Vikings Statistical Rankings Through Week 17: Offense
Josh Frey
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The Minnesota Vikings saw their losing streak extend to three games on Sunday when they fell to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 33-10.
With the loss, the Vikings fall to 7-9 on the season, and while their playoff hopes haven’t been totally eliminated yet, a lot needs to happen this weekend if Minnesota is to sneak into the tournament as the No. 7 seed.
With the weekend behind us, today we will be breaking down the Vikings statistical rankings on offense through Week 16 as a whole, and where individual players stand. Shout out to Pro-Football-Reference, Pro Football Focus, and nfeloapp.com for the numbers that went into this article. Stay tuned for the defensive rankings later today as well.
NOTE: Individual PFF Grades are sorted to include players with at least 20% of the league leader’s number of dropbacks, carries, or targets.
Team Offense
Total Offense
- Points Scored per Game: 20.3 (22nd)
- Total Yards per Game: 341.5 (12th)
- Plays per Game: 62.6 (19th)
- Yards per Play: 5.5 (10th)
- First Downs per Game: 19.8 (10th)
- Turnovers per Game: 2.00 (T-30th)
- Penalties per Game: 5.06 (6th)
- Third-Down Conversion Percentage: 39.5% (14th)
- Fourth-Down Conversion Percentage: 57.7% (9th)
- Red Zone TD Percentage: 48.0% (25th)
- Overall PFF Grade: 77.9 (9th)
- EPA/play: -0.06 (17th)
If it weren’t for some pesky turnovers and truly bad efficiency in the red zone, the Vikings had a chance to be a very good offense in 2023. Instead, they have turned the ball over more often than 29 other teams in the league, and they rank amongst the bottom in terms of red zone TD percentage.
They have managed to move the ball pretty well in the open field, but Kevin O’Connell needs to find ways to get the ball into the end zone more often in 2024.
Passing Offense
- Completions per Game: 24.6 (3rd)
- Pass Attempts per Game: 36.7 (T-4th)
- Passing Yards per Game: 250.0 (6th)
- Net Yards per Attempt: 6.3 (14th)
- Passing First Downs per Game: 12.8 (T-5th)
- Passing TDs per Game: 1.75 (T-5th)
- Interceptions per Game: 1.06 (28th)
- Passing PFF Grade: 77.0 (14th)
- Pass-Blocking PFF Grade: 76.5 (2nd)
- Receiving PFF Grade: 76.8 (7th)
- EPA/pass: -0.02 (19th)
Rushing Offense
- Carries per Game: 23.2 (28th)
- Rushing Yards per Game: 91.5 (27th)
- Yards per Carry: 3.9 (25th)
- Rushing First Downs per Game: 4.56 (T-29th)
- Rushing TDs per Game: 0.44 (T-28th)
- Fumbles Lost per Game: 0.94 (30th)
- Rushing PFF Grade: 73.7 (25th)
- EPA/run: -0.16 (24th)
The Minnesota Vikings were an extremely pass-heavy offense during the 2022 season, and that proved true again in 2023. Even without Kirk Cousins for the final half of the season, the Vikings have been amongst the top four teams in completions and attempts while rankings sixth in passing yards.
Perhaps this version of the offense is more sustainable if the Vikings bring Cousins back in 2024, or if they find O’Connell’s guy in the NFL Draft. However, it still feels like balance should be a priority next season if Minnesota is going to be competitive.
Individual Players
RB Alexander Mattison
- Carries: 173 (29th)
- Rushing Yards: 676 (32nd)
- Yards per Carry: 3.9 (31st)
- Rushing First Downs: 27 (T-44th)
- Rushing TDs: 0
- PFF Grade: 62.1 (60th among 67 qualifying RBs)
RB Ty Chandler
- Carries: 90 (52nd)
- Rushing Yards: 392 (54th)
- Yards per Carry: 4.4 (DNQ)
- Rushing First Downs: 17 (T-61st)
- Rushing TDs: 3 (T-47th)
- PFF Grade: 74.4 (24th among 67 qualifying RBs)
WR Justin Jefferson
- Targets: 86 (T-53rd)
- Receptions: 56 (T-60th)
- Receiving Yards: 882 (T-32nd)
- Receiving First Downs: 44 (T-29th)
- Receiving TDs: 4 (T-48th)
- PFF Grade: 90.5 (5th among 99 qualifying WRs)
WR Jordan Addison
- Targets: 100 (T-38th)
- Receptions: 66 (T-39th)
- Receiving Yards: 854 (38th)
- Receiving First Downs: 36 (T-40th)
- Receiving TDs: 9 (T-5th)
- PFF Grade: 69.4 (T-49th among 99 qualifying WRs)
WR K.J. Osborn
- Targets: 71 (T-78th)
- Receptions: 46 (T-85th)
- Receiving Yards: 531 (T-77th)
- Receiving First Downs: 28 (T-62nd)
- Receiving TDs: 3 (T-75th)
- PFF Grade: 54.3 (92nd among 99 WRs)
TE T.J. Hockenson
- Targets: 127 (T-18th)
- Receptions: 95 (13th)
- Receiving Yards: 960 (27th)
- Receiving First Downs: 48 (20th)
- Receiving TDs: 5 (T-34th)
- PFF Grade: 78.8 (3rd among 49 qualifying TEs)
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.