Where Art Thou, Vikings Run Game?
Previously, we took a look at the positive takeaways from the Vikings’ Week 11 triumph over the dwindling Tennessee Titans in Nashville. It’s always great to look at the positives, however, to truly make it apparent just how complete of a team these 8-2 Vikings are, it’s important to add the context of where they struggled. Inversely, that can make the positives just that much more positive.
Running Game No-Show
The Vikings failed to achieve an average yardage per carry of at least 3.0 yards as a team for the third time this season, gaining their lowest average of the season at 2.5 yards per carry. This is the 3rd time out of the last four games that the team has failed to achieve an average of at least 4.0 yards per carry, and at halftime, Sam Darnold was the team’s leading rusher with 17 yards on the ground. Additionally, Darnold notched Minnesota’s lone rushing score of the day.
Aaron Jones, who has recently been getting a bit dinged up, ended up being the team leader for rushing yardage on the day with a total of 39 yards on 15 attempts (2.6 YPC) and a long run of just 5 yards. Cam Akers followed behind with 25 yards on ten attempts (2.5) and a long run of 12 yards, meaning the remaining nine carries of his total number of attempts achieved just 13 yards, a 1.4 YPC average. Ty Chandler did not see any rushing attempts.
The Vikings’ rushing offense started off hot to begin the year and seemed full of life, averaging 4.3 YPC against the Giants, 6.1 YPC against the 49ers, and 4.2 yards per carry against the Texans. The Titans rushing defense is solid, to be fair, according to NFL Pro. Going into Week 11, they possessed the league-best run-stuff rate (25%) and allowed 4.3 yards per carry (12th in the NFL), as well as 116.7 yards per game (13th in the NFL).
In order to go deep in the playoffs against physical teams like the Eagles, 49ers, and Lions (although the Lions have a suspect run defense), you’re going to need to be able to run the ball with effectiveness in order to control the clock and maintain the tone you want to set. The panic button doesn’t need to be pressed yet, but fielding a consistent rushing attack game in and game out seems to be a cause for concern so far in Kevin O’Connell’s two-and-a-half years as head coach of the Vikings.
Vikings Adapt And Overcome Lack of Rushing Attack
Despite their worst outing as a rushing offense so far this season, Kevin O’Connell’s passing game led by Sam Darnold, as well as a marvelous performance by Brian Flores’ defensive unit, was able to adapt and overcome the disappearing act performed by the Vikings run game.
We saw a glimpse of September Sam Darnold, who completed 20 of his 32 passes for 246 yards, three total TDs (two passing, one rushing), and no INTs. Twelve of Minnesota’s 24 first downs were a result of the passing game, the other 12 being courtesy of the run game (five) and via penalty (seven).
Brian Flores’s defense had its expected tough moments (including Will Levis’ 98 laser beam TD strike to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine on a Josh Metellus busted deep zone coverage), but as a whole, they had a vintage Flores-style defensive game. Levis’ box score stats didn’t look awful, as he truly didn’t play awful, going 17/31 for 295 yards, one TD, and one INT.
The Vikings sacked Levis five times (two by Jones II, two by Van Ginkel, and one by Cashman), as well as making Levis the Titans’ leading rusher with 18 yards on seven carries. The two stars in the Titans’ backfield, Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears, ran a combined 12 carries for an absolutely abysmal 15 total rushing yards. The Titans as a team ran 19 times for 33 yards, averaging 1.7 yards per carry.
The Vikings’ rushing attack can not continually no-show entire games as we get into the teeth of the NFL season, but luckily for them, they were able to get through a three-game marathon against the AFC South (who aren’t the most daunting of opponents) unscathed. If nothing else, Minnesota showed resilience over that stretch, especially on defense, to compensate for the missing run game, and resilience is a key trait that a championship team needs.
Purple Positives: Vikings Bring the Music in Nashville