Skip to main content
Advertising

News | Minnesota Vikings – vikings.com

Snap Counts: Vikings Starting CBs See Heavy Workload

EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings came through in the clutch Sunday, surging past the Chargers in the final 20 minutes for a 27-20 win.

Minnesota is now 4-5, and will host Green Bay on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Kickoff is at noon (CT).

Here's a look at Minnesota's snap counts in Week 10:

— Kirk Cousins and the starting offensive line (LT Christian Darrisaw, LG Ezra Cleveland, C Mason Cole, RG Olisaemeka Udoh and RT Brian O'Neill) played all 79 offensive snaps. Cousins, O'Neill and Cleveland have played all 641 snaps through nine games. Cousins threw for 294 yards with a pair of scores in the win.

— Adam Thielen played 71 snaps and had five catches for 65 yards. Justin Jefferson was the star of the show in his 60 snaps, catching nine passes for a season-high 143 yards. It was the 10th time in his career he has surpassed 100 receiving yards in a game. K.J. Osborn (41 snaps) and Dede Westbrook (five snaps) also saw the field but each did not record a catch.

— Dalvin Cook played 65 snaps and accounted for 27 total touches. He had 24 carries for 94 yards and a score, and also tallied three receptions for 24 yards. Fullback C.J. Ham played 27 snaps and had three catches for 13 yards. Alexander Mattison played a dozen snaps, rushing four times for 16 yards and adding a catch for 24 yards.

View game action photos of the Vikings battling the Chargers during the Week 10 matchup at SoFi Stadium.

— Tyler Conklin played 67 snaps (his second-highest total of the season) and was a scoring machine. He had three catches for just 11 yards, but caught touchdowns of 5 yards and 1 yard. Chris Herndon (23 snaps) had a 14-yard catch on the first play of the game. Fellow tight end Luke Stocker was on the field for 20 snaps.

— Blake Brandel was on the field for four snaps, all of them in the Vikings heavy package. The tackle actually ran a shallow crossing route on Conklin's 1-yard score and inadvertently helped spring open Conklin, who executed his own crosser.

— Defensively, the Vikings had four players — Eric Kendricks, Nick Vigil, Xavier Woods and Camryn Bynum — who were on the field for all 59 snaps. Kendricks led the way with a sack and an interception for the defense. Bynum, who started in place of Harrison Smith (Reserve/COVID-19 list) for the second straight week, also had a sack.

— Cameron Dantzler (58 snaps) and Bashaud Breeland (57 snaps) played nearly the whole game at cornerback. Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer said multiple times in his postgame press conference that he liked how they played. Mackensie Alexander played 37 snaps in the slot, and Kris Boyd played two snaps at cornerback. Veteran Patrick Peterson (hamstring injury) is eligible to come off Injured Reserve this week.

— Everson Griffen and D.J. Wonnum started and played the bulk of the snaps at defensive end. Wonnum played 53 and Griffen was on the field for 50 as the defense limited Justin Herbert to just 195 passing yards. Rookie Patrick Jones II played 11 snaps. Eddie Yarbrough, who was added to the roster Friday, played four snaps on defense.

— Zimmer mentioned the Vikings had a heavy rotation along the defensive line, and that was the case on the interior. Armon Watts started and played 42 snaps, and Sheldon Richardson had 32 snaps. Dalvin Tomlinson, the other starter up front, was on the field for 30 snaps. James Lynch played 18 snaps.

— Linebacker Blake Lynch played 19 snaps in the Vikings base defense. He hadn't played a defensive snap since Week 4. Lynch also led all players with 20 snaps on special teams.

— Other contributors on special teams included Ham, Josh Metellus, Dan Chisena, Troy Dye, Myles Dorn and rookie Chazz Surratt. Each of those players handled 17 snaps on special teams.

— Stocker played 13 snaps in the third phase. Harrison Hand played 10 snaps and Tye Smith played six.

— Westbrook played five snaps on special teams, which included a season-long punt return of 45 yards. He had three total punt returns for 69 yards.

— Rookie Kene Nwangwu played six snaps on special teams. His lone kickoff return went for 23 yards. He was also used on a fake punt but officials whistled the play dead right after he took the snap.

Advertising