EAGAN, Minn. — The most prolific two-game stretch of running the football by any Vikings player has been recognized with back-to-back NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Cook rushed for a career-best 206 yards on 22 carries that included touchdowns of 5 and 70 yards to help Minnesota defeat Detroit 34-20 on Sunday. He added a pair of impressive receptions that totaled 46 yards for a career-best 252 scrimmage yards.
The 206 rushing yards against the Lions, combined with the 163 he posted against Green Bay at Lambeau Field set a team record for combined rushing yards in consecutive games (369).
The mark, which was reached with Adrian Peterson on the opposing sideline, edged out the 366-yard total that Peterson posted as a rookie in 2007 (aided by his NFL single-game record of 296) and duplicated during his 2012 season in which he won NFL MVP honors.
Peterson (six games) and Chuck Foreman (one game) are the only Vikings to rush for at least 200 yards in a game.
Cook is making quite the argument for his MVP candidacy this season. He leads the NFL with 858 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns.
Cook also became just the third player in NFL history to gain at least 225 scrimmage yards and score two or more touchdowns in consecutive weeks, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown in 1963 and Deuce McAllister in 2003.
The fourth-year pro is just the sixth player in NFL history to rush for at least one score in each of his first seven games of a season and first since Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith in 1994.
Cook is the first to win back-to-back NFC Player of the Week honors since Ryan Fitzpatrick did so in Weeks 1-2 of 2018 as a member of the Buccaneers. He is the first non-QB to do so since Todd Gurley II in Weeks 15-16 of 2017 while with the Rams.
"The Chef" is just the fourth player in Vikings history to win back-to-back conference Player of the Week honors, joining the 1998 trifecta of Randall Cunningham (Offense, Weeks 4-5), Mitch Berger (Special Teams, Weeks 11-12) and Randy Moss (Offense, Weeks 12-13).
This is Cook's fourth overall NFC Offensive Player of the Week award.
Minnesota has had 18 different players claim 26 total NFL Player of the Week awards since Head Coach Mike Zimmer's hire in 2014.
On Wednesday afternoon, Cook secured his second consecutive FedEx Ground Player of the Week award thanks to votes by fans.
VIKINGS NAMED NFC PLAYER OF THE WEEK UNDER ZIMMER
Defensive
Anthony Barr, LB
2014, Week 8, at Tampa Bay
Special Teams
Adam Thielen, WR
2014, Week 13, vs. Carolina
Special Teams
Marcus Sherels, PR
2015, Week 8, at Chicago
Defensive
Linval Joseph, DT
2015, Week 9, vs. St. Louis
Defensive
Terence Newman, CB
2015, Week 10, at Oakland
Special Teams
Blair Walsh, K
2015, Week 16, vs. NY Giants
Defensive
Everson Griffen, DE
2015, Week 17, at Green Bay
Defensive
Eric Kendricks, LB
2016, Week 1, at Tennessee
Offensive
Stefon Diggs, WR
2016, Week 2, vs. Green Bay
Defensive
Everson Griffen, DE
2016, Week 3, at Carolina
Defensive
Xavier Rhodes, CB
2016, Week 11, vs. Arizona
Offensive
Sam Bradford, QB
2017, Week 1, vs. New Orleans
Special Teams
Kai Forbath, K
2017, Week 7, vs. Baltimore
Defensive
Harrison Smith, S
2017, Week 16, at Green Bay
Defensive
Harrison Smith, S
2018, Week 1, vs. San Francisco
Defensive
Danielle Hunter, DE
2018, Week 9, vs. Detroit
Offensive
Dalvin Cook, RB
2018, Week 15, vs. Miami
Defensive
Anthony Harris, S
2019, Week 1, vs. Atlanta
Special Teams
Dan Bailey, K
2019, Week 5, at NY Giants
Special Teams
Dan Bailey, K
2019, Week 8, vs. Washington
Offensive
Dalvin Cook, RB
2019, Week 10, at Dallas
Defensive
Danielle Hunter, DE
2019, Week 14, vs. Detroit
Special Teams
Dan Bailey, K
2019, Week 15, at LA Chargers
Special Teams
Mike Boone, RB
2020, Week 4, at Houston
Offensive
Dalvin Cook, RB
2020, Week 8, at Green Bay
Offensive
Dalvin Cook, RB
2020, Week 9, vs. Detroit
