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Washington's Antonio Gibson took advantage of the opportunity laid out in front of him on the NFL's Thanksgiving Thursday schedule to have his breakout game in front of a national TV audience.
The rookie running back found himself in a game between Washington and the Dallas Cowboys that -- due to COVID-19 postponing the Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers primetime contest -- had become the NFL's de facto main event attraction for the holiday.
Gibson, a third-round draft pick out of Memphis who ws fighting for the starting RB job in Washington at the beginning of the season, has now become arguably the focal point of the team's offense. He was the star of the show on Thanksgiving, racking up 115 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in Washington's 41-16 blowout victory.
The three touchdowns gave Gibson a total of 11 rushing touchdowns this season. But he's still just second place in the NFL in that category.
Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook has the most rushing touchdowns in the NFL this season, with 13.
Cook is racking up touchdowns and yards at an NFL-best clip
Cook, who is in his fourth season since coming out of Florida State in 2017, is establishing himself as arguably the best running back in football right now. Entering Week 12, he ranks second in the NFL in rushing yards. Cook's 1,069 yards is just 10 yards behind league leader Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans.
Cook is doing it on fewer carries than Henry, however; Cook has run the ball 201 times versus Henry's 229 attempts. Cook is averaging 5.3 yards per carry, which ranks seventh in the NFL among ball-carriers who have enough attempts to qualify.
And Cook has played one fewer game than Henry. So Cook's 118.8 rushing yards per game is No. 1 in the league, while Henry checks in at 107.9 yards per game.
Cook has had four games this season with multiple rushing touchdowns. Against the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, he ran for three touchdowns and added another receiving touchdown, piling up 226 all-purpose yards.
The next week against the Detroit Lions, Cook rushed for 206 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also had two-TD games against the Packers in Week 1 and the Houston Texans in Week 4.
As the focal point of Minnesota's offense, Cook has helped the Vikings to a 4-6 record. Injuries have been a problem in Cook's relatively short career, but he's missed just one game this season due to injury.
The Vikings are still in contention to make the playoffs this season, but their margin for error is very slim. They'd have to run the table to finish 10-6, and probably won't catch the Packers for the NFC North division title.
Individually, however, Dalvin Cook is having an All-Pro First Team type of season. By the end of it, he might be widely considered the best running back in the NFL.
