2. Blake Cashman’s tackle streak
The Vikings “Green Dot” LB is stuffing the stat sheet like a Thanksgiving turkey.
In a six-game span since he returned from Injured Reserve in Week 7, the Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native, and lead communicator on defense – the quarterback of that unit, if you will – has 71 tackles.
His GPS for the ball has pinned efforts of 16, 15 and 14 tackles in November alone. The former tally, which he manufactured last Sunday at Lambeau Field, reset his highwater mark in 21 games as a Viking.
On Tuesday this week, Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores recognized Cashman has done a “fantastic” job dispensing calls, setting up fronts and leading the defense overall. Flores said, “He’s obviously playing at a very good level (but) there’s still plays there, that we’re sitting there going, ‘Hey, you can make this one, this one and this one,’ so there’s still [room for] improvement there. … But that’s for me, as well.
“I’m glad we have him. He does a lot of really good things for us,” Flores added. “He creates some problems for [offenses] with his ability to blitz and play in coverage and tackle. I love that we have him.”
Cashman led Minnesota in 2024 with 112 tackles despite missing three games due to injury. And although he was sidelined four games early this year, he’s currently tied for the 2025 team lead with 74.
His five games in a row with 10-plus tackles is the longest active streak in the NFL and tied with Eric Kendricks, who managed the same over parts of two seasons, for the top run by a Viking since at least 1994, per Pro Football Reference (when teams started unofficially, but consistently recording tackles).
The only other NFL players with such a streak this season are 10-time Pro Bowl LB Bobby Wagner of the Commanders and second-year 49ers LB Tatum Bethune. Gold Jackets Zach Thomas and Ray Lewis are two of four players tied atop the leaderboard with eight-game streaks of double-digit tackles, by the way.