Post by Purple Pain on Oct 7, 2022 13:27:04 GMT -6
Yep, our seemingly annual "red zone/offensive" woes thread.
Thielen: How Can Kevin O'Connell Fix Minnesota's Red-Zone Offense?
Thought this was an interesting question.
From Purple Insider Mailbag:
Johnson: We're Starting To See A Troubling Trend For the Vikings' Offense
...
Thielen: How Can Kevin O'Connell Fix Minnesota's Red-Zone Offense?
Remember when Mike Zimmer got fired, and we thought the days of conservative offenses and settling for field goals were behind us?
Well, through four games, it seems that assumption was a bit naive.
The Minnesota Vikings’ offensive production has been hot and cold, and they’re clearly still trying to find their rhythm. That’s especially true in the red zone.
Through the first four games, the Vikings are in the bottom third of the NFL in red-zone touchdown-scoring percentages with a fairly abysmal 46%. In London, Minnesota only converted two out of five trips to the red zone into touchdowns against the New Orleans Saints. It feels like a perfect encapsulation of the offense so far. Leaving those points on the field is a killer for a team with a struggling defense.
So, what’s to blame? Is it play-calling, personnel, or execution?
It has not been a hot start to the year for Dalvin Cook. The way Minnesota has called plays, you’d think the Vikings were putting their former workhorse out to pasture. We’ve yet to see any explosive runs of 20-plus yards, and Cook has only one touchdown on the year. There’s already some rumbling about whether he has entered the period of decline that seems inevitable for all running backs.
That’s a bit too hot take-y for my liking.
The running game hasn’t been very consistent, but it’s also been critically neglected. The Vikings only run the ball 35% of the time, which is 28th in the league. For this running game to find a rhythm, it will require more patience from the young head coach.
He cannot neglect the running game in red-zone situations. Running the football on the cusp of the end zone is about toughness and asserting a mentality. But so far, “tough” and “assertive” are not words to describe the 2022 Vikings.
The irony of calling for more running after years of screaming for high-flying passing under Mike Zimmer is not lost on me. I’m not suggesting the Vikings should mimic the Chicago Bears and be afraid to throw the football. But balance is essential for an offense, particularly a Kirk Cousins-led offense, to succeed.
Let’s not confuse more passing with aggressiveness because it seems like the opposite in this case. It may sound counterintuitive, but I’d argue that it shows confidence and determination to pound the rock in the red zone. O’Connell is clearly more secure dialing up the passing game, but it’s to the detriment of his QB and receivers when they’re working with limited real estate. Have faith that your offensive line and star running back can get it done, and then set up your passing game for more balanced opportunities when you can keep defenders guessing.
But it doesn’t all fall on O’Connell’s play-calling or run/pass splits. The execution when the passing touchdown is available needs to be better.
Well, through four games, it seems that assumption was a bit naive.
The Minnesota Vikings’ offensive production has been hot and cold, and they’re clearly still trying to find their rhythm. That’s especially true in the red zone.
Through the first four games, the Vikings are in the bottom third of the NFL in red-zone touchdown-scoring percentages with a fairly abysmal 46%. In London, Minnesota only converted two out of five trips to the red zone into touchdowns against the New Orleans Saints. It feels like a perfect encapsulation of the offense so far. Leaving those points on the field is a killer for a team with a struggling defense.
So, what’s to blame? Is it play-calling, personnel, or execution?
It has not been a hot start to the year for Dalvin Cook. The way Minnesota has called plays, you’d think the Vikings were putting their former workhorse out to pasture. We’ve yet to see any explosive runs of 20-plus yards, and Cook has only one touchdown on the year. There’s already some rumbling about whether he has entered the period of decline that seems inevitable for all running backs.
That’s a bit too hot take-y for my liking.
The running game hasn’t been very consistent, but it’s also been critically neglected. The Vikings only run the ball 35% of the time, which is 28th in the league. For this running game to find a rhythm, it will require more patience from the young head coach.
He cannot neglect the running game in red-zone situations. Running the football on the cusp of the end zone is about toughness and asserting a mentality. But so far, “tough” and “assertive” are not words to describe the 2022 Vikings.
The irony of calling for more running after years of screaming for high-flying passing under Mike Zimmer is not lost on me. I’m not suggesting the Vikings should mimic the Chicago Bears and be afraid to throw the football. But balance is essential for an offense, particularly a Kirk Cousins-led offense, to succeed.
Let’s not confuse more passing with aggressiveness because it seems like the opposite in this case. It may sound counterintuitive, but I’d argue that it shows confidence and determination to pound the rock in the red zone. O’Connell is clearly more secure dialing up the passing game, but it’s to the detriment of his QB and receivers when they’re working with limited real estate. Have faith that your offensive line and star running back can get it done, and then set up your passing game for more balanced opportunities when you can keep defenders guessing.
But it doesn’t all fall on O’Connell’s play-calling or run/pass splits. The execution when the passing touchdown is available needs to be better.
Thought this was an interesting question.
From Purple Insider Mailbag:
@tommydrealty Is the Vikings new offensive system already antiquated because so many other teams run it? I mean even the Rams are struggling with it. Perhaps NFL defenses have seen it so much that it's becoming easy to defend.
There’s probably some truth there, yeah. It’s like how everyone thought that the league would be overtaken by RPOs after the Eagles won and… it wasn’t. There’s always a cat-and-mouse game going on and it seems like the league has found some answers, like using five-man fronts or adjusting assignments to handle pre-snap motions. But when I watched the Vikings’ film from the last two weeks I saw lots of opportunities to get more completions and big plays. Another thing that’s interesting is the performances of Goff/Stafford when they had elite O-lines in the McVay offense vs. when they have below average O-line play. It seems the slow-developing stuff requires great blocking up front and I’m not sure that’s going to be the case for the Vikings on the interior this year. It’s a great question though and something to consider — maybe there will need to be adaptations from KOC as the season goes along.
There’s probably some truth there, yeah. It’s like how everyone thought that the league would be overtaken by RPOs after the Eagles won and… it wasn’t. There’s always a cat-and-mouse game going on and it seems like the league has found some answers, like using five-man fronts or adjusting assignments to handle pre-snap motions. But when I watched the Vikings’ film from the last two weeks I saw lots of opportunities to get more completions and big plays. Another thing that’s interesting is the performances of Goff/Stafford when they had elite O-lines in the McVay offense vs. when they have below average O-line play. It seems the slow-developing stuff requires great blocking up front and I’m not sure that’s going to be the case for the Vikings on the interior this year. It’s a great question though and something to consider — maybe there will need to be adaptations from KOC as the season goes along.
Johnson: We're Starting To See A Troubling Trend For the Vikings' Offense
The Minnesota Vikings are 3-1. However, judging by the fan discourse, you’d think they were 1-3 and bound to miss the playoffs. It’s an interesting phenomenon. Still, there has to be a reason the Vikings are winning but don’t look good doing it, right?
It comes down to the sputtering offense, which is Kevin O’Connell’s area of expertise. They’re just not capitalizing on defensive and special teams turnovers. It’s uncanny how many opportunities they’ve wasted.
On the surface, the offense is the strength of the team. Justin Jefferson is a top-five receiver, Dalvin Cook is one of the best backs, the offensive line is finally competent, and Kirk Cousins is, well, Kirk Cousins. But they aren’t playing at peak performance, and it’s pretty apparent where they are falling short.
It comes down to the sputtering offense, which is Kevin O’Connell’s area of expertise. They’re just not capitalizing on defensive and special teams turnovers. It’s uncanny how many opportunities they’ve wasted.
On the surface, the offense is the strength of the team. Justin Jefferson is a top-five receiver, Dalvin Cook is one of the best backs, the offensive line is finally competent, and Kirk Cousins is, well, Kirk Cousins. But they aren’t playing at peak performance, and it’s pretty apparent where they are falling short.
I’m not saying it’s the end of the world that this team is settling for field goals every once in a while. But the fact that they cannot capitalize on a turnover or fake punt with a touchdown is deeply uninspiring, especially considering that the offense was supposed to be the strength of this team.
It isn’t all bad, though.
The good news is the defense and special teams have been giving the offense these chances, and something’s gotta give. At some point, this team will have to have a convincing win once they reverse this, right? (…right?)
The defense is in the top half of the league (12) for points allowed while allowing a lot of passing and rushing yards. That’s the identity of Ed Donatell’s bend-but-don’t-break defense. And for once the special teams isn’t bad, specifically the kicking.
For the offense to take over games and seize advantage of the opportunities gifted to them, there are a few aspects of the game they need to clean up. First, it’s the third-down looks. They are 28th in the NFL for converting third downs. And, not to sound like a hater, but it’s because of Cousins.
Cousins has looked far too shaky in the pocket since the Eagles game. In Week 1 he was incredible, but he reverted to the former self that we’ve seen flashes of in Minnesota after he got rocked in Philly. If the offensive line can really step up like they’ve shown they can, they shouldn’t have to be world-beaters.
The red zone offense is their particular weakness. They’re 25th in the league. It’s concerning that Adam Thielen and Irv Smith Jr. just aren’t getting the targets they should in the red zone.
It isn’t all bad, though.
The good news is the defense and special teams have been giving the offense these chances, and something’s gotta give. At some point, this team will have to have a convincing win once they reverse this, right? (…right?)
The defense is in the top half of the league (12) for points allowed while allowing a lot of passing and rushing yards. That’s the identity of Ed Donatell’s bend-but-don’t-break defense. And for once the special teams isn’t bad, specifically the kicking.
For the offense to take over games and seize advantage of the opportunities gifted to them, there are a few aspects of the game they need to clean up. First, it’s the third-down looks. They are 28th in the NFL for converting third downs. And, not to sound like a hater, but it’s because of Cousins.
Cousins has looked far too shaky in the pocket since the Eagles game. In Week 1 he was incredible, but he reverted to the former self that we’ve seen flashes of in Minnesota after he got rocked in Philly. If the offensive line can really step up like they’ve shown they can, they shouldn’t have to be world-beaters.
The red zone offense is their particular weakness. They’re 25th in the league. It’s concerning that Adam Thielen and Irv Smith Jr. just aren’t getting the targets they should in the red zone.
