How the Vikings' offense thrived against the Packers
MINNEAPOLIS — In the 207 days between Kevin O’Connell’s hiring and his first game, the new Minnesota Vikings head coach talked about a lot of things that he wanted to implement when they finally got on the field against the Green Bay Packers. He wanted to be innovative, aggressive and bring together a group that had grown frustrated with the previous regime.
Sometimes a plan just comes together.
The Vikings’ offense totaled 395 yards at an impressive 6.5 yards per play in a 23-7 victory over the Packers at US Bank Stadium.
Playing to Kirk Cousins’ strengths was also a major part of the conversation in the time between O’Connell joining the Vikings and Sunday’s game. Cousins walked out of the stadium with an impressive 118.9 QB rating and in ESPN’s QBR, which factors for game situation, he put up a mark (80.7) that would have been his fourth best performance all last year. His comfort was no better evidenced than by a 64-yard pass to Justin Jefferson in which the veteran QB stepped up in the pocket and found his star receiver wide open.
“Kirk had a great movement in the pocket to keep his eyes up, I thought that was big time,” O’Connell said. “His pocket presence today was really, really good…A couple of times, I thought they were close to having him in the grasp and he knew where to go with the ball safely. He checked it down when he needed to but pushed the ball down the field when [opportunities] presented themselves and was really, really happy with the way Kirk played.”
From Day 1 of the offseason Jefferson made it clear that he was excited about the new offense and had plans to be known as the best receiver in the NFL by the end of the 2022 season. He certainly made good on those quotes from the opening kickoff. He converted a third down and scored a touchdown on the opening drive. And even after his fast start, the Packers had no answer. Some of the time that was because of Jefferson’s raw skill, other times he was schemed open against linebackers or found himself against no defender at all.
“We moved him around a lot, we asked him to play multiple spots,” O’Connell said. “He's not just an X receiver that lines up over here and dictates coverage. We're not going to allow that to happen and I credit Adam and KJ and Jalen and obviously Irv and the rest of the group. They play a complementary role in helping get Justin open a few times.”
Going into the game we expected to see Jefferson matched up more often against Packers star corner Jaire Alexander. Instead the opportunities for Alexander to shut down Jefferson appeared to be limited.
“That’s the thing that I like about our offense,” Jefferson said. “We move so much and we have so many players on our offense that you can’t really stick with one player.”
Irv Smith Jr., who said he played limited snaps because the team had a “gameplan” for him coming back from thumb surgery, said that it didn’t matter what the Packers’ defense tried to do against Jefferson, he was going to be open regardless.
“It doesn’t surprise me, he’s a walking mismatch,” Smith Jr. said. “You want to double team him? OK. They were probably double teaming him a lot today and he was getting open. It just shows the player he is.”
Of course, the Vikings’ offensive line played a role. Cousins was only sacked one time and had time to throw throughout the afternoon and rarely found himself being peeled off the turf.
“I think you’re going to see a better offensive line from us than you’ve seen the past couple of years,” right tackle Brian O’Neill said.
Part of that proclamation comes because the Vikings aimed to improve the right guard position. While rookie Ed Ingram got beat for the lone sack, overall there was not a glaring weakness in the O-line, which has often been the case in the past.
“He was really mature with how he handled different situations that came up, his communication,” O’Neill said of Ingram. “The way he bounced back from new looks and different adversity that will hit during a game, he handled himself like an adult.”
Christian Darrisaw, who has taken a leap forward in Year 2 after his first full healthy offseason, emphasized that practicing against edge rushers Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter during camp prepared them for the violent Packers D-line.
“Those guys that we’re going up against on the other side of the ball full speed, I feel like we have one of the best defenses in the league so getting reps against those guys prepared us and it showed today,” Darrisaw said. “Some teams don’t have those two stud defensive ends rushing. Getting those reps against those guys is great because they’re not the same. Two different guys, unique moves and skill set. Me and Brian going against those guys…it’s great.”
Though several Vikings players admitted in the weeks leading up to Week 1 that the offense was complex and that they had tough practices throughout the summer during camp, there were no obvious signs of confusion or rust from having the starters skip the preseason — a new strategy of O’Connell’s to prioritize the team’s health.
“I had a good feeling about it but you never know until you get out there and try to do it,” O’Neill said. “All through camp if guys outside of media asked me, [I would say], ‘I love it, I love everything about it.’”
“Coach [O’Connell] has done an amazing job of preparing us every day,” Smith Jr. said.
The Vikings’ head coach managed his first game with aggression in most cases. He went for a fourth down to score the first touchdown and dialed up a 22-yard pass from Cousins to Adam Thielen on a late-game third down in which they could have punted and played conservatively to hold the lead.
“There was multiple times that our O-linemen, receivers, backs were coming over saying 'Coach more tempo, more tempo.’ We're going to attack on our terms,” O’Connell said. “You do that because of your efficiency.”
So everything came together against a team that has lots of talent on defense and the highest of expectations. But it’s worth mentioning that the first three weeks of Cousins last year saw him post QB ratings of 106.8, 122.4 and 128.4. The Vikings will need to turn around and reproduce what they did on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles next week on Monday Night Football.
How will they keep it going week after week? For a team that struggled in recent years with consistency issues, Darrisaw summed up how they can carry success from week to week.
“Trust,” he said.
Kevin O’Connell certainly earned that trust in his first game.
Related: Aaron Rodgers to Justin Jefferson: 'Best player in the game today'
Related: 5 things that stood out in the Vikings' win over the Packers
