Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook had an absolutely monster day against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. He put up 252 total yards. He scored two touchdowns. And Minnesota got the 34-20 win. Decent!
All season, Cook has been nearly impossible to defend. But if you’re going to try, you might want to have 11 players on the field.
The Detroit Lions, however, did not.
With around 11 minutes remaining in the game, Cook took a handoff and ran right through the Lions defense for a 70-yard touchdown. He made the entire play look easy, and it probably was. The Lions only had 10 players on the field.
DALVIN COOK 70-YARD TD 🚨
He’s special.
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/4NcgDJhsFQ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 8, 2020
Fans noticed shortly after the score that the Lions appeared to be playing a man down for some reason. And nobody on the Lions staff thought to use any of their three available timeouts to remedy that issue.
Guys, you're not going to believe this, but on Cook's 70-yard TD, Lions had 10 men on the field. pic.twitter.com/bEG5m5QSFq
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) November 8, 2020
And no, there wasn’t a player out of the frame. The Lions really had 10 players on the field. The Dots don’t lie.
Dalvin Cook gained +63 yards above expectation on his 70-yard TD run, according to our Expected Rush Yards model.
Rushing Yards: 70
Expected Rushing Yards: 7
Yards Over Expected: +63The Lions only had 10 defenders on the field on the play.#DETvsMIN | #Skol pic.twitter.com/W7STHsJAt5
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 8, 2020
I’m sure Matt Patricia will love seeing that film.
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