Vikings Film Room: Kevin O’Connell uses space really well

The Vikings’ offense is creative and uses space really well

The Minnesota Vikings new offensive scheme under head coach Kevin O’Connell does a really nice job of utilizing space.

The college game has started to come to the NFL over the last few years with the spread offense and air raid concepts becoming more and more rampant.

One of the main ways that these offenses thrive in college is by utilizing space. In college, the hash marks are twice as wide on each side. Using the wide side of the field is an easy way to give your playmakers the football in space and let them be creative after the catch.

In the NFL, offenses are doing the same, but in a less extreme capacity. Head coach Kevin O’Connell is doing a great job utilizing space and letting K.J. Osborn work.

The Vikings put three wide receivers to the far side with Osborn in the slot. With the near side being the short side, Osborn has a lot of room to work with. He also has two blockers to seal the outside and allow him to get upfield quickly.

These concepts are simple in nature but a great way to potentially eat up chunks of yardage without any real risk.

Vikings Film Room: 8 plays that show Ed Ingram’s upside

Despite a rough game, there were still plays that showed Ed Ingram’s potential

After selecting Ed Ingram in the second round out of LSU, the early returns were that the Vikings had a real solution at right guard. He was excellent in the preseason and provided average guard play to start the season.

Things weren’t so great this past week against the Arizona Cardinals.

He allowed a team-high six pressures and was responsible for two sacks on Sunday with arguably a third that should have been attributed to him.

Despite the rough performance both this week in general and against stunts, there were plenty of reasons to be excited for his future as he learns on the job. Here are eight plays that show that Ingram is still the guy for the future.

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Za’Darius Smith named NFC Defensive Player of the Week

Smith was dominant against the Cardinals on Sunday

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With a performance like Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith had, it should come as no surprise that he was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for week eight against the Arizona Cardinals.

Smith was nothing short of spectacular against the Cardinals. Per PFF, Smith had four pressures, three sacks and three quarterback hits.

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His success was due to two main factors: his dominant play and the attention that the Cardinals offense paid to Danielle Hunter. They refused to let Hunter beat them by sending constant double teams his way as well as tight ends and running backs to chip away at him in. That paved the way for Smith to have a banner day.

Going into week nine, Smith is tied for the lead league in sacks with 8.5 on the season. He is the second Viking to win a player of the week award with Greg Joseph in week four winning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

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Vikings vs Cardinals PFF grades come in looking great

The Vikings PFF grades look great after Sunday’s game

The Minnesota Vikings are one of two teams in the National Football League that are 6-1 and the other is their opponent in two weeks the Buffalo Bills.

They did so against the Arizona Cardinals, dropping them to 3-5 on the season with a 34-26 lead.

The PFF grades are in from the Vikings’ win on Sunday and they are reflective of their excellent performance.

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Vikings Week 8 snap counts: Brian Asamoah sees 3 snaps, OL doesn’t miss a snap

The snap counts from Sunday don’t have a lot of surprises

The Minnesota Vikings found a way to beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday by a score of 34-26.

Throughout the game, there weren’t a lot of backups that played in the game. This has been a trend throughout the season, especially with how good the Vikings injury luck has been this season.

Despite all of this, there are a few interesting takeaways from Sunday’s snap counts.

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Best photos from Vikings 34-26 win over the Cardinals

Sunday’s game provided some great photos

The Minnesota Vikings honored Jared Allen in a major way in beating the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 34-26 on Sunday.

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All three phases had stretches of brilliance on Sunday with the offense having the most success of the three.

With the win, the Vikings improved to 6-1 on the season and have now won the last 11 games against the Cardinals in Minnesota.

Throughout the day, there were some tremendous photos taken to capture the day. Here are the best of the best.

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Zulgad: Za’Darius Smith’s sack surge continues as veteran outperforms contract

From @jzulgad: The Vikings’ top free-agent addition has been massively outperforming his contract

Za’Darius Smith’s bruised knee was aching, he already had two sacks and yet Kevin O’Connell had one more request of the veteran outside linebacker late in the Vikings’ 34-26 victory over Arizona on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

With the clock ticking down and the Cardinals trying to put together a last-minute scoring drive, the Vikings’ coach told Smith, “I need one more.”

Smith didn’t disappoint.

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Arizona, facing a second-and-10 with the ball at the Vikings’ 37-yard line, was unable to stop Smith from getting to Kyler Murray for a 7-yard sack that essentially ended the game, earned Smith a Game Ball and helped the Vikings improve to 6-1.

It also continued to make the Vikings’ decision to sign Smith to a three-year, $42 million deal last spring look like one of the better moves made in free agency. Smith, who spent plenty of time tormenting the Vikings the past three seasons as a member of the Packers, came with a risk that more than a few teams didn’t want to take.

He played in only one regular-season game in 2021, undergoing back surgery in September after an attempt to rehab the injury in training camp didn’t work. The 30-year-old returned for the Packers’ playoff loss to San Francisco and had a sack in the game, but Green Bay decided to cut Smith in March. He appeared headed back to his first NFL team, the Baltimore Ravens before that deal fell apart.

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The exact details of why Smith ended up in Vikings purple instead of Ravens purple remains a bit of a mystery but no one in Minnesota is complaining. Smith’s three sacks on Sunday put him among the NFL leaders with 8.5 on the season, five coming in the past two games.

Smith is no stranger to the 3-4 defensive scheme the Vikings adopted this season and his comfort with moving around and applying pressure from different spots has made him difficult to block.

The mobile Murray became the latest quarterback to find this out.

“It’s huge because it’s really hard to have a protection plan for a guy that can be in any one of five spots up front,” O’Connell said. “We can use him to manipulate the protection call, if we want. We can use him to try to isolate somebody in protection, if we want.”

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Smith’s got his first sack on the final play of the first quarter with the Cardinals trying to convert on third down. His second sack came on a second-and-11 with the ball at midfield, turning it into a fourth-and-impossible. Smith had to leave the field late in the opening half when he bruised his knee but he was out for the start of the third quarter. He limped off the field again after the last play of that quarter but quickly returned.

“I went down on my knee,” he said. “I don’t know if everyone knew about it, but I had a slight little knee injury week two or week three but fell on it and I felt it, but it went away. Came back out there as you can see.”

Smith’s presence on the field is important because it appears teams have decided to put their focus on trying to stop pass-rushing linebacker, and defensive end, Danielle Hunter. Hunter has only three sacks in seven games this season after recording six in seven games last season before a torn pectoral muscle forced him out.

Smith, meanwhile, is aiming to surpass the career-high 13.5 sacks he had in 2019 with Green Bay. He followed that with 12.5 sacks the next season.

Smith’s production also is coming at a bargain rate. His base salary is only $1.45 million this season, according to Over The Cap, and his salary-cap hit is $3.2 million.

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The Vikings could be in a position to save substantial cap space by cutting Smith before either of the next two seasons, but his current production makes that unlikely. His base salary for 2023 is $9.45 million with a $14.2 million cap hit and that goes up to $14.45 million with a cap hit of $21.7 million for the final year of the deal in 2024.

Smith and the Vikings aren’t worried about that at this point. Not with the Vikings sitting five games above .500 but still trying to get recognized. Smith said he hates “that people are still not talking about us,” but that could change in the coming weeks. The Vikings will play at Washington next Sunday before facing the Bills, who many expect to make it to the Super Bowl, on Nov. 13.

A Vikings defense that has done plenty of bending, but little breaking will need to continue to have chemistry in those two games. Smith, whose upbeat personality has brought a breath of fresh air to a roster that needed it, acknowledged that is part of the reason for the Vikings’ success.

“I feel like it’s the chemistry, just off the field,” he said. “When we get a chance to be with each other off the field, it can be the little things, playing a game with each other. If we continue to do that and learn each other’s weakness and what we’re good at and have coach see it and give us an opportunity to go and beat our one-on-ones, we can be a great football team. As you can see, 6-1, it’s a great feeling.”

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The Minnesota Vikings are in control of the NFC North by a large margin

The Vikings are in control of their own destiny by a large margin

The Minnesota Vikings beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon by a score of 34-26 but the winning for the franchise didn’t stop there.

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Also on Sunday, the Vikings saw the Chicago Bears lose to the Dallas Cowboys 49-29, the Detroit Lions lose to the Miami Dolphins 31-27 and the Green Bay Packers lose to the Buffalo Bills 27-17.

The events of week eight have given the Vikings an astounding 3.5-game lead in the NFC North. While this lead feels insurmountable, there are still 10 games left in the season for the Vikings.

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The magic number for the Vikings is seven, as a combined seven wins and Packers or Bears losses would give the purple and gold their first division title since 2017. It would also snap a three-year winning streak for the Packers.

The Vikings are on the road for games against the Washington Commanders and the Buffalo Bills before hosting three consecutive home games. The Vikings have a real chance to clinch the division before Pearl Harbor day if things continue at the pace they currently are.

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Kevin O’Connell updates on injured players from Sunday’s win

It appears that the Vikings avoided the worst with their injuries on Sunday

The Minnesota Vikings improved their record to 6-1 with a 34-26 win over the Arizona Cardinals and they got a little banged up throughout the game.

Adam Thielen and Za’Darius Smith both injured their knees during the game. Thielen hit the ground hard in the first quarter and Smith banged knees with Harrison Phillips. Both players returned to the game but Smith was rotated in and out of the game.

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During his postgame press conference, head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke about the injuries the Vikings suffered on Sunday, which included defensive end Dalvin Tomlinson and tight end Irv Smith Jr.

Both Tomlinson (calf) and Smith Jr. (ankle) were sent to get MRIs on their respective injuries. Late Sunday night, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert gave an update where the Vikings believe that they avoided the worst with Tomlinson’s injury.

Throughout the week, they will be monitored and how much they practice this week will go a long way to determining if they will play on Sunday against Washington.

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Studs and Duds from Week 8 vs Cardinals

There were more studs than duds during week 8

The Minnesota Vikings found a way to beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday by a score of 34-26 but they did not make it easy on themselves.

They set themselves up for success but also did the same for the Cardinals throughout the game, including a strip-sack of quarterback Kirk Cousins that kept the game close.

Throughout the game, there were numerous performances that were both great and poor. Here are this week’s studs and duds.