"Go get him, we've got a chance."  BANG! "Is he in?" Yes, he is.

It was a beautiful third-and-4 drop-into-the-bucket from Max Brosmer to Dontae Fleming up the right sideline for 26 yards with 9:10 to go in the third quarter of Friday night's exhibition at Denver.

The catch ruling was challenged by the Broncos but upheld after a review. It was one of too few offensive highlights at Mile High Stadium as the Vikings finished their preseason with a 34-6 loss.

But it was part of an inside look at the inner workings of Minnesota's depth offense that was a thrill, thanks to Head Coach Kevin O'Connell joining Paul Allen, Pete Bercich and Ben Leber on the television broadcast for the entire third quarter, like he's done once each of the past two preseasons.

Hearing Offensive Coordinator Wes Phillips calling plays in one ear, and the Vikings Entertainment trio bantering in the other, O'Connell excitedly and insightfully provided a unique peek at the game.

He expressed the intent of play designs before they unfolded. Like, on the first snap of the second half, Phillips asked for and got the green light to stretch the field with a four verticals concept, which video gamers know well, O'Connell joked. Brosmer made the right read by checking down to RB Zavier Scott for 7 yards — a good "drive-starter" — because the defense presented quarters coverage, which splits the deep part of the field into four quadrants to protect against deep passes.

"He's smarter than I am," O'Connell quipped moments after encouraging Brosmer to "send it" before the snap. "But [that coverage] still leaves the Mike linebacker 1-on-1 on the halfback (Scott)."

There was a learning moment too on that first drive. O'Connell introduced a "pick" play that allowed Brosmer to hit Fleming on a quick in-breaker after Dillon Bell ran the opposite way in front of Fleming's face and took his teammate's defender, who was in bump coverage, out of the frame. Bell was overly physical, though, and drew a flag for offensive pass interference — a real rookie mistake.

"Oh, no way!" was O'Connell's initial reaction. "No way!" he shouted into his microphone, again.

But after watching it back, he said, "That's a classic example; that might be the first time Dillon Bell has ever run that play. … It's a good call by the refs. We've got to execute that without a penalty."

The next offensive series began with a positive rush by Scott, setting up a second-and-6 — and a play call by Phillips that O'Connell stated he liked: "If we get man coverage right here, we're going to take a shot at a play-action pass," he relayed to the crew in the booth. Except, Denver showed zone, so Brosmer "canned" the original play and ran a screen to Scott that wasn't caught cleanly.

Minnesota got the man look it wanted on the next snap, prompting Allen's BANG reaction.

"It was a double move; I made the defender stop his feet," Fleming said postgame, adding that he trusted his own feet stayed within bounds. He said, "No ifs, ands or but about it — I was confident."

Brosmer, who didn't start the contest but replaced Carson Wentz after two possessions and finished 20-for-35 passing with 165 yards, described it as the "perfect coverage for that play."

He recalled a similar scenario during the Giants game two weeks ago but a different outcome.

"This time, great protection [and] Dontae ran a perfect route," Brosmer said. "And that's one of Dontae's abilities that he's just really good at — just tracking the ball in the air. I didn't throw the best ball. I could have pushed him up field a little longer, but he was able to track it over his shoulder, and with not a perfectly thrown ball, to still get two feet down and having guys that you can trust where you can kind of put anywhere in the for vicinity, as a quarterback, I'm not really worried about him."

When the possession picked back up following a TV break for the review, the Vikings went backward due to another offensive pass interference penalty. Brosmer wound up throwing incomplete on first-and-20 and then hitting Marshall Lang for 11 yards to create a manageable third down, and Brosmer went back to Lang but couldn't link with the tight end. O'Connell noted he was hoping to see another op for Fleming in a 1-on-1 on the backside, but the coverage was disguised "a lot of the night," so the pre-snap picture wasn't always easy for Brosmer to decipher. "But right there, they just played a true half on the backside, which kind of eliminated our chance to work the 1-on-1 with Flem', which I would have loved to see.

"I think he's playing fast tonight," O'Connell added. "He's had a couple nice catch and runs."

Denver controlled the ball for the rest of the third quarter, running 13 plays before adding four more and scoring a touchdown early in the final stanza. Selfishly, it limited the stimulating offensive chitchat that taps into O'Connell's wheelhouse but made room to highlight defenders and answer a more philosophical question from Leber, who wondered how K.O. balances leading versus players leading.

"It's always my job to set the direction," O'Connell stated. "You talk a lot about what it's going to take to win games each week during the regular season; it's more about the culture of your building. It's more about guys understanding how we create an environment where guys can become the best versions of themselves. The first way to do that is create a sense of belonging.

"When you feel ownership as a player, it's going to matter a little bit more to you. That's where the culture of doing things for the man next to you and kind of that selfless culture even at our level can be a winning edge," he added. "And in the end, myself and Flo' (Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores) and Hat (Special Teams Coordinator Matt Daniels) and my coaching staff, we're setting a course and the direction. But it's only going to go as far as these players will go. We've got great leadership."

Then, O'Connell interrupted his train of thought and said, "We've got to go make a play here."

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