The Minnesota Vikings won 10 games and earned a Wild Card berth in the NFC playoff picture this season, upsetting the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card Round before falling to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round.
While the Vikings have generally been known as a defensive team in recent years, their offense showed some flashes of brilliance in 2019, and that came after an abysmal start to the season.
Back in September, many were calling for Kirk Cousins' job, and even his wide receivers were publicly expressing their unhappiness. But the following month, Cousins turned it around and actually became a fringe MVP candidate, throwing for 3,603 yards, 26 touchdowns and six interceptions on the year, completing 69.1 of his passes and posting a passer rating of 107.4.
And Cousins was able to do this with Adam Thielen sidelined for much of the season due to hamstring issues, leaving Stefon Diggs as his only dependable wide out.
Of course, Cousins still had tight ends Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith Jr. to throw to, as well as running back Dalvin Cook, but Thielen's absence was huge.
For that reason, Cousins deserves a heck of a lot of credit for doing a 180 and actually becoming a reliable quarterback for the rest of the way.
That being said, due to Cousins' lack of arm strength, the Vikings didn't have much big-play potential, as evidenced by Cousins' rather skimpy yardage totals. That played a significant role in Minnesota finishing just 16th in the NFL in yardage, even if it was eighth in scoring (remember: field position matters).
But then there was Cook, who was one of the league's best halfbacks this season, racking up 1,135 yards and 13 touchdowns in 14 games, averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
The talent was never a question with Cook; it was just his ability to stay healthy, as knee injuries limited him to just 14 games in his first two seasons.
Cook elevated the Vikings' offense to another dimension, and so long as he avoid injury, he will continue to be a force in the years to come.
We also saw Diggs have the most efficient season of his career, hauling in 63 receptions for 1,130 yards and six scores. Think about this: Diggs tallied 1,021 yards on 102 catches in 2018, which shows just how much he developed as a threat this year.
Still, in spite of all of the talent the Vikings had on offense this season, they were unable to vault themselves into the upper echelon of offensive ballclubs.
Sure, Thielen's injury played a role, but Cousins' inability to throw the deep ball and a rather shoddy offensive line were also big factors in Minnesota's lack of offensive dominance.
With the weapons this team has, the Vikings should be one of the top offenses in the league year in and year out, and while Minnesota certainly had its moments in 2019, it just wasn't good enough.
I'll give the Vikings' offense a B grade for this season. Thielen's injury certainly needs to be taken into account, and the fact that Cousins was able to turn things around after such a brutal start is worthy of praise.
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