Film Study: Rushing Stroud

The Vikings attacked the opposing QB in many different ways last week, breaking his spirit

© Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

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By Matthew Coller

The Minnesota Vikings’ defense is the talk of the NFL following their dominant victory over CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans.

Let’s have a look at a couple of the plays that shook the young quarterback…

Jonathan Greenard made his presence known in the first two games of the season by getting a number of QB pressures but he officially became a Vikings difference maker against Houston. The signature moment of his day came on the Texans’ second drive when Stroud was looking at second-and-1 from the Minnesota 26-yard line. Instead of getting his team into the red zone with a chance to strike back after the Vikings opened the scoring at 7-0, Greenard bowled over a tight end trying to block him and the Texans ended up missing a field goal.

Obviously it wasn’t Houston’s ideal outcome to end up with Greenard on a tight end but the Vikings’ front and rush plan caused the matchup. The Vikings put five men on the line of scrimmage and rushed Jerry Tillery inside, dropped outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and blitzed Blake Cashman. The tackle signaled before the play that the TE was going to take Greenard, indicating that they were going to slide to the QB’s right. The tackle followed Tillery, the running back took Cashman and Greenard ended up isolated with someone completely incapable of handling him.

Havoc came from lots of different places and in lots of different ways versus Stroud. On a third down in the third quarter with the Texans down 21 and Stroud looking to get them back in the game, Jihad Ward timed the snap and came blasting through the line to pressure Stroud. But it wasn’t just his quick get-off from No. 52 that made the difference, it was also the fact that the Vikings had six men at the line of scrimmage and only rushed three. Stroud evaded the initial rush but had no answers as Cashman dropped back into the area where he was looking for a receiver and then Van Ginkel tracked him down before he could escape for a first down.

The Vikings were getting to Stroud so quickly sometimes that he couldn’t get through his progressions to his checkdown option when receivers weren’t open. On this play, Jerry Tillery, who has quietly been an important addition to this year’s defense, initially rushes against the tackle and then loops around back inside to hit Stroud. If you notice, Greenard is once again facing a tight end in a 5-man front and pushing the TE back into Stroud’s lap. His attempted checkdown flies over Cam Akers’ head.

Speaking of looping around on the rush, nobody does it better than Van Ginkel. He started way outside the tackle on his sack right before the end of the first half and whipped inside as Pat Jones and Ward were both rushing to the outside. The center goes with Ward, the right guard tries to help on Greenard and the middle of the field is wide open for Van Ginkel.

Getting Greenard favorable matchups didn’t end with a few reps against tight ends. Another of his sacks came against the right guard when the Vikings blitzed Harrison Smith off the edge, forcing the tackle to take Smith and the guard to (attempt to) block Greenard. The former Texan’s speed was way too much for a guard and he blew right past him to the quarterback. This is a simulated pressure because Van Ginkel drops out again, giving the Vikings an extra zone defender. It looks like Stroud wants to throw to Stefon Diggs but has to hold the ball because Van Ginkel is in the area.

Something else that is noticeable on all these plays is how little involvement the running backs have in the blocking. It’s possible that the Vikings knew that Houston wanted their backs and tight ends mostly going out on routes rather than helping and took advantage of that.

Our final defensive play isn’t splashy at all but it might be the favorite of everyone on defense. Toward the end of the game, the Vikings line up with a “mug” look in which the two linebackers are over the A gaps (an old Zimmer special). They end up rushing four and not creating any instant pressure, yet Stroud checks it down immediately. He had enough at this point and wasn’t going to try to extend the play or keep his eyes downfield. Check down, get out of US Bank Stadium alive. There can’t be any better feeling on defense.

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OK let’s look at some interesting offensive stuff…