In Week 7 of the 2024 regular season, the Detroit Lions (4-1) and Minnesota Vikings (5-0) square off with divisional implications.
This is the first opponent the Lions have faced in 2024 without a new coach or scheme to prepare for. One of the interesting aspects of this game is that both teams have kept their head coach and all three coordinators from the previous year. The Lions coaching staff has also witnessed this coaching staff carry out their game plan twice in the previous ten months because the Vikings are a division opponent.
Let us examine the coaching staff of the Vikings and any modifications to their offensive and defensive game plans.
Kevin O’Connell, head coach of the Vikings
The New England Patriots selected quarterback Kevin O’Connell, who played at San Diego State, in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He was claimed by the Lions in the 2009 cutdowns after spending just one season in New England. Before being dealt to the Jets, he was with the Lions for five days. He then moved around the league until he left the NFL in 2012.
O’Connell entered the NFL coaching ranks swiftly, instructing the quarterbacks for the Browns in 2015 and the 49ers in 2016 for special projects. Upon his arrival to Washington’s
rising to the position of offensive coordinator in the end, but once head coach Jay Gruden was sacked in 2019, he gave O’Connell’s name to Sean McVay, a former pupil, who hired him to be the offensive coordinator for the Rams. He spent two seasons honing the Rams’ offense before joining the Vikings as head coach in 2022.
Coordinator of offense: Wes Phillips
Similar to O’Connell, Wes Phillips was a quarterback for UTEP and entered the coaching field not long after his playing days were over. He was originally introduced to the NFL by the Cowboys in 2007.
where he oversaw the tight ends in addition to serving in a number of offensive coaching capacities. He became the TE coach for Washington’s coaching staff in 2014, and it was there that he eventually met O’Connell. After leaving Washington to become the TE coach for the Rams, Phillips followed O’Connell to Minnesota in 2022 to take on the role of offensive coordinator.
O’Connell’s offensive West Coast plan
While O’Connell designs and calls the offensive strategy for the Vikings, Phillips serves as their technical offensive coordinator. While O’Connell leans on a lot of the West Coast teachings of Gruden and
McVay, in Minnesota, he added a few variants. Principal elements include pre-snap movement, play-action, end-arounds, screens, and outside-zone run concepts; nevertheless, O’Connell adjusts his scheme to the players much like any NFL coach does.
The Vikings’ rushing attack, for instance, was dreadful in 2023; they placed 29th overall in rushing yards, 22nd in yards per carry, last in rushing touchdowns, 27th in explosive run plays, and 31st in first-down conversions through the run. The Vikings adjusted and became more dependent on the passing game as a result. As a result, they led the league in passing yards overall, passing yards per attempt, passing touchdowns, and first downs obtained by passes.
They have aimed for greater balance in 2024. Even while they still rank among the lowest 10 in the NFL in each of the aforementioned rushing metrics, they are less prone than in prior seasons to give up on the running game. With the exception of passing touchdowns, where they rank fourth in the NFL, their passing statistics are surprisingly far lower in the majority other categories.
Thus, how can they be statistically regressing and scoring at such a high rate? The Vikings’ defense is creating short fields for them, making turnovers, and allowing them to score touchdowns of their own.
Brian Flores is the coordinator of defense.
Their bond dates back more than 15 years, since Flores began his NFL career in 2008 with the Patriots, the same year O’Connell was selected by New England. During his ten years with the Patriots, he handled a variety of responsibilities until being hired as head coach by the Dolphins. Despite his teams’ lack of success, Flores’ departure from Miami in 2021 is shrouded in controversy; however, his defensive prowess and inventiveness never declined. He began working with the Steelers in 2022 as a linebackers coach and senior defensive assistant. In 2023, he took use of this position to land a position as defensive coordinator in Minnesota.
The 34-base defensive strategy of Flores
One of the NFL’s most inventive and sophisticated defenses is Flores’. His pressure-diverse approach and aggressive demeanor distinguish him from other defensive coordinators in the NFL. For instance, throughout his time with the Vikings, he has outperformed all other teams not only in blitzing but also in dropping eight into coverage (rushing three).
They are the league leaders in six-man fronts, using them 35.9% of the time. They will often overload the line of scrimmage and force the offense to guess whether they are bringing five, six, or seven players via the blitz (they blitz 41.1% of the time, heading into Week 7), or only rushing two or three and clogging the middle of the field.In 2023, Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator for the Lions, stated, “Yeah, it is the two extremes.” As a general principle, we constantly say, “Hey, they are either max-coverage or max-pressure,” when it comes to offensive scenarios. That is something that many teams do when they are in the red zone, but Flores has kind of elevated it. any moment, at any time. This week has been enjoyable in trying to analyze their defense. Although it is difficult, they accomplish a lot, but our team has done a good job of focusing on a few areas.
Due to this upfront deception, there has been a great deal of productivity from one-on-one or free rushers. The Vikings are first in the NFL in quarterback knockdowns (30), second in hurries (13.2%), third in sacks (20), and leading the league in pressures (83; PFF has that total higher but lower in the team rankings). The Vikings presently rank second in the NFL in takeaways per game with an average of 2.6, which is a result of this pressure.
Flores deploys a variety of zone defense strategies behind the well-disguised front. About two thirds of his most well-known looks are adaptations of Cover-2 and Quarters Coverage. They use at least two defensive backs high in coverage in both setups.
Even though Flores’ plan is intricate and well-hidden, certain patterns can be seen.
The Vikings prefer to stick the box with seven or eight players and show Cover-1 with a single-high safety and man coverage on the wide receivers on early downs. At the snap, however, they will drop a defensive back deep into a Cover-2 shell and roll the safety to the side where they apply pressure. They might bring the blitz with zone coverage behind it, or they could drop into a zone shell underneath.
James Foster of the 33rd Team demonstrated this earlier this season in a film analysis of the Vikings’ defense (worth reading, if you are inclined).
tweet.com/hPh4Z4cSFf
— September 25, 2024, James Foster (@JamesFosterNFL)
By making quarterback readings more difficult and then dropping coverage behind the blitz, the strategy hopes to take advantage of common offensive inclinations like throwing into the blitz. This disguise leads to interceptions when defenders drop into zones in which a blitzing defender is vacating, as the quarterback presumes there will be an open passing lane.
To counter this, the Lions will need to do two things well. First, They’ll need to win their one-on-one blocking assignments, giving Jared Goff the time he needs to adjust to the defense taking
removing an area that is normally open. The Lions skill players will need to win early in routes and be prepared for alert and hot routes in order for that to work. Second, the Vikings will have to drop players and apply more heat if the Lions offensive line can be bullies in the run game and bring the aggression to the defensive end of the ball. This will free up more space for the Lions’ pass catchers to operate in.
Ben Johnson has seen this defense twice, but there are many more ideas that have contributed to the Vikings’ success. Flores will also be making last-minute adjustments during the game.
previously and was successful with his strategy. Only three times in 17 games in 2023 did the Vikings allow 30 or more points, and two of those encounters were caused by the Lions. The Packers were the closest with 29, but the Vikings have not let a club exceed 30 points yet this season. However, Detroit has scored more than 40 points in each of their last two games.
This game is going to be the weekend’s must-watch; it is that good.
The Dallas Cowboys are coming off of their second embarrassing home loss of the season, and Troy Aikman feels he has identified one of the team’s main issues.
Aikman discussed the Cowboys’ struggles during a Thursday morning appearance on 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas. The Hall of Fame quarterback was asked if he thinks the time CeeDee Lamb missed during the offseason has negatively impacted Lamb’s chemistry with Dak Prescott. Aikman said the problem he sees is that all of the Cowboys’ wide receivers fail to give full effort on every play.
“The routes are horrible, in my opinion. Beyond this year, I have considered that they run dreadful routes,” Aikman remarked. “I believe CeeDee needs to get better at running routes. It is difficult to play quarterback if you do not know where players are going to be all the time.
That is what I observe. Guys are coming off the line of scrimmage looking lazy. They occasionally run. Usually if they do it’s because they’re anticipating they’re gonna get the football on that play. If they’re not, they don’t, and it all ties together. I’m not impressed with that part of it.”Lamb led the NFL with 135 catches the previous season, finishing with 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns while setting numerous career highs. Prior to signing a massive extension, Lamb did not play in training camp or the preseason. This year, he has 467 yards through six games, but there have been many instances where he and Prescott did not communicate well. The Pro Bowl wide receiver also made a significant admission regarding his behavior earlier in the season.The Cowboys are 3-3 and have lost both of their home games by more than 40 points. Although their defense has had some serious problems, Aikman approaches the game from the quarterback’s point of view. If he has witnessed Lamb and other receivers squandering their routes, the Cowboys coaching staff should likely take note of that.
