Vikings Run Game

As I broke down the film of the loss, the lack of runs was the most striking aspect, but there was also this: the Vikings were in shotgun almost exclusively on first down. By my count, Minnesota had 26 first-down plays, and 21 were out of shotgun. While running the football out of the shotgun can be done — many teams are using the formation more and more — it is less effective than runs that begin with the quarterback under center. For one, the running back is usually offset, which means his angles, reads, and timing with the offensive line is automatically off schedule. More important, the effectiveness of play action takes a huge hit.

Let me explain why shotgun hurts the Vikings, and in particular quarterback Kirk Cousins.

Cousins came into the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick with Washington. His first head coach was Mike Shanahan, and his offensive coordinator was a very young Kyle Shanahan. Both father and son had previous success turning average quarterbacks into good quarterbacks, and good quarterbacks into Pro Bowl selections. They had managed to create offenses that gave Brian Griese, Jake Plummer, Matt Schaub and many others (including me) the best years of their careers. Mike had also helped John Elway finally win two Super Bowls at the tail end of his Hall of Fame career.

The foundation of each of these offenses was the zone running scheme, both inside and outside zone. Because those offenses didn’t have a ton of various running concepts, the offensive line, tight ends, and running backs became masters of these runs because they knew the precise details of how to be successful against the various fronts that NFL defenses bring to the table each week.

More important, the zone scheme creates a wall of blockers that minimizes defensive line penetration, and the scheme can easily be manipulated into a play-action pass. The initial action by the line, tight ends, running backs and quarterback forces the defensive line and linebackers to play the run first. If the scheme is blocked correctly, the quarterback can have tons of time in the pocket after the fake because defenders can’t simply rush the passer without losing their gap responsibility.

The run action also causes linebackers and safeties to step up and fill those gaps, many times creating large cavities in the middle of the field in front of the deep safeties. On occasion, a safety can get fooled or end up out of position as well, allowing quarterbacks to take deep shots down the field. This zone/play-action scheme doesn’t work nearly as well out of the shotgun formation. Why? First, the angles are off for the running back to effectively run the football. Second, and most important, the time the quarterback extends the ball to the running back after taking the snap from center does two things. It helps the defenders “bite” on the run take, and it also allows the receivers more time to get deeper down the field. Play-action from under center is much more effective than play-action in shotgun, which isn’t much of a fake since the running back is very close to the quarterback.

Running the ball with good play action also helps the passing game. The longer pass protection, and the longer time for receivers to get down the field, pays off in higher yards-per-catch averages for the wideouts. It’s not surprising that Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs are averaging career lows in yards per catch. Thielen currently averages 11.9 yards per catch, yet his previous two seasons had him at 14.0. Diggs is averaging only 10.0, a 3-yard drop from 2017.

The reason I bring this up is that the bulk of Cousins’ game experience was originally in the under-center style of offense. Even as a much younger and less experienced player, he put up big numbers in Washington in this under-center zone running game and play-action scheme.

On Sunday, against one of the NFL’s best franchises, and with a much better overall team around him than what he had in the nation’s capital, Cousins found himself in shotgun on 80 percent of his first-down snaps, negating what originally made him into a solid starting quarterback in the first place. His running back averaged more than nine yards per carry, yet his team was relying on him to go head to head with the greatest quarterback of all time, on the road, in December, and win. This equation simply doesn’t add up to victories, and it didn’t for Cousins and the Vikings on Sunday.

The Vikings are ranked 30th in the league in rushing and 29th in attempts. They finished 2017 ranked seventh in rushing yards and second in rushing attempts. Mike Zimmer’s offense has a similar line as it did a year ago. You could say their running backs are better, with Cook’s mostly healthy second season. Kyle Rudolph is still the starting tight end. Cook and Latavius Murray are both averaging 4.2 yards per carry, which isn’t great but is definitely nothing to be ashamed of.

So what’s the difference? It looks to me like it’s simply the belief by the play caller that passing the football will win the Vikings more games.

Coaches pay attention to their stats and rankings. It’s what gets them their next job or promotion. Offensively, I’ve always felt that total yards is an overvalued stat. Why? Running the football doesn’t traditionally have equal value to passing yards. But … it’s my opinion that the ground game is actually worth at least twice as much.

The Seattle Seahawks have revamped their team as only a few stars remain from their Super Bowl runs. Currently, they are in the mix to make the playoffs despite having one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. Why? They are leading the league in rushing, with 148.8 yards per game. That means more time of possession for the offense. This equates to more time for their young defense to rest on the sideline. It also takes significant pressure off quarterback Russell Wilson, who has spent the past few years running for his life. The Seahawks have a chance to make the playoffs because they run the football well. Do you know who leads the league in passing yards? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

I’m not sure if DeFilippo is trying to rack up big yards so Cousins has a high quarterback rating, or the Vikings are ranked high in offense, or if he thinks throwing the football wins games. Only he knows the answers as to why the Vikings are in shotgun on first down and throwing the ball so much.

What I do know is that Zimmer has a formula for success. He has built this roster with the defense in mind. This means he expects to win low-scoring football games, not to get into high-scoring shootouts.