Film Study: What happened in the red zone?
The Vikings fell flat in the shadow of the goal... why?
By Matthew Coller
Oh what a different game it would have been if the Minnesota Vikings had produced touchdowns instead of field goals or turnovers on downs in the red zone against the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.
How could a team that performed so well in the red zone all year long come apart at the seams in Detroit?
Well, let’s take a look at the tape…
We begin with the Vikings’ first trip into the red zone. The Vikings have second-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Kevin O’Connell shows the Lions a unique look with Aaron Jones playing slot receiver and Justin Jefferson in the backfield. When Darnold takes the snap, Jefferson goes into the flat, Jones and Josh Oliver go over the middle and run a mesh with TJ Hockenson. The other tight end Johnny Mundt works to the back of the end zone to create some space for Jefferson.
None of it works. The Lions did not get flummoxed by the crossing routes and the played physically with Oliver and Hockenson, knocking them both off their paths. Darnold did the right thing tossing the ball out of bounds.
It’s worth stopping right here and asking: Why not run? Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling shared this stat on Twitter/X on Tuesday: “According to Sports Info Solutions, Vikings running backs have been hit at the line on 72.2% of their runs inside the opponent’s 10-yard line. That’s the highest rate in the league.”
It’s tough to stick with the ground game when it has struggled so much in the red zone.
Anyway, on the very next play, the Vikings tried a fade from the slot to TJ Hockenson. They lined up Jalen Nailor outside, motioned Hockenson and tried to create an artificial pick and have Darnold drop the ball in over his tight end’s shoulder. The coverage is excellent, the throw gives Hockenson no chance to make a play on the ball.
This was one of a half dozen throws throughout the game where it just appeared Darnold did not have his typical touch. Because the defender was so tight on Hockenson, it’s hard to say whether he would have made the catch on a good throw but the Pro Bowl tight end wasn’t given any chance to fight for a touchdown.
On fourth down, it was clear that Darnold wasn’t only off physically but mentally too. To the far side of the field, Nailor and Jordan Addison line up next tight to each other and Nailor runs right through the chest of his defender and pushes him back into the way of the DB that’s supposed to be on Addison. Off the line of scrimmage, Addison was wide open, had his eyes back toward the QB and Darnold started to pull the trigger and then just… stopped.
When Darnold turned back across the field, he had Jefferson separating from his defender and threw it too high. A brutal sequence.
The next trip in the red zone came via an Ivan Pace Jr. interception that started them at the 7-yard line. They went nowhere from there, incompleting three straight passes and then settling for a field goal.
On first down, the Lions did a good job of covering again. The Vikings got a matchup they wanted with Jefferson 1-on-1. Against man coverage, he ran a slant and then broke outside but Amik Robertson was all over him. That caused Darnold to hesitate and then when Jefferson made a move back inside Robertson jumped in front of him and knocked the ball away. Maybe Darnold could have put the ball higher and more toward the back line of the end zone in order to give Jefferson a better shot at it but the Lions corner deserves the credit for hanging with JJ.
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