14 minute read
A win is a win, but sometimes it doesn’t always feel great. The Vikings offense hasn’t fully gelled yet, and there are multiple factors why. The first full game from Kyler Murray and there was some good and some bad. Another elite defensive performance delivered the Vikings their third win of the season, while the offense continues to get sorted.
Let’s start with the good: the Minnesota Vikings remain undefeated, after a 23-16 win in Tampa Bay. The deep passing game looked good, putting together its strongest performance since Sam Bradford was under center in 2016.
The Vikings offense did put points on the board and looked sharp early in the game. Justin Jefferson went down after the first possession, leaving the team without their top pass catcher. We’ve yet to see Murray and Jefferson play more than a couple drives together, and they had two nice completions early in the game, including on the first play of the game.
Murray also made a few plays early in the game with his legs, including a nice scramble for a first down on a 3rd and long. His mobility and creativity can provide a spark and stress level to a defense.
Now, the not-so-good: the offense was out of sorts for most of the afternoon. Sans the first drive and the deep touchdown pass to Jordan Addison, it was a slow, grinding day, where nothing really developed.
The Bucs didn’t respect the Vikings run game, as they were able to get many stops or allow only a short gain in early down runs. This does not mix well with the play action passing game, one the Vikings relied on heavy in the game.
There were far too many stalled drives, and the offense seems to be learning to play with each other still. There appeared to be multiple miscommunications, between multiple parties. Whether it was a missed blocking assignment, routes in the same area, or missed throws on the route, nothing really appeared to click on Sunday.
However, the positive is there appears to be opportunity with the offense. There were multiple routes open in the intermediate and deep portions of the field. The run blocking had some missed assignments, which should also be cleaned up relatively easily. Murray appeared a little rusty and hesitant, as he gains more confidence in the offense, there should be sharp improvements.
This week, I’ll highlight a few plays that would have contributed immensely to the game. If the offense can gel and work cohesively, there is no reason the last ranked unit in the NFL couldn’t become a good unit. Let’s dive in!
Jump ahead:
Offensive Stats & Key Metrics
Total offense:
- 16 offensive points
- 55 total plays
- 32 passing plays
- 3 sacks allowed
- 23 run plays
- 230 total yards
- 152 passing yards
- 78 rushing yards
- 3.4 yards per rush
- 9 first downs
- 2/15 (13%) on third down
- 1/1 (100%) on fourth down
- 1 giveaway (INT)
Personnel Splits:
- 55 total plays
- 32 (58%) in 11 personnel
- 14 (25%) in 12 personnel
- 5 (9%) plays in 21 personnel
- 4 (7%) plays in 22 personnel
Key Callouts:
The first full game from Kyler Murray, and the offense appears to still be gelling together. They came out hot, with three solid gains, including a 22 yard dig route to Jefferson to set the tone. The o-line was creating holes for Jones to run through, and picked up 14 yards on his first two carries.
However, Jefferson left after the first drive and the offense struggled for nearly the rest of the afternoon.
In the previous two weeks, I’ve highlighted the run game efficiency, and this week saw some regression:
From the film, there were multiple times where Brandel was on the ground after missing, or barely impacting, his assignment. There were a couple of times where the o-line wasn’t communicating or missing blocks, too. All five were guilty of this throughout the game.
The Buccaneers also have a stout run defense, currently ranked second in the NFL, only allowing 76 yards per game. It was going to be difficult to run on this group, and the run blitzes, gap integrity, and pursuit by the Bucs made this an extremely tough day for the Vikings run game.
The passing game left a lot to be desired, too. There were a handful of missed opportunities, whether it was on miscommunications on routes, throws, or blocking assignments. At times, there were wide open receivers, but the protection was breaking down, and Murray was already starting to scramble before the throw could be open.
One positive was Murray was looking downfield, albeit more towards the sidelines:
Looking to push the ball down the field is a positive, especially in the KOC offensive system. If Murray’s confidence can match his aggressiveness, then this offense can start opening up more, and quickly. There is some work needed with throwing across the middle and in the intermediate areas, and I will be monitoring this throughout the next few weeks.
The biggest concern I have right now is around extending drives and keeping the defense off the field. The Vikings are one of the worst teams in early down situations right now, causing for too many third and longs:
Against the Bucs, the Vikings had six three and outs, including three in a row in the third quarter. Poor run game efficiency is partially to blame, and KOC needs to find better success on first down to create opportunities to extend drives. If this can improve, the offense will be even better positioned to win games.
Offensive Play Breakdowns
While the offense this week had more than a few frustrating moments, there was a good amount put on film to feel positive about. There’s room for improvement, and the defense and special teams is buying the offense time to get everything sorted out.
However, time is hard to come by, especially in the NFL. The offense will need to take steps to improve, and do it quickly. The good news is there were plays and moments that shows this unit is close, and they should improve quickly.
This week, I’m going to highlight a couple of plays that show these missed opportunities, and why I believe in the improvement of this unit in the next couple of weeks, even starting on Sunday.
Addison Missed Dagger
The play call: 11 Gun Duo Tight R Offset Dagger
The concept: Dagger. Half field read, where slot receiver goes vertical, outside receiver runs a deep-in route, and the third receiving option (the RB in this case) runs a flat or quick out. The goal is to stretch the defense and hit the dig (deep in) behind the LBs
The breakdown:
Early in the second quarter, the Vikings offense was starting to sputter and had a few three and outs. However, there were opportunities, including on this third and long on their fourth drive of the game.
The pre-snap look puts the Vikings in a close gun formation, forcing the Buccaneers to play a tighter defensive formation:
The Bucs come out in a Nickel 4-Over Double Mug look, with nine players in the box. On the backend, they are showing a Cover-1 look, with the DBs lined up against the WRs and Hockenson, and Anzalone (#34) responsible for Aaron Jones.
After the Vikings snap the ball, the Bucs retreat from their mugged up look into a traditional Cover-3 coverage:
The Vikings are running a Dagger concept, the perfect play to beat this style of defense:
There’s a window to get the ball to Addison behind the linebackers on the dig route, which would have resulted in a first down. The goal is to put the LBs in conflict, which was done by the play action fake and the dig route behind them.
However, the play breaks down, and Murray doesn’t rip this ball. He had decent protection, but zooming in, Vita Vea is starting to create pressure in the middle of the pocket:
This causes Murray to hesitate and not throw this ball to Addison, who he appears to have his eyes on. From watching the film throughout the game, this happened a few times, and it could be caused by a few factors.
First, Murray played in his first full game in almost a year on Sunday, so it is safe to assume that there is some rust that he is working through.
Second, he is also a shorter QB, and Vea is one of the biggest interior defensive lineman in the NFL, so any pressure up the middle in the pocket can severely reduce throwing windows. There is also a case that as Vea collapsed the pocket, Kyler’s vision of Addison and the linebackers was impacted, causing the hesitation in making the throw.
I think this is easily fixable, and something that Murray, KOC, and the whole offensive staff will see on tape and have feedback on. As I mentioned above, this was Murray’s first full game in almost a year, and at times he looked to be playing with a little too much excitement and hesitation. It was also his first full game in a new offensive system, so it makes sense that the timing and anticipation isn’t fully there yet.
However, I believe with additional time on task, confidence, and watching film, these are the throws Murray and the Vikings will start taking and benefiting from. The good news is, the Vikings WRs were getting open, even if some of the throwing windows were tight.
Murray hasn’t always been the strongest middle of the field thrower, but he has flashed the ability throughout his career, including a dig route to Justin Jefferson on the first play of the game:
With additional practice and confidence, this can become a strength of the Vikings passing offense again. Murray needs to trust himself and his WRs in these situations, and the passing game can start taking leaps towards improvement.
Levels Digs Busted Protection
The play call: 11 Duo Y-Jet Trey Tight L PA Level Digs
The concept: Deep Levels. The goal is to stretch the defense vertically, with three routes ranging from deep to short, causing the defense to be in conflict, opening up a layered throw.
The breakdown:
This play had an opportunity for a big chunk, especially to Addison on the deep dig route. The Vikings come out under center, and are in a six minute drill as they look to hold on or expand on their four point lead in the fourth quarter.
This was their 13th drive of the game, and in a situation of running out the clock. This play was their seventh play of the drive, where they executed a few runs and swing passes, mixed in with a good blend of play action.
The Bucs defense was looking to stop the run and get their offense another chance on offense to drive down the field to win the game, and they were vulnerable to play action shots.
The Vikings knew this, and that is exactly what they drew up on this first down play in Bucs territory. Unfortunately, the execution was not strong, and the play was blown up before the layers could fully develop.
On the pre-snap look, the Vikings came out under center, in a two-by-two look before Jauan Jennings went in motion to create a Trey (2 WRs, 1 TE on the LOS) formation:
The Bucs are in a single-high safety (middle of field closed; MFC) look, with eight defenders in the box to slow down and stop the run. It also appears they are in a Cover-3 coverage, with both outside corners playing up in tight coverage.
Post-snap, the Bucs do drop into Cover-3, and the play action fake caused the second level defenders to all shuffle their feet, giving Addison (top of screen) and Felton (bottom of screen) an opportunity to get behind them:
With the second level defenders reacting to the play action fake, Addison has an opportunity to get deep on his dig route, with Felton clearing out the backside corner and middle field safety.
Jauan Jennings is on a deep curl route, which stops over the ball, getting the linebackers to stop with him, or continue dropping back to cut off Addison, this is where Murray is reading.
Jones is on a flat route after not needing to pick anyone up in pass protection. This forced the seam (curl/flat) defender to drive on his route, creating a lot of green grass to get the dig to Addison:
The play is perfectly executed, and all Murray has to do is put a ball put to Addison to get into the red zone, and a chance to go up by two scores. That’s the good portion…
The bad portion is the play breaks down before Murray has a chance to rip this ball. With the play action fake, the offensive line is showing a zone blocking scheme towards the single receiver side:
To fully sell the fake, the action needs to look like a standard inside zone run, with the full offensive line stepping in sync towards their assigned responsibility, in this case, the gap to their right.
Where the play breaks down is on the left side of the play, where Josh Oliver is left one-on-one with a defensive end. Oliver is one of the best blocking TEs in the NFL, but it’s not always a favorable matchup for the offense:
As Murray hits the top of his drop back, Oliver loses leverage on his block, causing Murray to step up into the pocket, where he runs nearly into the back of Brandel and Fries on the double team of Vita Vea.
As Murray is stepping up is right when Addison and Jennings are breaking on their routes, forcing Murray to come off his down field read and look to make a play escaping the pass rush:
If Oliver could have stayed on the edges hip and forced him up field, then Murray could have stepped up into the pocket and delivered the throw to Addison for the explosive.
You may notice that Darrisaw isn’t fully blocking someone and is looking to support Jackson on his block. This is designed in this manner due to the play action fake.
All in all, it’s a great route combination and fake drawn up by the Vikings. The Bucs defender made the better play though, which caused the play to not fully develop.
A slightly better block by Oliver, and there may be a slightly higher confidence in the offense. Instead, the play resulted in a sack, with the offense stalling out two plays later, ending with a deep Will Reichard field goal.
Final Thoughts
The offense has highs and lows this season, and there’s a lot of room for improvement. The plays and scheme does appear to be working, but the execution and communication is what is lacking. This causes major issues, resulting in an inefficient unit so far.
The good news is that nothing really stands out as a fundamental issue. Everything should be fixable with more time on task and practice. The unit has an opportunity to ignite a spark and collectively improve against a Dolphins team that has been less than spectacular in 2026.
Kyler Murray’s confidence improving will greatly help all parties, especially the receiving unit. As mentioned, he’s been big game hunting, and needs to take what the defense gives him. This will better setup the explosives in the pass game, something that is already producing, but in a more efficient manner.
The run game has had ups and downs. Aaron Jones has been solid, making good cuts in the zone run game, but the holes aren’t always there. Brandel has missed a few blocks, and has been on the ground more than a few times this season. If he can improve his blocking and communication with Fries and Jackson, the run game should slightly improve.
Right now, they need to at least stabilize the run game until Jordan Mason returns after the bye week. Using Kyler’s legs, screens, and RPOs would be a great way to extend the rushing offense. The Vikings did this early against the Bucs, but quickly went away from it. Even just a handful times a game to keep the defense honest would greatly benefit the whole unit, but especially the offensive line.
The Vikings return home against the Miami Dolphins. What some are deeming this as a “revenge” game for Brian Flores, the spotlight should be on the offense and getting stability against a weaker defensive unit. There’s been a lot of noise around KOC’s play calling and Murray’s play, now it’s time to ball out and quiet down the critics.
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