The Minnesota Vikings are an incredibly fun team right now.
Not only are they fun, but they are successful as well. The Vikings are riding a five-game winning streak with three winable games going into a tough finishing stretch against the Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions twice.
Throughout the five-game winning streak the Vikings have been on, they have scratched and clawed while dealing with multiple injuries, including losing numerous starters on offense for multiple games.
On Sunday, the Vikings were explosive on offense, especially in the first half. We looked at all three touchdowns the Vikings scored and broke down the all-22.
Ty Chandler
Josh Dobbs motions to the slot here, showing the look of a 2X3 set with Chandler running the wildcat. He takes the snap and runs a sweep to the left for an easy touchdown.
The blocking here is key. Jalen Nailor and Brandon Powell come down for the seal, Christian Darrisaw leads Chandler and Dalton Risner finishes the seal by getting around the edge and finishing the block.
This kind of creativity is exactly what having a dual-threat quarterback can bring you and O’Connell is taking advantage of that.
Josh Dobbs
This is a prime example of why having a dual-threat quarterback means a lot, especially in the red zone.
Dobbs drops back to pass, but nobody is open. He works from left to right across the progression but nobody is open. The pocket begins to collapse on him and Dobbs takes things into his own hands.
When he bails to the left side, Dobbs is looking to throw the ball. When he sees that the corner is easily attainable, Dobbs takes a hard step inside to get Alontae Taylor off balance and it allows Dobbs to get the corner for the touchdown.
Great improvisation from Dobbs.
T.J. Hockenson
This looks like an option route rather than a post from Hockenson. Here’s why.
When you see Hockenson get to the stem (top of the route where he makes his break), he handles it just like he does a standard Y-Choice option route. Hockenson sees the leverage from the left safety and turns what looks like a corner route into a post. He confirmed that after the game.
“That’s a K.O. special,” Hockenson said. “We kind of get an option to freelance a little bit, so saw what the safety was doing; he played outside, tried to lean him a little bit and get separation and Josh and I were on the same page. That was just a lot of fun.”
Option routes are common in O’Connell’s offense, as they help you better attack defenses especially when coverages are being disguised consistently
It also helps that Hockenson has trained with Dobbs in the offseason. When you have a talent like Hockenson, this is how you use him. The Kansas City Chiefs use Travis Kelce in a similar way and they are arguably the two best tight ends in the NFL.
