After a trio of disappointing losses, the Minnesota Vikings are once again looking to right the ship as they head to Charlotte to face the Carolina Panthers.
A last ditch effort to save the 2023 season, Kirk Cousins and this pass offense will be relied upon to face a Panthers defense that ranks top ten in yards given up through the air. Carolina is a young, fast defense that enjoys getting after the quarterback.
Buy Vikings TicketsMinnesota has a ton of talent on the offensive side of the ball, which gives us a few options as to how they can combat this Ejiro Evero-coached defense.
Run early, stay on script
Kevin O’Connell made a concerted effort to establish the run early against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Vikings handed the ball to Alexander Mattison five straight times to start their day on offense and it paid dividends for them.
They amounted to 31 yards on a drive that inevitably ended in a fumble, but it set the tone for the offense. They let Los Angeles know that the run game will be a threat and they needed to respect that. Minnesota notched their first 100-yard+ rushing game in the loss and will need a repeat of that this Sunday.
The Carolina defense is not good on early downs. They are second-worst in EPA/play and third-worst in success rate on first and second downs to start the season. It will be up to Mattison and this offensive line to get the run game going and helping Minnesota stay on script and in a rhythm.
Finish drives
In their zone-heavy scheme, Carolina has shown that they are willing to bend, but won’t break.
Their 13 red zone trips as a defense is tied for second-most in the league. They’ve allowed eight touchdowns, which is around league average percentage-wise.
The Vikings have to cash in when they get into the red zone. Their ten red zone trips this season have ended with five touchdowns. While 50% is around league average, Minnesota has to get into the habit of finishing drives in the end zone.
Avoid third and longs
Carolina has a pass-rushing duo of Brian Burns and Yetur Gross-Matos that is nightmarish for offensive lines and coordinators alike. On the interior, Derrick Brown is a force that demands double teams consistently.
These are all players that can make your quarterback uncomfortable, a key to Evero’s philosophy. However, this team gets even more dangerous when linebacker Frankie Luvu can get in on the pass-rushing fun. Two of Luvu’s two-and-a-half sacks this season have come from when the team is in third and 7+. When there are three threats like Burns, Gross-Matos and Brown to rush the passer, it’s a tall task for any offensive line. When Luvu enters the equation, it makes the task borderline impossible.
Minnesota needs to avoid these third and long situations at all costs to give themselves a better chance at sustaining drives throughout the game.
Ball security
The last time the Vikings went an entire game without a turnover was Christmas Eve against the New York Giants. With how the Vikings have started 2023, it may take a Christmas miracle for them to repeat that sort of ball security.
This is a constant problem that the Vikings continue to see throughout the start of this season that keeps killing this offense’s rhythm. The fumble in the Los Angeles Chargers had T.J. Hockenson get enough yards for a first down then ultimately lose the possession after Alohi Gilman rips it out of his hands. A microcosm of the damning effect these turnovers have had on this offense. Every two steps forward they take, these turnovers push them three steps back.
The emphasis on ball security needs to be at an all time high.
