EAGAN, Minn. – Purple Insider's Matthew Coller wrote about the **Vikings offense having all the answers** against a vaunted 49ers defense.
As part of a film review, Coller highlighted several key plays where Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell schemed quarterback Kirk Cousins, running back Alexander Mattison and receiver Jordan Addison into successful situations.
We begin with the first play of the game, an explosive run from Alexander Mattison. The Vikings line up with two tight ends to the play side of the field, both of which do their jobs in creating a running lane for Mattison.
Josh Oliver takes the defensive end, and T.J. Hockenson gives a little bit of help before moving on to the linebacker and taking him for a ride as Mattison cuts back up field. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw explodes out of his stance and chases down superstar linebacker Fred Warner, who he pushes out of the way with one big shove and then makes sure that he doesn't fight back. New left guard Dalton Risner reach blocks Javon Hargrave and gets to his outside shoulder and walls him off (and keeps hustling through the entire run). Garrett Bradbury tracks down a defensive back, who wanted nothing of a 1-on-1 with the center and overruns the play trying to escape the block. This is like a picture of a crowd where you can spot something different every time you see it.
After analyzing a catch by Hockenson in the first quarter, Coller broke down Addison's first touchdown, referring to it as a "simple pitch and catch because of the design and 49ers misstep in coverage."
The Vikings line up with a bunch formation to Cousins' left side and run a shallow cross with Hockenson, an in-breaking route by Brandon Powell and a crosser from Addison. The 49ers play zone, leaving the safety to pick up Addison across the middle of the field. He appears to be late in recognizing the route, and the linebacker (Dre Greenlaw) can't get turned around fast enough to cover Addison.
On every one of these plays it's worth watching the offensive line but take a closer look at right tackle Brian O'Neill, who held on just long enough to keep the rush from reaching Cousins despite the inside rusher getting an edge on a stunt.
Considering the Vikings racked up 452 yards of offense on Monday, there are several more plays analysis.
**Click here** to read the Purple Insider's full film review.
Pioneer Press on Why Vikings Shouldn't be Trade Deadline Sellers
The NFL trade deadline is less than a week away.
Pioneer Press writer Dane Mizutani explained **why the Vikings should not be sellers** come Tuesday's deadline.
All of a sudden, the Vikings are 3-4 and right back in talk of the playoffs. They are seemingly in decent position to chase down the Detroit Lions in the NFC North.
That should make the decision pretty easy for Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in the short term. After nearly a month of various reports indicating that the Vikings might be willing to go into tank mode, it's now safe to assume they won't be sellers at the trade deadline.
Mizutani detailed why exploring trades with Cousins, Danielle Hunter or K.J. Osborn should be "off the table."
There are winnable games ahead, with the Vikings slated to play the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos over the next month.
It's not absurd to think the Vikings could get extremely hot and rattle off a half-dozen wins in a row. Plus, they could be getting Jefferson back in a few weeks, which could make them a potentially dangerous team the second half of the season.
Now, there are inevitably going to be parts of the fan base that criticize the Vikings if they aren't sellers at the trade deadline. Those people have already decided they have no problem neglecting the present as they set their sights on the future.
It's the byproduct of a generation that grew up playing the video game Madden, where it is commonplace to simulate to the end of the season without any repercussions.
That's not how it works in the real world. If the Vikings were to trade away a bunch of players after earning their most impressive win to date, they would run the risk of losing the locker room. This group has gotten itself back into the playoff race. It deserves to see how far it can take this thing.
