spot, and Eli Manning just put it right there in the honey hole [between the cornerback and a safety in Cover-2]. I did that same thing in practice, and that moment showed up in the game. That just showed me you have to play the game within the week, because you never know what play is going to show up in the game that you're practicing throughout that week.

"You have to play the game within the week. You can't just go through the motions throughout practice, trying to get through the game, because we're practicing these plays for a reason. We might see these plays in the game. My biggest message is just, practice the game within a week, because you never know what play is going to show up in a game."