Film study: No favors done for Kirk Cousins
Film study: No favors done for Kirk Cousins
Tell me if you've heard this one before: The O-line's issues impacted the Vikings' passing game
The Minnesota Vikings’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was deflating for fans in a number of ways. The most obvious were the major hit to their playoff odds and the kicking woes but beyond that was the frustration of seeing the same problem that has existed since Kirk Cousins arrived: Struggling interior pass protection.
At one point it appeared that rookie Ezra Cleveland was the solution to their problems up front but playing against the talented Bucs front, we saw the shortcomings in protecting Cousins that cropped up earlier in the year in games against Indianapolis, Tennessee and Seattle.
Let’s have a look at what went wrong, how it impacted Cousins and some of the things that they got right on offense vs. the Bucs…
Confusion
On the Purple Insider Podcast, former Viking Jeremiah Sirles predicted last week that the Bucs would spot some of the things the Jaguars and Panthers did to chase Cousins. He nailed it.
Opposing defenses have had a ton of success running line games like stunts and twists. For whatever reason, the Vikings’ line has issues passing off rushers and they routinely find their way to the quarterback.
On the opening drive, the Vikings looked prime to score when Cousins got sacked on third down. While he admitted after the game that he needed to find a way to throw the ball away to stay in field goal position (insert whatever joke you have here), he shouldn’t expect to be taken down this quickly. He does hold the ball too long at times but per PFF Cousins has the second most sacks taken this year in under 2.5 seconds.
On this play, left guard Dakota Dozier doesn’t identify the two-man game and carries his man right into Riley Reiff. With Dozier facing the sideline, Shaq Barrett walked freely past him, right into Cousins.
If you’re wondering, Dozier’s pass blocking efficiency ranks 78th by PFF at 95.8 while Brett Jones is tied for 19th at 98.1. Jones’s pass blocking grade is a 76.1, Dozier’s is 39.7 (84th of 90). Since both are journeyman backups, it’s hard to make sense of why Jones isn’t playing left guard. The gap in their performance isn’t small.
Moving on. There were some sacks that were caused by Tampa Bay’s coverage. On third-and-goal, the Bucs play two deep safeties and have a corner and safety over the top of the Vikings’ favorite red zone target Adam Thielen. The underneath options do not come open with Chad Beebe well covered, Justin Jefferson stumbling and Bisi Johnson unable to create enough separation for Cousins to let it loose.
This play does highlight one part of Cousins’s game that hasn’t changed despite some better efforts running the ball: He doesn’t back away from pressure. Once he drops to his depth, he usually stays there. On this play, it’s possible he could have allowed himself more time by drifting back to his left but the pocket did close in quickly.
On a third-and-7 later in the game, Justin Jefferson comes open across the field but Dozier is beaten instantly by Jason Pierre-Paul and Cleveland was unable to hold his block on Barrett, who got in Cousins’s face before he could make an effective throw.
It’s notable that the Bucs went with their two most dangerous rushers on the inside. Opposing teams know exactly what to attack.
This next play is stunningly bad. There is no explanation for what happened here. Jefferson is run blocking, the bunched receivers on Cousins’s right flat-out run into each other and Cousins gets smacked by three rushers before he can even attempt to throw the ball away.
To have communication errors of this magnitude at this point in the season with all players who have been on the team since Day 1 is shocking, especially when it happens at a huge point in the game (they were down 23-14 with a chance to cut the lead to two points).
Cleveland had his worst career game, giving up eight total pressures. Again a key sack came when Cleveland failed to identify a stunt. Rashod Hill passed of his man and the right guard seemed to have no idea it was coming.
The Vikings may have to stop using empty protections altogether over these last three games because these line games aren’t likely to stop in obvious passing situations. But what we see here is that there’s only so much scheme can do when basic technical elements aren’t being executed. Certainly some sacks can be avoided but most of these happened so quickly the QB wasn’t given a chance to even heave the ball to the sideline. Until the Vikings fix this problem , interior pressur is going to continue blowing up their game plans, as it has since 2018.
Impact of pressure
It’s to be expected that consistent pressure will make a quarterback antsy in the pocket. Cousins is not immune to that. Earlier this year against the Titans we saw him check down quickly or move off reads even when he wasn’t pressured and that happened again on Sunday. On this third-and-long, Cousins has Jefferson open on an impressive route but as the pocket gets pushed back a little, he throws slightly off his back foot and the ball sails on him for an incompletion.
One of the most asked questions on social media during the game was: Why are the Vikings checking to the fullback when they’re down by three scores? On one of the plays, all the downfield routes were covered but on this one, it looks like Cousins had his eyes in the middle of the field and moved his read to the check down just as Jefferson was coming open.
It’s always easy to second guess based on the tape from up above but in this instance he had zero pressure (a rarity in the game). If his protection was holding up all day, Cousins may have found Jefferson.
If you want to see an example of what a quarterback (albeit the best quarterback) can do with all the time in the world, look no farther than Tom Brady’s 48-yard touchdown to Scott Miller.
With time to throw, Brady masterfully manipulates the safety with a slight pump that makes it look like he’s throwing the underneath route to Mike Evans. That’s why safety Anthony Harris reacted. As soon as the safety stepped up, Brady went over his head.
It’s a combination of Brady’s brilliance and absolutely nobody in his face.
It wasn’t all bad
With Kyle Rudolph out and Brandon Dillon on IR, the Vikings’ answer was to use Rashod Hill as the sixth lineman. He did a really good job in the role until he was forced to move to right tackle with Brian O’Neill’s injury.
The Vikings were concerned with Hill’s run blocking in the past but he exploded out of his stance and kept driving his feet to move Barrett five yards off the ball, allowing CJ Ham to cruise through his gap and hit the linebacker. Garrett Bradbury also did a good job reaching enough of his man to create a solid 7-yard run.
Another thing that worked was play-action, even when the Bucs’ linebackers weren’t buying it.
On this play the Vikings went max protection and Thielen and Jefferson both ran vertical routes on the outside. Thielen absolutely punished his defender and Cousins hit him perfectly on time.
When you’re down three scores, it’s harder to use play-action but isn’t against the rules to keep using more help in protection. They went entirely away from these types of plays, which were effective (Cousins went 12-for-13 passing with play-action).
With only three weeks left to go, the Vikings need an answer to a question that they haven’t been able to figure out for a long time: How do they reduce pressure on Cousins in key situations? If they don’t find some solutions in short order, they’ll add to fans’ frustrations rather than pulling off a magical run to the playoffs.
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Great article! If I had to point to the biggest problem with the team it would be loyalty. It seems like performance doesn’t matter because Dennison is loyal to his guy Dozier. Kubiak is loyal to his guy Dennison. And Zimmer is loyal to his guy Kubiak. Would Belichick (or any other top NFL coach) allow the O-Line coach to sabotage his team by playing favorites? Zimmer is terrified of losing Kubiak and it keeps him from doing the right thing (playing Jones) imo.
I have quite a bit to unload about the team, some of which agree with you and some a different perspective. I don't expect you to respond to my points, I just need to make them. You know that I've considered this year 2021's preseason rather than a true Vikings season. As a result I've been able to deal more effectively with the outcomes but, while I'm please with the improvement of new players, I'm gradually more disappointed in the game time coaching including playcalling, and the coaching philosophy.
Game time coaching including playcalling - the usage of Dalvin Cook to the extreme is detrimental to the team. The avoidance of the passing game except as a support to the run game hamstrings us in all kinds of ways. We're not taking advantage of Theilen, Jefferson, and Smith even when they are open. It is true the O-line still struggles but Cousins still struggles with pressure as well. The combination of which suggests we need to move on from Cousins, bolster our O Line, and find both a co-ordinator that wants a "balanced" game at least. Cousins is Cousins and I don't expect anything more from Cousins that he's demonstrated through the year. Can we win with him? I suppose but can we win a Superbowl with the combination of issues I listed above with Cousins? Highly unlikely. Which I find discouraging. In the highlights, you embedded a person can see the problems with both the O-line and Kirk missing receivers in the flat and in crossing routes that he could have hit before he took a few of those sacks.
Coaching Philosophy - Run first and always is a ridiculous philosophy no matter how good your Running Back is. We should at least be looking at a balanced offense when we have the receivers we do. I realize Zimmer tends to move away from using anyone who struggles no matter the cause. Part of me sees his point. Where I don't agree is the length of time he punishes or fails to reengage when re-engaging or replacing rather than adjusting the entire approach is an obvious need. After all those interceptions I can understand not relying on Cousins until he showed he'd regrownded. After he demonstrated he had regrounded at least to his normal unpredictable self, we need to reengage a balanced game with the additional expectation that Cousins would need to carry us in some instances. Instead... we're still burn down the running back until it is so unreasonable we think we might pass. Its an abuse of Cook, Theilen, and Jefferson at first glance, Cook being over played and the receivers underplayed. For the first time I'm willing to concede Zimmer needs to go unless he can move to a balanced offense. I understand he's a defensive guru but that is not going to work with Cousins as the QB not allowed to pass and a near run only offense when we're behind.
If this philosophy is sustained in 2021, bolstered getting more of the defensive players back, I expect nearly the same outcome. More wins but no chance at the Superbowl because we'll end up drafting Defense with Zimmer wanting it to be the focus, won't draft to improve the O-line or add another bonified WR. We'll pass on drafting a back up QB to hand the reigns to in 2022. We'll just limp along perpetually having to accept that Kirk Cousins cannot win critical games in an ultra-conservative approach and when Jefferson reaches his prime we will lose him to a team that is at least balanced in their attack... skol vikes (small voice)