The Minnesota Vikings offense was the star of the show against the Los Angeles Chargers. Yes, they lost by a score of 28-24, but three touchdowns from the unit was impressive.
With the Vikings’ 0-3 start, morale among the fanbase is really low. Who can blame them? A negative seven turnover differential and massive regression from last year isn’t fun, but this team is still good.
Buy Vikings TicketsThe offense is notably really good. They are playing at a very high level with Kirk Cousins leading the NFL in passing yards and Justin Jefferson leads the NFL in receiving yards.
The offense found the end zone three times on Sunday with three different concepts. We broke them down with the all-22.
1. Josh Oliver
This a mesh-type concept. T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver are running mirrored shallow crossing routes but Hockenson gets knocked off of his axis.
Oliver gets open, but there is a linebacker waiting for him. What Kirk Cousins does here is smart. He throws the ball slightly behind Oliver intentionally so he doesn’t run into contact. That allows Oliver to work his way in for a touchdown.
2. K.J. Osborn
This came on fourth and six with the Vikings down 21-10. They needed this really badly and K.J. Osborn delivered.
Justin Jefferson ran a mirrored crossing route from the other side and Addison runs a deep post to clear out the space that Osborn is running into. He catches it, turns up field and does a Reggie Bush-esque dive for the score.
The key to him getting open is the stair step. That is when you are running a crossing route and you take a step forward to change up your path to force the cornerback off of his. It works really well and it gets you separation easily.
3. Justin Jefferson
This is great anticipation from Cousins. He knows Jefferson is going to come open in the window and works his way down the line with his progressions going left to right.
Addison and Hockenson run out routes to the near side with Jefferson running an in-route with Brandon Powell running a curl next to him. He catches the ball at full speed and turns the corner with ease for the score. Nobody moves like Jefferson.
