Everything that went right and wrong for the Vikings vs. Giants
A look at the film and stats from Sunday's win
By Matthew Coller
What went right
Designed stuff to Justin Jefferson
With the struggles to get Jefferson the football reaching critical mass over the last two weeks, it was time for the Vikings to get super, super serious about getting him the football. And the New York Giants were like… sure thing, no problem!
One of the ways they got the ball into Jefferson’s hands was by using a nice design that we have seen from KOC in recent weeks where it’s essentially a screen pass with everyone else blocking for Jefferson but the play is beyond the line of scrimmage.
With the Giants cornerback playing in the parking lot, Jefferson takes off underneath and CJ Ham goes after the dropping linebacker. Jordan Addison is blocking on the other side of the play along with TJ Hockenson. Jefferson does a great job after the catch of juking and breaking tackles for a first down.
Some of KOC’s CJ Ham usage recently has been heartwarming for the fullback enjoyers.
The next Jefferson YAC play is similar but instead of an underneath crossing route, it’s a hitch. This one comes out of a different formation with Jalen Nailor and TJ Hockenson blocking. It’s a 3-on-3 with the Giants playing six men on the line of scrimmage. Again the Giants outside corner is playing in another country, so Nailor and Hock get out there and do just enough to get in the way and Jefferson does the rest.
These are the types of plays where the quarterback has to do almost nothing and still gets plus yardage. We didn’t see things like this at the same volume in years past as recently. It’s something KOC may be able to apply a bit more often into the future, particularly when it’s working in other places like Jacksonville, Buffalo or Pittsburgh where a higher percentage of screens are thrown.
Downfield passing
In recent weeks, McCarthy has had a lot of success throwing downfield and it was no different on Sunday. He attempted three passes that traveled more than 20 yards down field, completed two of them and the other should have been caught. The first was a boundary throw to Jefferson that they have been hunting all year.
CJ Ham motions to an in-line tight end spot and Jefferson ends up one-on-one with an out-breaking route. McCarthy drops back, hitches and fires the ball into his receiver with the cornerback playing pretty darn good coverage. That’s a display of arm strength, timing and accuracy.
It’s also evidence that Jefferson doesn’t always face insane coverages on every play. KOC often uses deep outs to the opposite hash to deal with over-the-top safeties.
Our next explosive downfield throw from McCarthy is of the pitch-and-catch variety because Jordan Addison is wide open but we see solid patience from him in the pocket and the right read.
The Giants look like they are going to play cover-4 and then they switch into what looks like a Tampa-2 with No. 24 playing the middle. Normally that guy would be there to deal with Addison coming over the middle but Jefferson’s deep route draws the safety’s attention enough to leave Addison wide open.
It looked like McCarthy was thinking about a deep shot to Jefferson first and then considered the checkdown before working back to Addison. Good work and another example of why KOC’s offense works when the pass protection holds up.
Now let’s have a look at Max Brosmer’s throw to Jefferson. Whew. It’s flat-out fantastic.
On third-and-17 the Giants show a zero-blitz look and then drop everybody out. Brosmer gets to the top of his drop and unleashes the ball to a spot before Jefferson has even gotten into his break. There are two defenders right on him but No. 2’s shoulders are to the field rather than the boundary, so Jefferson is going to have the advantage. Notice again the far-hash sideline throw.
The underneath defender is too late to get around on the ball and Jefferson makes a great catch — though routine by his standard.
These are the types of throws that the Vikings saw from Brosmer in practice and preseason that made them intrigued. If he has to start the next two games, well, he’ll need more like this.
Run blocking and Aaron Jones gutting it out
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