Tag: Vikings Film Room

Breaking down Nick Mullens’ game-ending INT, why didn’t he throw to Brandon Powell?

Tyler Forness breaks down the final interception from Nick Mullens and explains why he didn’t throw it to a wide open Brandon Powell

Sometimes when you see an interception thrown my the quarterback, especially one that is a backup like Minnesota Vikings QB Nick Mullens, it’s easy to place the blame on the quarterback. They are the one who makes the decision and throw that results in the interception.

However, it’s not always that simple. Yes, their pass resulted in an interception, but was it bad process? How did the result happen? The full answer lies in the process that Mullens used, especially when you see someone like Brandon Powell wide open with his arms up.

First, let’s talk about the formation. They start in a 3×2 set with Ham motioning in as an extra pass protector. Justin Jefferson is in the inside slot with Brandon Powell between him and K.J. Osborn. Having Jefferson in the slot will give him a free release and that’s key here.

The concept here is dual crossers from the strong side with a Y-cross from the far side with Johnny Mundt. It’s design is to put the safeties in conflict and in doing so, creates an opening for Jefferson at the top of the screen. Jefferson widens his route to create some extra space with the safety up top to make the throw a little easier for Mullens.

The progression has Powell, who runs into the flat as an outlet, essentially meaning that he’s an afterthought of the play. Mullens sees that Jefferson gets open and makes the correct read to get him the football. Unfortunately, the pass comes out of his hand like a wounded duck and it gets intercepted by Ifeatu Melifonwu.

The question that everybody had after the game was: Why didn’t Mullens throw the ball to Powell? The answer is simple.

Jefferson was open for a touchdown.

Yes, it stinks that pass got intercepted. Yes, the throw was bad but the process to make the decision to target Jefferson was smart. A good throw makes this a touchdown. Considering multiple factors, including you need a touchdown to win the game at the end, Mullens used the right process, he just can’t throw up a wounded duck. That is what you get with a backup quarterback at times and it’s beyond frustrating.

When the Vikings look to determine their starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, process is going to be more of a deciding factor than strictly results, but you still have to make the throws.

In conclusion, it’s fine to be mad at the result because of a wonky throw that only happens once out of every 100 attempts, but throwing to Powell for him to only gain 10 yards when the touchdown was there isn’t something worth being mad at. In fact, it would have some fighting against Kevin O’Connell for being “too conservative” as a playcaller.

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Breaking down why the Vikings called a toss sweep to Josh Dobbs

The Vikings called a trick play on the third play of the game and it didn’t work. Tyler Forness breaks down why it didn’t

On the third play of the game, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell called a unique play that didn’t end up working.

Quarterback Josh Dobbs ended up fumbling after cornerback Kareem Jackson speared him, forcing the fumble. The play itself was a gutsy call that has been criticized for not working.

That’s the frustrating thing with play calls. They get criticized when they don’t work and praised when they do. What doesn’t get dissected nearly enough is what the play was designed to do and if the execution is to blame rather than the play call itself.

That’s what we are going to do here. What was the play designed to do and how was the execution?

The All-22: Breaking down all 3 Vikings touchdowns

We broke down all three of the Vikings touchdowns with the all-22

Going into week five, the Minnesota Vikings are sitting with a 1-3 record and two games behind the division leading Detroit Lions.

On Sunday, they beat the Carolina Panthers by a score of 21-13 with three touchdowns scored for the second-consecutive game.

Justin Jefferson didn’t have a touchdown in the first two weeks of the season, but he has exploded over the last two weeks with three touchdowns, including two against the Panthers.

Touchdowns themselves are inherently random in nature, which is why you can see droughts from star players over the course of weeks. When they do happen, understanding the why behind it can help predict how the Vikings will attack in the future.

The all-22 is the best way to look at how the Vikings scored on the Panthers and we broke down all three touchdowns.

Jordan Addison’s route running sets him apart

The Minnesota Vikings drafted an elite route runner and separator in Jordan Addison, and that’s a perfect complement for Justin Jefferson.

The Minnesota Vikings have a really good history of drafting wide receivers in the early 20s. Randy Moss, Percy Harvin and Justin Jefferson were all drafted between pick 21-23. Jordan Addison joins that list after the Vikings selected him at 23rd overall during the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.

Addison won the Biletnikoff Award in 2021 as the best wide receiver in college football. He was winning with great route running and maximizing his play after the catch.

His athletic testing left something to be desired and that’s why he was the fourth wide receiver off the board. It is worth noting that he had to pull himself out of drills due to an injury.

The Vikings didn’t draft him for his athleticism, but rather how technically sound of a route runner he is. Addison is the best in the class at it and is a great complement to Jefferson.

Vikings Film Room: Aggressiveness can change everything

The addition of Asamoah could be just what the Vikings need

When the Minnesota Vikings selected linebacker Brian Asamoah in the third round of the NFL draft, they did so in the way they want to shape the defense moving forward with a quick trigger and aggressiveness.

Asamoah has both of those and, while they can be a huge positive, it’s also why he hasn’t played a whole lot this season. That aggressiveness doesn’t always suit him well, as he would get a little overzealous in hitting the wrong gap.

That has shown some improvement from what we saw during the preseason and he made a huge impact in Saturday’s game against the New York Giants.

This is a relatively simple play. Tight end Daniel Bellinger motions into the backfield and runs a crossing route. Daniel Jones hits him with ease, but how Asamoah attacks Bellinger after the catch, gives the Vikings an element that they haven’t had in awhile.

He uses his explosiveness to catch up and violently attacks the ball. He scoops it up and that turnover set up a Vikings field goal.

Ed Donatell’s defense isn’t the most aggressive so adding that element could be a game-changer for this defense.

Vikings Film Room: Crack back toss sees a lot of success

Dalvin Cook thrives with this play

The Minnesota Vikings don’t run the ball nearly as effectively as they have in previous years. They currently rank 28th in the NFL in rushing and the consistency isn’t there on a week-to-week basis.

One thing they have done well is this toss with a counter step from quarterback Kirk Cousins.

The Vikings have run this on the goal line multiple times for touchdowns and decided to bust it out down 10 against the Indianapolis Colts.

The jet motion by Justin Jefferson and the release by T.J. Hockenson to the right along with Cousins giving the counter-step gets enough attention from the defense to help spring this. Ezra Cleveland and Christian Darrisaw sneak out to lead the block. The only reason they are able to sneak out is due to a great crack back and seal blocks from K.J. Osborn and Adam Thielen.

Cook takes the option-style pitch and is able to gain the edge easily, which is the key for this play to be successful. Center Austin Schlottmann doesn’t have a great rep here, but it’s just good enough and doesn’t end up mattering. Once Cook gets the edge, it’s all about reading his blocks and he does a great job maximizing this play for 40 yards.

The funniest element of this play is Darrisaw on the bottom of the screen. He punches Stephon Gilmore away with ease. He has so many of these reps throughout the course of a game and this was no different.

Watch for them to try and maximize this concept more and more as the season goes on.

Vikings Film Room: How is T.J. Hockenson doing as a blocker?

The Vikings traded for Hockenson and his blocking was drawn into question. How is it going so far in Minnesota?

The Minnesota Vikings made a great and franchise-altering move when they traded multiple day two picks for tight end T.J. Hockenson.

The player that they were getting is the exact prototype that head coach Kevin O’Connell wants in this offense: an inline blocker that is also able to split out wide and take advantage of coverage with his size and skill.

The interesting element about Hockenson is that his blocking was relatively subpar with the Lions. Since then, he has shown some real improvement according to PFF.

As Nick Olson points out, the system makes a big impact here, but it’s also coaching and a change of scenery. He has shown some really good blocking prowess and technique but it hasn’t been consistent.

Against the New York Jets, I identified four plays that show just where Hockenson is at as a blocker.

Vikings Film Room: Kirk Cousins is throwing with more aggression & anticipation

The Vikings starting quarterback has shown substantial growth this season

The previous few seasons saw Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins struggle to throw the ball consistently with both anticipation and an aggressive style.

With the addition of head coach Kevin O’Connell, the hope was that he could bring some of that out of Cousins. There was some reservation from a lot of people – including myself – that he could do that. Cousins after all is 34 years old and it’s hard for any veteran of that many years to adjust his style of play.

Luckily for the Vikings, Cousins has been able to show substantial growth in this area and it was on full display on Sunday. We identified four throws that show how Cousins is throwing with both aggression and anticipation.

Vikings Film Room: How nuance in route running makes a difference

The little things mean a lot when generating big plays

The Minnesota Vikings found a way to score three touchdowns through the air. Most of that was due to quarterback Kirk Cousins having himself a great day. He made a lot of great decisions on the day and excelled in pushing the ball down the field to both Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.

On the game-winning touchdown, Cousins made the proper read, but it was the nuance of Thielen’s route running that took it to another level.

This is a two-man concept with both Thielen and Jefferson running deep crossing routes and K.J. Osborn to the flat on a split-zone action.

Jefferson commands a lot of attention, as he had torched the Patriots multiple times throughout the evening, so it makes sense why the far-side safety ended up following him instead of staying home.

Why he ended up staying home is due to the nuance exuded in Thielen’s route running. He makes the savvy move by running behind the safety. Why does this matter? Because he doesn’t cross the safety’s face and goes behind him, said safety doesn’t travel with him like the coverage is designed for.

Little things like this go mostly unnoticed on the game broadcast, but it makes such a huge difference in generating big plays.

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Vikings Film Room: Kirk Cousins & T.J. Hockenson have great chemistry

The connection between Hockenson and Cousins has been tremendous

The Minnesota Vikings made a calculated, long-term risk and investment when they traded a second-round and third-round pick for tight end T.J. Hockenson.

The idea was that investing in a top-tier tight end would be a smarter financial decision than getting a WR2 that is likely paid even more money. Brandin Cooks was the likely choice in that instance but he was owed $18 million next season with his salary fully guaranteed.

In his first four games, Hockenson has 26 receptions for 192 yards and a touchdown on 35 targets, but what is really impressive is how they have built chemistry so quickly.

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The play itself isn’t anything special but there is the chemistry needed to execute this type of timing route.

It’s a 1X3 set with Hockenson in the middle slot. He runs an out route with a clearout by Jalen Reagor running a go route. While an out route is a simple route, it’s also one that needs great timing and placement to avoid a turnover.

Cousins sees that the nearside boundary corner follows Reagor down the field and throws the ball a step before Hockenson makes his break. This is pivotal to throwing a completion here as the defender doesn’t have the leverage or quickness to make a play on the ball.

This is the type of chemistry you see between a receiver and quarterback after playing for a year or two but Hockenson had only been a member of the Minnesota Vikings for 24 days at this point. A truly impressive feat for the Vikings’ offense.

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