Mike Zimmer sought balance for his Vikings offense, but the closer Kirk Cousins has gotten to the opponent's end zone, the fewer passes he's thrown through a 2-1 start.
A revamped rushing attack featuring a healthy Dalvin Cook and coordinator Kevin Stefanski pulling the strings has been dominant, especially in the red zone. That's where the Vikings have run for six touchdowns in nine drives, and Cousins has only completed one pass on five attempts for 11 yards and an interception.
That's no typo.
The Vikings' top-10 red-zone attack through three weeks (at 5.3 points per drive) has been many things — schematically creative, elusive and productive. But it has not tested Cousins, instead sending him on more runs (2) near the goal line than completions (1) in three games.
As long as they're successful running, which they have been mostly in two games against the Falcons and Raiders, Zimmer said he sees the pendulum eventually swinging toward Cousins' time to make plays in the red zone.
"It's important that when the field gets shrunk like that, and let's say the ball is on the 10-yard line and you've got 20 yards to throw," Zimmer said, "every window is tighter. So if you can run the ball in, whether they're doubling the receivers or they're playing two-high [safeties], whatever it is, if you can run the ball in there, that's more power to you. It just makes it tougher."
"Then, like everything else, they'll start getting into single-high [safety] and zeros down there, and you have opportunities to throw the ball."
Zimmer's mettle will be tested Sunday in Chicago, where the Bears' fifth-ranked run defense is allowing just 68.7 yards per game.
1. Coordinator Kevin Stefanski called 11 runs to one pass in the red zone on Sunday against the Raiders, meaning Cousins didn't have to do much in the critical area a week after his game-losing interception in Green Bay. It worked, so why not? Three players ran for three touchdowns, furthering a lethal start for the Vikings' second-ranked rushing attack (193.7 yards/game) this season.
Stefanski turned to the screen game against a Raiders defense that has slower linebackers in Vontaze Burfict and Tahir Whitehead. And that's what he dialed up for Cousins' only red-zone pass on Sunday.
On a second-and-9 play from the Raiders' 13-yard line, the Vikings' call is one that works well against an Oakland defense playing a lot of man-to-man coverage. Tight end Irv Smith Jr. (#84) runs a wheel route into the end zone, clearing out Raiders linebacker Nicholas Morrow (#50). Play action further draws the defense's attention away from tight end Kyle Rudolph (#82), who blocks for a second and turns to catch the screen pass. Center Garrett Bradbury (#56) creates some room with a block downfield.
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2. Creativity can go a long way toward gaining a yard, and Vikings fans should like what they've seen so far from the playbook in the red zone. We've seen fullback C.J. Ham running a wheel route, ghost motion (fake jet sweep), and play action — on the same play. There was the clear-out play in Green Bay, where Dalvin Cook got busted for making a little too much contact to clear the area where Stefon Diggs came underneath for a 3-yard touchdown catch. In many cases, that has gone uncalled.
Against the Raiders on Sunday, we also saw receiver Adam Thielen sneak a 1-yard touchdown run. There were many productive elements here, including the play design and tempo. Cousins hurried the offense up to the line and snapped the ball with 13 seconds left on the play clock, catching the Raiders off guard with a two-step shuffle backward and handoff to Thielen.
Watch Diggs (#14) run the ghost motion (fake jet sweep), with the snap right as he crosses Cousins. Instead of turning right to hand off to Diggs, Cousins turns left and hands to Thielen with left guard Pat Elflein pulling in front of him on the counter run. This includes two elements of misdirection — the ghost motion to right and stretch run to left — leaving Thielen to just beat Raiders safety Karl Joseph to the goal line.
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3. Matchup to watch Sunday in Chicago: The Vikings are the NFL's No. 1 outside rushing offense, with more runs called to the left (20) and right (16) edges than any team through three weeks.
The Vikings' problem is teams haven't even really tried to run on the edges against the Bears' Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd. In Chicago's three games, they've allowed just seven yards on 11 edge runs (a whopping 0.63 yards per run), according to the NFL's Game Statistics and Information System.
The Bears also have yet to see a running back like Dalvin Cook, who was dynamic against the Raiders. Cook shed eight Raiders tacklers on Sunday, making them look silly and him the NFL's second-most elusive back with 18 broken tackles in three games behind only the Jets' Le'Veon Bell (24), according to Pro Football Focus.
It'll be strength against strength in Chicago as Cook (375 yards) enters Sunday the NFL's leading rusher, because of plays like this 15-yard video game simulation below.
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4. Eric Kendricks called the pairing of Linval Joseph and Shamar Stephen a "linebacker's dream" this offseason, and Sunday's game must have been what he envisioned.
Kendricks had five — five! — run stops playing like a man possessed, but it must have been one of his easiest Sundays in the NFL. Kendricks was barely touched on four of his five stops, left unblocked by a Raiders interior line more focused on Joseph and Stephen. Oakland's interior was no match while left guard Richie Incognito returned from injury to make his first start and right guard Gabe Jackson remains sidelined.
This Kendricks stop came on a fourth-and-1 play in the third quarter, just three plays after a flip toss to Raiders running back Josh Jacobs went for an 18-yard gain on an earlier fourth down.
Kendricks said the Vikings expected a Raiders downhill power after faking it moments earlier with the flip.
Watch defensive end Danielle Hunter (#99) toss 320-pound Raiders tackle Brandon Parker (#75) aside, creating the opening for Hunter and Kendricks to stuff Jacobs at the line.
"They ran power flip earlier, figured they'd have to run that power — and really run it," Kendricks said. "We were aggressive, knew we had it stopped. We were down there, we just knew what we did — it was really fun."
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5. What's going on with the Stefon Diggs connection? With three catches in six games, it's the quietest stretch of his NFL career.
Diggs didn't have much of a problem with Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley, but it must've been a frustrating day for the Vikings receiver as he saw just three catches on three targets for 15 yards.
Diggs gained more yardage (20) in penalties drawn on Conley, including defensive holding and a face mask.
That's not counting this third-and-2 play below. Watch Diggs, aligned at the 20-yard marker at the top of the video, beat Conley on a sluggo route. Diggs throws his arm up when he goes vertical and the Raiders safety starts to leave his area. Diggs either trips or is dragged down by Conley, which is not flagged.
Diggs saw plays go elsewhere, including Cousins' 10-yard scramble for a first down early in the game. Watch Diggs appear open quickly running a curl route on the left side of the screen, but Cousins chooses to run.
On this first down below, watch Diggs and Thielen at the top of the formation. This play-action pass sees each receiver run vertical routes, however Thielen gets knocked down while wading through traffic trying to leak out of the run side of the play. Cousins still ends up throwing an incompletion Thielen's way.
Diggs doesn't generate much separation, but he might've been the best option on this play while throwing his arm up near the Raiders' 45-yard line.