Minnesota’s Mixed Bag: What Went Right and…
While it certainly felt like a lot more went wrong for the Vikings in their 12-7 win over the Jaguars than went right, upon a closer look at the numbers, that’s not exactly the case. So let’s dive into everything we can take away from one of the stranger Vikings victories…
What went right
TJ Hockenson is always open
It’s like he never left. The Vikings star tight end was targeted nine times and caught eight passes for 72 yards. He was particularly good in the middle of the field, making four receptions for 48 yards.
“Those third down catches, working the intermediate area, the big 26-yarder where he got in the middle of the field against man coverage where so much was kind of predicated to where Justin [Jefferson] was and how the split safety man coverage was being distributed,” O’Connell said. “It was kind of an on the fly – not a creation, it’s a base part of what we do but not one you would find living on the call sheet anywhere that we kind of talked about and wanted to get. T.J. going that way and just great execution, throw and run after catch.”
Pass protection
The offensive line had one of their best games of the year in pass pro. No linemen graded lower than a 65 by PFF, Blake Brandel and Brian O’Neill were both over 80. O’Neill pitched a shutout with zero QB pressures allowed. Cam Robinson gave up six but none of them were QB hits or sacks (and he still graded a 71.6, which means some of the pressures may have been due to the QB). Overall Darnold faced pressure on just 15 of 42 drop-backs.
One thing playing to the O-line’s favor was that the Jags blitzed just one time the entire game.
Time of possession
The Vikings held onto the ball for 42:19 to Jacksonville’s 17:41. It marked the only time this entire season in the NFL that a team has had the ball for 42 minutes or more. It was the 24th highest time of possession in the NFL (non-overtime) since 2000. Turns out that it was not the slowest scoring output of a club producing 42+ minutes of possession. That was a 6-3 win by the Seahawks over Cleveland in 2011.
Aaron Jones grinding it out
Part of the reason the Vikings owned the time of possession was that RB Aaron Jones wore down the defense. His longest run was only 13 yards, yet he still came away with 5.2 yards per carry, rushing 17 times for 88 yards and 50 of the yards came after first contact. He also was banged up in the game and returned at the end to try to put the Jaguars away.
O’Connell said that Jones’s injury doesn’t appear serious.
“He came in today feeling pretty good, he’s day to day with the ribs,” O’Connell said. “He might be limited early on in the week as we let him get back on his feet, but feeling really good about having him this week.”
Cam Akers and Ty Chandler also ran 17 times combined for 56 yards.
“Cam [Akers] finding some space in there on some runs and showing some really good vision for two weeks in a row now was really big for us,” O’Connell said. “And then felt Ty [Chandler] coming in the second half there and you felt some explosiveness getting downhill. That group as a whole was a real positive for us on a day where we needed to lean on the run game a little bit more than we have up to this point. I was really proud of the way it was a physical grind it out three, four, five yarder kind of day.”
Blake Cashman’s return
The Vikings got their key linebacker back in the mix — though he didn’t have a huge workout, only taking 35 of the team’s 44 defensive snaps. Cashman picked up a sack, two pressures and had three STOPs (PFF stat for tackles on negative offensive plays) to tie for the team lead in that category.
Cashman getting back into the lineup seemed to have a trickle-down effect to the rest of the defense.
“I think having those guys back in there was just a charge of life of what the original – you put all those puzzle pieces together – the original plan,” O’Connell said. “You see it come into fruition where maybe guys aren’t being stretched or stressed outside of their real roles, which are really versatile but when you can get kind of that sweet spot of guys doing the things within the defense and pairing it all together.”
Run defense
Because the game was close, the Jaguars had opportunities to run the ball, they simply had no success in doing so. In total they gained 3.1 yards per carry on 18 rush attempts. One of the runs went for 18 yards. Outside of that it was utter domination by the Vikings’ D.
In particular, Jonathan Greenard was especially active vs. the run. He had three tackles, all created negative plays for the Jags and he got the highest run defense grade on the team.
Taking the ball away
Following the Vikings 3-takeaway game, they are the No. 1 team in the NFL at forcing opponent turnovers. They lead the league with 29 total takeaways, which equates to one on every five of their opponents’ drives. Byron Murphy Jr. got his fourth pick of the season and Cam Bynum got his third.
Though the two picks were both on good plays, the Vikings did get a good-luck fumble recovery for the second week in a row. Last week a simple handoff bounced into their hands and this week Mac Jones fumbled the snap.
New kicker, long snapper
Filling in for Will Reichard, Parker Romo went 4-for-4. He was the lone scorer in the game for the Vikings. Long snapper Jake McQuaide did have one that wasn’t flawless but holder Ryan Wright still got the ball in place for his kicker.
O’Connell said that he shouted out Romo in his speech to the team on Saturday night.
“I said it the night before the game in front of the whole team, that we all had confidence in him and you’re gonna go do your thing,” O’Connell said. “It’s just the same old thing, you’ve done this ten thousand times, but now you’re gonna be doing it to help the Minnesota Vikings win and that’s exactly what he did. Really proud of Park [Parker Romo] for sure. And we’re gonna need him here for a time where we’re not gonna have Will [Reichard], and we’re gonna kick field goals and we’re going to try to take points when we can get them, and I think he’s off to a great start.
