The day after quarterback Kirk Cousins, running back Dalvin Cook and the Vikings offense cruised through most of the 34-28 overtime win in Carolina, coach Mike Zimmer opened his next press conference with the offensive line, saying the group blocked "very, very well."
That turned back into a problem — among many — in the 20-16 loss to the Cowboys, when Cousins was unable to push the ball downfield due to poor protection and coaching adjustments. He wasn't always accurate, either, despite throwing so shallow on average, his yards per attempt joined some of his worst Vikings moments in past losses to the Bears (2018), Bills (2018), and Packers (2019).
"Well, the pass rush is really good," Zimmer said Sunday night. "They bring a lot of guys, doing a lot of movement up front, twists and games. [Randy] Gregory is disruptive."
Pressure seemed to have a snowball effect, with Cousins and coordinator Klint Kubiak seemingly withdrawing at times. But on Monday, Zimmer rebuffed the notion the offense wasn't aggressive enough. There were more downfield shots called than passes made by Cousins. But the quick-pass approach was foundational, with some deep throws schemed off screen passes to bait an aggressive secondary, and none of it worked often enough.
"The first play of the game, we tried to take a shot. We tried to hit a double move that we didn't connect on," Zimmer said. "We had another, the one with pass interference to Jefferson, when he got hurt, was a deep over route. So, it's not like we don't have those things that we're planning on doing. It's just sometimes they're not working."
A three-play stretch in the third quarter helps to show how poor blocking doomed the Vikings offense, and had lasting effects. This was another rough outing for the interior trio of center Garrett Bradbury, left guard Ezra Cleveland, and right guard Oli Udoh.
1. The Vikings were marching with the score tied 10-10, and finally getting an intermediate connection with receiver Justin Jefferson for 18 yards off play action. They followed with two more plays for 10 yards — a run and play-action pass — and were near the red zone.
Kubiak calls an inside zone run, and Cousins sticks with it against an eight-defender front.
By the time Cook gets the ball, there are major problems up front. Cowboys defensive tackle Carlos Watkins (#91) flows to his left with the offensive line before spinning back on Bradbury (#56), who is not only pushed into the backfield but beat by the spin move.
Then Cleveland (#72) bailed quickly to cut a linebacker, leaving tackle Christian Darrisaw (#71) alone and in bad position on Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (#97). If the play calls for Cleveland to move quickly to the next level, Darrisaw needs to find a way to get the reach block. He doesn't here.
Those two defenders — Watkins and Odighizuwa — meet at Cook in the backfield and force the loss.
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2. It's second and 12. Time for a running play, right? While the Vikings have one of the league's higher run rates on second and long, they tried to take some shots. But many, like this, went nowhere.
This is a quick dropback with a seven-man protection and three vertical routes. The Cowboys load eight defenders into the box, which should provide an advantageous look downfield for either Jefferson (#18) or receiver Adam Thielen (#19).
This protection scheme has Cook and fullback C.J. Ham go right, with the offensive line sliding left. Watch Bradbury in the clip below. Despite the slide left, he's beaten to his left by Cowboys defensive tackle Justin Hamilton (#99) — a matchup Bradbury lost too often.
Cousins immediately ejects with a throwaway. This is why coaches and players talk so much about keeping Cousins clean, because he isn't the type of player to often evade a defensive tackle and make a play. And with Bradbury, his pressures are always allowed quickly as the closest man to the quarterback.
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3. The following third and 12 seemed to have decent protection, but Cousins checked down like he often did against the Cowboys. Perhaps he was feeling the pressure at that point. The Cowboys run an interior stunt with defensive end Tarell Basham (#93) twisting from the outside to the inside behind two teammates. Dallas encourages the incoming checkdown with off coverage on third and long.
The play design only has two routes moving past the sticks on third down, with three underneath options for Cousins. He takes one immediately to tight end Tyler Conklin (#83), despite Bradbury picking up the twist. If Cousins moved to his right, he may have had more time.
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4. Some play calls were just dead in the water. Zimmer described it as "anticipating throws that weren't there." That seemed to be the case when Kubiak called a fake screen inside two minutes left before halftime. Both Thielen (#19) and Jefferson (#18) run interference against defenders before releasing upfield. The problem is the Cowboys are playing off coverage — 7-8 yards off — and there's no one to interfere with.
There needs to be a pre-snap adjustment made by Cousins, or a trust that the underneath target — in this case, Alexander Mattison (#25) — can break a tackle and make something happen. That wasn't the case against Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (#11).
Remember Thielen's 20-yard touchdown? It was a bunch-formation version of this with a fake screen, setting up Thielen's downfield release. That baited Cowboys defensive backs into lurching forward, freeing Thielen. But this is not the look you should want your star receivers running into, as Jefferson is essentially double covered instead of uncovered.
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5. Some plays were just missed. Jefferson should've had the deep ball from Cousins early in the game, but he either didn't see the throw right away or misjudged it in the air and couldn't get underneath that pass. Late in the third quarter, Cousins should've found Thielen for a potentially big catch-and-run situation, but he checked it down.
Notice in the video, Cook (#33) does an excellent job undercutting a big defender in protection. Ham (#30) misjudges Darrisaw's pass set and runs into the left tackle, delaying his release. All while Thielen (#19) is about to get very open behind two Cowboys defenders who jump Ham underneath. Yet Cousins throws it to Ham before seeing Thielen get open.
