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They traded Yannick Ngakoue last week and announced that Danielle Hunter was out for the season. But Mike Zimmer's teams play hard, and the Vikings' performance in a win against the Packers was a nice reminder of that. Cook ran for 163 yards, while Kirk Cousins completed just 11 passes as Minnesota pulled off the upset. Not to get anyone's hopes up, but the Vikings' next give games -- Lions, at Chicago, Cowboys, Panthers, Jaguars -- are all winnable.

Winning at Green Bay, with a soft schedule coming the next five weeks, gives them some hope. Not much, but some.

Pretty simple formula -- give RB Dalvin Cook 25 touches, and Minnesota is going to win. When Vikes haven't met that threshold this year? Welp …

Reason for optimism: RB Dalvin Cook

The type of heroic performance Cook turned in against Green Bay is the reason the Vikings paid him this offseason. The running back has shown he is unstoppable when healthy, and if Minnesota wants to string together victories and get back into contention, it needs to commit to running its offense through Cook. It did so in Week 8, with Cook scoring a touchdown on each of the Vikings' first four possessions, the first time a player has achieved that feat since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Keep feeding Cook and those accolades will continue and likely translate to wins. -- Courtney Cronin

Dalvin Cook was an absolute monster on Sunday at Lambeau Field, accounting for 226 yards of offense and all four of the Vikings' touchdowns in a 28-22 upset win over the Packers. Cook put on a clinic, gaining 111 of his 163 rushing yards after contact. It allowed the Vikings to effectively hide Kirk Cousins, who entered Sunday on pace to potentially join Jameis Winston in the 30/30 Club for touchdowns and interceptions. Cousins' longest pass of the game covered 8 air yards. With Cousins effectively muzzled, Mike Zimmer's defense closed the game out with a crushing hit on Aaron Rodgers on the game's final play that resulted in a fumble recovery. A win that brought some good spirit to a locker room in need.