Week 8: Winners & Losers vs Cardinals

The Vikings won 34-26 against the Arizona Cardinals moving them to 6-1 on the season and creating an even bigger gap in the NFC North.

5 Winners of the game

1. Za'Darius Smith:

Wow. What a game by Za'Darius Smith who has been such an order the radar signing from the Vikings this off-season. Smith recorded 3 sacks and 3 QB hits against Arizona just completely being a game-changer for this team. Smith now has 8.5 sacks on the season, including 5 of those in the last two games.

2. Patrick Peterson:

HUGE day for Patrick Peterson against his former team showing them what they're missing out on. This is back-to-back games where Pat P has 3+ pass breakups, once again coming in clutch moments.

3. Harrison Smith:

Harrison Smith is still ELITE. Some people may disagree but it seems like Harrison Smith has not taken a step back at all. Harry recorded 6 tackles, an INT, and a pass deflection.

4. Kirk Cousins:

Kirk has not been on top of his A-game statistically this season but to the eye test, Kirk has been good. Kirk had an incredible rushing touchdown to start the game and ended off leading the team to expand their lead in the fourth. As long as Kirk keeps playing this way the Vikings will keep on winning.

5. Dalvin Cook:

It was fantastic to see Dalvin Cook finally get his first 100-yard game of the season. These last few games Cook has started to look like himself again looking explosive and getting big chunks of yardage each run. Cook had 141 all-purpose yards on 25 touches and a touchdown.

Honorable Mentions: Kevin O'Connell, Justin Jefferson, and Adam Thielen.

Losers of the game

1. Greg Joseph:

I think it is time to give up on the Greg Joseph experiment. I do not know what happened to Joseph after a solid 2021 season. Joseph has missed key kicks in almost every game this season and continued to do that today with a blocked FG and missed PAT in critical moments.

2. Ed Ingram:

Ed Ingram was an absolute liability the whole game. The majority of the pressure came from him and gave Cousins a tough time throughout the game. I'm not sure if it is time to bench him yet, but we need to see some type of adjustment from him soon.