By Matthew Coller
The Minnesota Vikings are now 11-2 after beating the Atlanta Falcons 42-21 at US Bank Stadium. Let’s dive a little deeper into the game and look at everything that went right and wrong…
What went right
Sam Darnold in the straight drop-back game and under pressure
When a quarterback posts a near perfect QB rating that means just about everything went his way but there were two specific areas where Sam Darnold was tremendous. The first was on plays where he did not have the benefit of play-action. On straight drop-backs, he went 14-for-19 with 233 yards, four touchdowns and three big-time throws. Many of his best plays came on third down, where the Vikings were 8-for-12 on the day.
When head coach Kevin O’Connell reviewed the film, he said that many of those third downs seemed routine from the sideline but were much more high difficulty when he watched the game back.
“Just the pitch and catch feel between Sam [Darnold], Justin [Jefferson] and Jordan [Addison] was pretty spectacular,” O’Connell said. “There was some high, high-level stuff going on, in rhythm, some kind of sneaky hidden plays here and there to convert third downs.”
The Falcons did a good job of pressuring Darnold, putting him under duress on 13 of his drop-backs. While he was sacked four times, he also got eight passes in the air and completed five of them for 173 yards and three touchdowns.
At the end of Sunday’s games, Darnold had the third highest QB rating and seventh highest PFF grade in the NFL.
Everything Jefferson and Addison did
When Darnold targeted Jefferson or Addison, he went 15-for-17 with 255 yards and five touchdowns. The receivers also went 3-for-3 with contested catches and added 47 yards on a pass interference call.
At the center of their success was the ability to track the ball in the air. On multiple plays either Jefferson or Addison made adjustments to the football in order to make key grabs. Whether it was Addison’s deep touchdown early in the game or a couple of low throws that Jefferson went down to get, they made high-difficulty plays to keep drive going or put points on the board.
O’Connell said that ball tracking is the top trait that he looks for in wide receivers because he watched deep ball legend DeSean Jackson play against his teams early in his coaching career.
“I think it's something that those guys are really special for,” O’Connell said. “It's something that I've always looked at. I can remember a guy that always comes to mind is DeSean Jackson when I was coaching against him in the division when I was in the NFC East for a couple years there. I just remember being like, that's the trait. Not only a guy that can fly, but a guy that can track the ball and really effortlessly make something that's very, very difficult, look easy. There's been great examples of it, but I think we got two of them right here in our building for sure.”
On Addison specifically, he has broken out in recent weeks to put up star-caliber numbers. Over the last four games, the second-year receiver has 23 receptions for 410 yards and five touchdowns. That comes after after a tough six-game stretch where he averaged just 43 yards per game.
“That's all part of what we projected with Jordan, knowing he had elite quickness, separation skills, fantastic hands, and ball tracking, like we talked about,” O’Connell said. “As he's gotten stronger, he's put a lot of work in, it's showing up with his play style.”
The running game
The Vikings did not have one of their most run-heavy games with 18 total carries between Aaron Jones and Cam Akers (a number of which came on the final offensive possession) but when they did run the ball, it was quite effective. Jones averaged 5.6 yards per carry and Akers gained 7.4 yards per rush. Akers broke free for a 25-yard gain when the Vikings needed to put the game away and Jones had three carries of 10+ yards.
Despite the ups and downs of this season for Jones, he still ranks 10th in total rushing yards and 12th in yards per carry among starting RBs (tied with Bijan Robinson). Akers is sitting at 4.6 yards per rush since joining the Vikings — a significant addition considering how heavily they were leaning on Jones early in the season.
Another strong game for Risner
The first two games for Dalton Risner as a right guard had some up and down moments. The last two weeks have been above average. He graded 69.9 by PFF last week and 72.6 against the Falcons, giving up just two QB pressures. While Risner is known for his pass blocking, he had his best run blocking game of the year vs. Atlanta (73.7).
Josh Oliver’s subtle impact
The Vikings rewarded a hard day’s work by their tight end with a 26-yard play-action pass at the end of the game. Oliver was in the game for 18 run plays and graded as the team’s best run blocker (76.6). Getting him back in the mix after being out with an ankle injury was vital to the run game. He has the second highest run blocking PFF grade in the NFL.
Byron Murphy Jr. and Fabian Moreau
Murphy Jr. keeps getting game balls from Kevin O’Connell because he keeps picking off passes. He made a one-handed grab that put the game on ice on Sunday, marking his sixth interception of the year to move into second place in the NFL in picks. But it wasn’t just the INT that was positive for Murphy Jr. vs. Atlanta. He only allowed one reception into his coverage on two attempts. He has become a player that teams want to avoid. His 74.8 grade is the 10th highest in the league among starting corners and opponents have a 69.4 QB rating when throwing into his coverage.
“Murph [Byron Murphy Jr.] is one of those guys that I think has really plus ball skills,” O’Connell said. “It matters when you think about some of the interceptions he's had. Yesterday, is a great example to be able to track that receiver-like and essentially catch it one-handed.”
On the other side, Fabian Moreau stepped in for Stephon Gilmore more than admirably. He was on the field for 39 plays and gave up one reception for nine yards. That’s a huge win for a player that might see rotational playing time even when Gilmore returns to give them a little additional shade of man coverage ability down the stretch.
Contributions from unexpected players (Redmond, Murphy, Davis)
The Vikings defense has been on the field for the eighth most total plays in the NFL. That means they are going to need some players to get in the mix down the stretch to keep veterans healthy. On Sunday we saw that start to come to fruition as undrafted free agent Gabriel Murphy played in his first NFL game and was on the the field for 28 snaps. He graded 69.5 and picked up one QB pressure.
“I think he's just a little different from a standpoint of that you saw him inside a little bit more, you saw him in some different spots, he's really versatile,” O’Connell said of Murphy. “We've framed his role in many ways after Andrew Van Ginkel's role.”
Jalen Redmond is becoming a weekly impact player. He had two batted balls, four tackles and caused a team-leading three negative plays for the offense. The Vikings found Redmond in the XFL and he made a case for a roster spot in training camp but only recently has he gotten playing time and made the most of it. He could be an impact interior defensive linemen going forward.
Jamin Davis was only on the field for nine plays, yet he made one of them a game-changer. He picked up a sack and rushed on five of his snaps. His role may increase as he gets more familiar with the defense. It appears for now that he will be in as a pure blitzer as the Vikings continue to try to mitigate the loss of Ivan Pace Jr. to injury.
What went wrong
Sacks
The Falcons were able to take Darnold down four times amidst his spectacular performance. One of them was pinned on the quarterback for failing to get rid of the ball in time, the others went to Aaron Jones, Brian O’Neill and Garrett Bradbury. The O’Neill sack was an incredibly rare situation where he was beat around the edge. It was only the second sack he’s allowed all year and only the third time this season PFF has graded him under a 65 pass pro grade.
The Vikings consistent push for downfield plays has made them susceptible to pressure and they now have the fourth highest sack percentage in the league. In the coming weeks we can expect to see teams sending more overload blitzes to test the blocking.
Overall they are still grading as the 11th best pass blocking team but Sunday’s performance dropped them down from 4th prior to the game.
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