Everything that went right for the Vikings vs. Bengals
A look at the All-22 film breaking down the best performances from the Vikings against Cincy
By Matthew Coller
Normally this article is meant to look at everything that went right and wrong for the Minnesota Vikings in their previous game but in this case the only thing that went sideways was a handful of penalties that had little impact on the game. Everything else in the 48-10 win went the Vikings’ way. So what can we learn about them after this blowout victory? A lot.
Let’s dive in…
Carson Wentz getting the ball out quickly
The Vikings’ quarterback, per PFF, had an average snap-to-release time of 2.55 seconds. It was the second fastest in the NFL in Week 3 behind only Matthew Stafford against the vaunted Philadelphia Eagles D-line. Out of 14 total completions, 11 came in 2.5 seconds or less.
While it was absolutely a huge deal to have Christian Darrisaw back, Wentz made life much, much easier on his offensive line. Only one of Wentz’s three sacks and eight of his pressures were credited to the O-line.
On throws that traveled between 0-9 yards, Wentz went 7-for-8 for 65 yards and two touchdowns.
The first drive of the game demonstrated what O’Connell liked about Wentz’s game. On Josh Oliver’s touchdown, the Vikings run three receivers to the left and Oliver and Adam Thielen to the right side. Wentz sees the 2-on-2 and the safety playing over top and outside of the numbers. He already has the ball released as Oliver is turning around right into the football and the rest is simple.
Heck of a spike.
Our next play goes to TJ Hockenson for a 13-yard gain over the middle. It’s hard to know exactly why Wentz pump faked — whether it was on purpose to freeze the linebacker or if he thought about throwing it before Hockenson was out of his break or if he was looking at Jalen Nailor — but you can see Wentz work the space between the zone before the Bengals D-line has any chance to get after him.
It helps to be a giant dude with a big arm. It doesn’t take much effort for Wentz to reset and pop the ball to Hockenson.
One of the best passing plays of the year thus far was Justin Jefferson’s 36-yard gain over the middle. The Bengals show a two-high look and then rotate into a single deep safety. With the outside corner playing outside leverage and the linebacker playing the flat zone, Wentz sees the space and begins his throwing motion well before Jefferson is out of his break. He leads him right between the zone defenders and in front of the corner for a huge gain.
Jefferson finished with five receptions for 75 yards, his best game so far this year. .
The next play is another completion to Hockenson on a very typical KOC concept. Jalen Nailor runs a deep corner route and Hock comes underneath with an out route. Wentz releases the ball as Hockenson is just hitting his break against the safety and delivers it right on point.
Give Adam Thielen credit for a nice chip on Trey Hendrickson and Brian O’Neill for barely getting a piece of his guy to run him by the quarterback.
The next play demonstrates that Hockenson can still do the things that he does best. In the red zone, Cincinnati plays what looks like man-to-man coverage and the Pro Bowl tight end is one-on-one with a linebacker in space. He puts his left foot in the ground and breaks into space in the middle and Wentz just drops the ball off to him for an easy positive gain.
PFF did not give Wentz any big-time throws in the game and they did not give him an impressive grade, yet the passing offense averaged 8.7 yards per attempt with him out there. That means the easy-button stuff was the easy-button stuff.
Wentz will be tested more as we go forward but with the rest of the roster getting healthier and the defense playing at an elite level, he doesn’t need to be heroic for the Vikings to win and that was demonstrated against Cincy all over the tape.
Run blocking
Over the first two games, there were plenty of calls for more Jordan Mason. Well, that turned out to be justified as he steamrolled the Bengals for 116 yards on 16 carries.
Things looked good in the run game right from the start as he opened the game with a 10-yard carry. Part of the play is Trey Hendrickson trying to knife inside and Darrisaw pushing him out of the way but the hero on this run was Jalen Nailor. He manhandles the cornerback, giving Mason a wide open track to the sideline. Adam Thielen gets out to the other corner and holds him off as well.
It’s a shame that Donovan Jackson suffered a wrist injury because he played very well against the Bengals.
On this outside zone run, he has to reach block the nose tackle. Jackson gets across the NT’s face to his opposite shoulder and keeps him from moving freely down the line. Even though this isn’t a pancake block or viral-clip worthy, it shows his athleticism and quickness. If he doesn’t get there to hold off No. 98 just enough, the play is going nowhere.
Mason is a natural with these outside zone plays. He perfectly sensed the moment to slow up, spot the gap and cut back through the hole.
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