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Last year under John DeFilippo, the Vikings had the second-least explosive offense in football.

Through three weeks of 2019, the Vikings currently have the most explosive offense in football.

Per Sharp Football Stats, the Vikings have recorded an explosive rush (gaining 10+ yards) on 17% of rush attempts, ranking third in the NFL, and have recorded an explosive pass (gaining 20+ yards) on 14% of pass attempts, ranking fourth in the NFL. Combined, the Vikings’ 16% explosive play rate not only leads the NFL — it’s more than double their explosive play rate under DeFilippo last year.

How did they go from second-worst to first?

Dalvin Cook Is Playing Like the Best Running Back In Football

There are a lot of good running backs in the NFL right now, but through three weeks Dalvin Cook has been in a league of his own. Cook currently leads the league in rushing yardage, yards per attempt and PFF grade, each by a wide margin:



Cook also currently leads the league in missed tackles forced in the run game (tied with Le’Veon Bell):

In fact, per Sports Info Solutions, the Vikings’ offense has faced single-high coverage on 75% of plays, ranking second-most in the league.

Part of that stems from Stefanski’s frequent usage of heavier personnel — the Vikings have brought an extra tight end or fullback onto the field on 77% of plays, most in the league by far (for comparison, the 49ers are in a distant second at 61%, and the NFL average is 34%). That heavier personnel gets teams to expect runs and bring extra defenders into the box, freeing up space for routes downfield.

But part of that is also defenses committing extra resources to stop Dalvin Cook. Per Next Gen Stats, Dalvin Cook has faced eight or more defenders in the box the ninth-most of any back with at least ten rush attempts, well above league average.

Stefanski loves to take advantage of those additional box defenders and single-high looks to create explosive plays downfield:



Here the Vikings flood the right side of the field, so that once the single-high safety and deep-third cornerback carry Thielen deep, Diggs is left open in the zone underneath.

But notice how, prior to the snap, Irv Smith Jr. motions from out wide into the box. Not only does that confirm the cover-3 pre-snap read, it also brings another linebacker into the box and out of the play, and furthermore helps sell the play action. That, plus the run-action threat from Cook, gets Diggs open deep, and Kirk places a perfect throw that Diggs reels in for 31 yards (plus another 15 on penalty).

Speaking of Irv Smith Jr., last week he recorded three receptions of 20 or more yards. Each of those receptions was set up by the threat of Dalvin Cook forcing a loaded box and single-high coverage, which Smith Jr. exploited in the seams and to the sidelines. This next play builds off a normal split-zone run, but rather than cutting across the formation to block the defensive end, Smith Jr. instead releases full-speed into the flat. And due to Stefanski’s condensed formation and the outside zone action going the other way, he’s left absolutely wide open:


Smith Jr. showcases his speed and vision here to pick up over 25 yards after the catch and five yards after contact (brought back partially by Chad Beebe’s illegal downfield block), and the play is all set up by the threat of Dalvin Cook’s outside zone sucking every defender the wrong way on the play action.

It’s no secret that the foundation of the Vikings’ explosive run success is Dalvin Cook rushing like a future Offensive Player of the Year award-winner in the new outside zone scheme (which I wrote about earlier this season).

But it has gone relatively unnoticed that the threat Dalvin Cook and the Vikings’ rushing attack poses — forcing single-high coverage, loaded boxes, and extra linebackers to set up play action and attack downfield — has set up Stefanski to capitalize with an equally explosive passing attack. And it’s the fusion of an explosive rushing attack with an explosive passing attack that makes this new offense particularly potent.