With Memories of Their Last Playoff Exit Still Fresh, Vikings Aren't Satisfied With One Win

The Vikings won an emotional game against the Saints on Sunday, but they're thinking bigger.

EAGAN, Minn. — Dalvin Cook didn't feel like celebrating.

As teammates mobbed Kyle Rudolph, who had just caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime, Cook turned and walked away from the chaos. He wanted to get going on his postgame routine, which includes media obligations and brief conversations with opposing players. He was elated, of course, that his team had just stunned the heavily-favored Saints in their building to advance to the next round of the playoffs. Cook had played a big role in the victory, with 130 yards from scrimmage and two rushing touchdowns.

But he didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment. Within seconds of the game ending, Cook had already turned his focus to the future. That was clear during his first postgame task, an interview with Westwood One radio. “Remarkable, man,” Cook said through heavy breaths. “They doubted us. That’s just the start of something special.”

A pair of upper-body injuries slowed Cook during the second half of the regular season. He spent a lot of time in the training room to prepare himself and his body for this Sunday in New Orleans, his first NFL playoff game. In the biggest game of his life, he handled 31 touches – the third-heaviest workload of his professional career – to help lead his team to a win. As he stood there doing the interview, the stunned home crowd still processing what had happened, none of that was important. He was looking ahead.

“I’m ready to go,” Cook told Westwood One. “We gotta go to San Fran next week. That’s what we on right now.”

He finished his on-field routine and walked back to the visiting locker room. As Kirk Cousins broke out the “you like that” line once again, Cook enjoyed the moment with the rest of his team. He spoke to local beat reporters. He decompressed. The whole time, his mind was on what it will take to do it again.

“I was cheering, but I knew we’ve got to go play San Fran,” Cook said on Tuesday. “That’s a tough team. Right after [the game ended], I was keyed in and ready to go. If you heard me after the game, I said, ‘That’s just one. That’s just one down.’”

Cook, like many of his teammates, remembers what happened the last time the Vikings won an emotional playoff game against the Saints. A week after the Minneapolis Miracle, they visited the NFC’s top seed, the Eagles, and were embarrassed in a 38-7 loss. That game left a bad taste in the mouth of everyone in a Vikings uniform. And with 14 of the 22 starters from that night in Philadelphia still around, Cook wasn’t the only one who was in a less-than-celebratory mood on Sunday.

“A lot of the guys that are here were here before, and so I feel like they’re a veteran team, they understand,” Mike Zimmer said. “We actually had a couple of guys saying, ‘hey, calm down’ in the locker room. We got to get ready to go play again. So I’m hopeful.”

Cook was not one of those 14 starters from the NFC title game; he was out with a torn ACL that cost him the vast majority of his rookie season. But he was there that night. He was around that week. And he believes that as the 2019 Vikings head to take on the NFC’s top seed – the 49ers, this time – they can avoid the same fate that befell them two years ago.

“This is a different team,” Cook said. “We’ve got a different identity, a different approach, different guys in the locker room, different mindset. We have to leave that in the past and know it’s a whole new group, a bunch in here that’s ready to go fight in any environment.”

The Vikings had a different quarterback then, too. One of the reasons why the franchise moved on from Case Keenum and guaranteed Kirk Cousins $84 million across three years was that they felt Cousins could get them over the hump. Things haven’t exactly gone to plan during the two seasons since then, with the Vikings missing the playoffs in 2018 and entering as the No. 6 seed this year.

Cousins, as the Vikings expected, has proven to have a higher ceiling than his predecessor. His 107.4 passer rating during the regular season was nine points better than Keenum’s 2017 figure and narrowly beat out 2009 Brett Favre for the second-best in franchise history (trailing only 2004 Daunte Culpepper). But that’s not why he was brought to Minnesota. He was brought here to win playoff games. And on Sunday, for the first time in his career, he did just that. Cousins got the job done in a huge moment, delivering two perfect throws in overtime to topple the Saints and potentially re-write the narrative of his career.

The keyword there is potentially. Cousins is a veteran and a self-aware guy. He knows that for as well as he played on Sunday, he has to go prove it again. He knows that his late-game heroics won’t mean much towards his reputation and legacy if he puts up a dud in the Bay Area. He wasn’t around for the heartbreak of two years ago, but he knows how important it is to move on quickly in the NFL.

“You get right back to work, you know?” Cousins said. “We were in yesterday, watching tape, talking about the plan, and today again. You just get in your routine. You just get right back into it like you do Weeks 1 through 17.”

Then there are the guys who played in those two games in January 2018. The top three pass-catchers – Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen and Rudolph – are still around. Two of the starting offensive linemen are the same. Most notably, nine of the 11 starters on the 2017 defense are still Vikings. That defense allowed the fewest points (15.8) and yards (275.9) per game in the NFL. After a strong start against the Saints, it struggled in the second half. Then it disappeared completely a week later, giving up 31 points and 456 yards to the Eagles offense.

Two years later, the Vikings' defense has regressed a bit. That wasn’t apparent on Sunday, as the unit flexed its muscles against the Saints, holding Drew Brees and the NFC’s best offense to 20 points. This is still a veteran defense with talent on all three levels, led by one of the league’s wisest defensive minds in Zimmer. It’s a prideful, veteran group that doesn’t want to be embarrassed again.

“I think we’re gelling at the right time,” said Everson Griffen, the Vikings’ longest-tenured player. “We have to be able to carry it over. Can we do it again this week? Can we play better? Because that’s what it’s going to take to be able to win this game. We have to be able to go into Levi’s Stadium, go out there and play better than we did last week.”

“It all starts with practice, just going out there and being smart in practice, doing the right things and trying to gameplan the right way,” Griffen said of avoiding another letdown. “I think right now, during the season, it’s more about the mental part of the game.”

The defense has a tall task ahead against a 49ers offense that finished second in scoring and fourth in total yards during the regular season. Jimmy Garoppolo, George Kittle and a potent rushing attack are well-rested and will have home-field advantage. These Vikings are well aware of the challenge. Even after a win over a Saints team that had championship-level talent, they aren’t taking anyone lightly.

They remember two years ago. They remember how it felt to go from the ultimate highs to the lowest of lows. They’re not satisfied with just one playoff win. That’s why Cook didn’t bother to celebrate on the field after Rudolph’s catch. It’s why veterans were telling others to settle down in the postgame locker room.

This team is thinking bigger.

“This is the playoffs,” said Danielle Hunter. “Some guys have been in this league X amount of years and they’ve never been to the playoffs, so it’s an experience where we know we have to be focused. This opportunity doesn’t come around often.”