Dalvin Cook
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The New York Giants were no match for Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, and a surprisingly potent Minnesota Vikings offense.

Jason Leach

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ—The New York Giants defense took one step forward in their 24-3 Week 4 victory over the Washington Redskins. That same squad took two steps back on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings piled up 490 total yards of offense on their way to a dominating 28-10 victory in MetLife Stadium.

The Giants were without three of their defensive starters on Sunday as Alec Ogletree, Lorenzo Carter and Tae Davis all missed the game due to injury. But there’s no excuse for allowing a team to have almost 500 yards of total offense.

Head coach Pat Shurmur was asked during his postgame press conference if having key starters out made it that much more difficult to stop the Vikings offense.

“Listen, we have to go out and play against whoever we play against,” Shurmur told reporters after the loss. “Every team you play is good. But when we play well, we’re good, too. So that’s what I would say.”

The Vikings came into this game with the 31st ranked passing offense in the NFL. But quarterback Kirk Cousins had a field day, picking apart the Giants defense. He completed 22 of 27 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns.

For some reason, the Giants were unable to stop the Vikings crossing routes with Adam Thielen, who finished with seven receptions for 130 yards and two scores.

Big Blue was just as poor when it came to stopping the run. The problematic defense surrendered 211 yards on the ground to the vaunted Minnesota rushing attack. The culprit for most of these yards was Dalvin Cook. The dynamic back finished the game with 132 yards on 21 carries. Cook also had six receptions for 86 yards.

Many of Minnesota’s yards can be attributed to the bevy of missed tackles by the Giants defense. The only positive to take away from the defense is that they were able to sack Kirk Cousins three times.

The final score was not indicative of how bad things were for the Giants as the Vikings took their foot off the pedal in the fourth quarter. In addition, if not for Jabrill Peppers forcing a Cook fumble inside the two-yard line during the second quarter, the margin of defeat would have been greater.

Now, the Giants have to refocus and face the undefeated New England Patriots (5-0) on Thursday Night Football. The quick turnaround might actually be a good thing for the Giants.

The embattled defense will be eager to fix the miscues they made against the Vikings and redeem themselves for their performance on Sunday.

Jason's first love was football while growing up in northern New Jersey. For the past three years, he has covered the New York Giants, as well as several boxing events along the East Coast.