Mattison vs. Chandler

@acarey05 What’s it going to take for KOC to give Chandler the lions share of touches on Monday?

You probably just saw it last week. The combination of the fumble with the fact Chandler showed that he could handle a bigger workload and be a legit difference maker was likely enough to have him take a bigger share of the carries. I’ve never talked to anyone who didn’t love Alex Mattison but Chandler’s explosiveness gives them a real weapon back there and it’s time to use that weapon.

@mardelicious23 Which Vikings running game was worse 2016 or 2023? 2023 seems worse imo, because it has the potential to be better, but feels like an equal part of the issue is OConnell/Phillips inability to scheme the run properly and the fact that they never utilize CJ Ham on short yardage

The 2016 running game was worse. Literally painful. The best runner they had was Cordarrelle and they never gave him the ball. They could certainly mix in a helping of Ham from time to time. It’s definitely a trust issue with the run game and maybe overcomplicating things at times. On third-and-1, it’s OK to just run behind Christian Darrisaw and get a yard or throw a quick pass into the flat to Osborn or Addison for three yards. The third-and-1 late in the first half had a bunch of routes going 10-15 yards and one underneath option. If Dobbs hit the right guy it would have been a great play but maybe just trying a little too hard.

Jeff A… Why doesn't Kene Nwangwu get a chance at running back?

When they came into training camp it looked like he was going to get a chance to earn some playing time but he got hurt and missed a ton of time. I’m sure that impacted his season quite a bit. Wes Phillips did a good job of explaining the intricacies that go into that position, from pass protection to routes to running in the right places to fit the play design. If the coaches don’t trust the back to have all of that stuff locked in then they won’t play them. There hasn’t been a lick of interest from O’Connell in putting him on the field, which means that one of the aforementioned factors concerns them. Otherwise a guy of his speed and size would be out there. Just like with Chandler sitting the bench for most of this year, I think we can totally understand where the staff is coming from and also say… what about a couple plays just to get the ball in his hands?

Adam… The 2022 campaign saw an absolutely abysmal defense with a glaring need for change in-season. The 2023 campaign is seeing a viable solution (Chandler) to a stagnant running game (Mattison) in season. This is not a knock on Mattison, but my question is: Is KOC’s biggest downfall that he’s *too* loyal?

If I was playing one of those old gameshow games with O’Connell where you try to guess the other person’s answer to a question and the question was “what’s your biggest regret as a head coach so far?” the answer would have to be sticking with Ed Donatell. It was so clear early on in the season that it wasn’t working and wasn’t going to change. It’s really hard to fire someone when the team is winning but with Mike Pettine there on staff they could have at least turned it over to him and given themselves a chance.

I’m not sure that totally correlates to the Mattison situation. Based on what we saw in the past, it made sense to try Mattison at RB1 after Cook and give Chandler and Nwangwu the opportunity to win rotational jobs in camp. When Chandler wasn’t ready and Nwangwu got hurt, they traded for a guy who was about as good as you will find on the trade market after the season starts in Cam Akers. He was a shade more quick but still ended up with the same yards per carry. There have been some obvious times on tape where Chandler didn’t have the right assignment, which rightfully would worry them. Now that they have seen him handle more, it should be time for him to take the majority of the snaps.

Worth mentioning they also made the guard change rather than sticking with that situation.

To your point, when Zimmer sent kickers and OCs packing (or had one quit), we wondered if he overreacted. If KOC doesn’t make immediate changes, we’ll wonder if he’s too nice.

Before we start, everyone just... chill out a bit. Alexander Mattison has been the object of a lot of ire over the last few weeks, and I want to dive into the topic. I get it, it's emotional, but this should be a place where we can all feel comfortable discarding our preconceived notions.

So let's leave our assumptions at the door and start from Zero. There is no "you're an idiot if you don't think this guy is better," no obvious answers, nothing that isn't worth checking in on. Let's start from scratch and try to watch some running backs.

To do this, we'll first go over the basics of running back reads, then look at a bunch of Mattison plays followed by a bunch of Chandler plays.