The Minnesota Vikings had one of the most frustrating seasons in the NFL due to how close they came to overcoming the impossible and making it into the playoffs with the cards stacked against them.

Unfortunately, the team fell short of this overall goal in the last week of the season, and now it is time to evaluate why the team fell short over the year despite having plenty of talent to make a run in a weak NFC.

The initial look seems to indicate that most of the blame should fall on one decision; Minnesota choosing to move on from star running back Dalvin Cook.

Even before the benefit of hindsight, this looked like one of those moves that had little chance of panning out in the way the team had hoped.

The reasoning was obvious; Cook had taken a small step back as a player and was becoming very expensive to keep on the field. As Alexander Mattison kept playing well in a reserve role, the pass-first Vikings made the decision to let Mattison take over as RB1 and save money by releasing Cook.

The aftermath of this decision immediately hurt the Vikings. Not only was there a steep drop-off in total rushing yards and rushing efficiency, but the total rushing touchdown numbers (four by running backs over the whole year) show a massive downturn in these capabilities.

The Vikings gambled on their franchise star running back to save money and then got a decrease in total rushing yards, rushing efficiency, touchdowns, and total yards by the new RB1.

Cook to Mattison was a disastrous downgrade during a time where the Vikings were primed to take control of their division, a fact that is epitomized by the number of one-score games Minnesota lost this year.

The Vikings lost eight games this year by one score or less. Would a legitimate rushing threat have made a difference in at least a few of those affairs by giving the Vikings a safer option in the red zone and more control of the football? One has to think.

Given the fact that the season came down to missing out on one or two wins, it seems very likely that a much better running threat would’ve moved those results in Minnesota’s favor.

Now, the Vikings got to see their season end in disappointing fashion and have a glaring need at running back.