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The Vikings ran the ball on 55.7% of their offensive plays, the highest single-game rate under O’Connell (according to NFL Next Gen Stats) and just the ninth time in the coach’s 64 regular-season games they have run more than 50% of the time.
They made the runs count, gaining 162 yards on the ground and averaging 0.25 expected points per run, which was a higher rate than in any game under O’Connell other than their Week 7 loss to the Detroit Lions last year.
They built it out of heavy personnel groups, using tight ends T.J. Hockenson, Josh Oliver and Ben Sims for a combined 95 snaps while playing C.J. Ham for 26 of their 64 offensive snaps, using the fullback as a pass blocker or receiving option on 10 snaps while making him a run blocker on 16. The Vikings had multiple tight ends or running backs on the field for nine of McCarthy’s 23 pass attempts; McCarthy’s first completion, to Sims, and his first touchdown pass to Oliver, an 18-yarder, came out of three-tight end sets.
It made the Vikings more efficient through the air, too. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Vikings averaged 0.36 expected points per pass play Sunday, their highest figure of the season and their first with a positive EPA-per-play average with McCarthy as the starter.
Effectively, the Vikings ran something closer to what McCarthy directed at Michigan, whose 563 runs over 15 games during the quarterback’s final year there ranked seventh in the nation, according to Sports Info Solutions.
The way the Vikings played against Washington works best when they have a lead, which might have been another reason why O’Connell took the ball after they won the coin toss, and while they can pair that offensive style with a defense that’s at its best when pressuring quarterbacks, it’s not as feasible if they’re playing from behind and asking McCarthy to play a dropback game.
They will want the quarterback to grow, and they will need to find ways to get the ball to Justin Jefferson, who again was limited, recording two catches on just four targets Sunday. But as McCarthy hit Jordan Addison for 21 yards on a corner route off the Smash concept the Vikings ran in the second quarter, Jefferson (who was running a short hitch on the play) pointed at the quarterback and clapped.
“Justin’s the first progression on the play,” O’Connell said. “He knows he’s covered by a defender that, as you draw it up, probably should be in that area. J.J., in rhythm, takes a second hitch and throws the ball to the void, and Jordan goes and gets the gets the ball.
For the Vikings on Sunday, it worked. As lofty a goal as it was to build a team that can win multiple ways en route to a deep playoff run, the Vikings needed to start with a style that was compatible with how McCarthy is playing now. They seemed to realize it last week, and against the Commanders, they put it into action for the quarterback’s best day of the season.
“When you’re trying to make a game plan friendly for the quarterback, there’s a lot of layers to it,” O’Connell said Monday. “The word ‘simplification’ is getting thrown out. If it was that simple, I would probably get a lot more rest throughout the week. But you’re trying to call it in a way where you’re continuing to maintain the principles of how we want to play. So decision-making, execution, no matter what you’re calling, it’s got to be what it was now. It’s just going to be a consistency factor for all of us.”
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