Vikings Chalk Talk: Dissecting the Beauty Play Design Behind a Red Zone Touchdown

Kevin O’Connell promised that he would run the ball more. In Week 1, Coach O’Connell did run the ball more. There’s a single run that stands out above the rest.

The Vikings were losing in the 4th quarter. In fact, the Vikings were losing for the great majority of the game. Putting the ball into Aaron Jones’s hands with a couple of great blockers in front of him proved too much for Green Bay to corral. Minnesota never looked back.

Vikings Chalk Talk: Aaron Jones with a TD

Consider the play:

Go ahead and re-watch the play but with a focus on LG Donovan Jackson, who is wearing #74. The sophomore seals off the DT quickly before then climbing to push the linebacker back a bit. Doing so cuts off the flowing tackler, ensuring he can’t be the needed player for where the ball is going.

Next, look at fullback Max Bredeson (#45), the rookie.

He is active prior to the snap, moving toward the right before then kicking out to the left. There are two benefits. For starters, linebackers are commonly taught to follow the fullback since the lead blocker will commonly lead a defender to the play. So, the defense reacts to that pre-snap movement, moving in the opposite direction of where the ball is going.

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Better yet, Bredeson gets more of a running start for the block, meaning the 250-pound rookie can put even more power into his frame.

Look at Jauan Jennings, who is wearing #14. He does a fantastic job of pinning the defensive end, getting underneath the defender’s pads to ensure he can’t work toward the sideline to help tackle Aaron Jones. That’s why Minnesota was so enthusiastic about getting him as the WR3.

And then, of course, there’s Christian Darrisaw (#71).

Like a grizzly bear in a ballerina’s shoes, Darrisaw moves into green grass as an elegant bully to overwhelm a defensive back. Boasting such a formidable frame means that he doesn’t need to be a bulldozer. Rather, he needs to offer the threat of bulldozing, forcing the defender to play slow before shaking loose (too late) to try to take down the runner.

And then there’s Aaron Jones, who is wearing #33.

The veteran runner does a nice job with his internal GPS. His task is to be explosive yet patient, turning on the jets to get to the boundary but doing so in a manner that allows secret service detail to get in place. An immature runner may have turned on the speed too quickly, but not Jones. He lets Bredeson and Darrisaw create an extra gap out wide before earning the yards he needed to put points onto the board.

Finally, consider the work from Kevin O’Connell.

Every defensive coordinator wants to do +1 math. If there are two blockers, there needs to be three defenders. That kind of math allows for two players to get blocked while still having an open guy to bring down the ball carrier. Green Bay didn’t have this setup on the touchdown run.

O’Connell outfoxed Jonathan Gannon in this moment, getting two blockers onto two defenders. These defensive backs were ill-equipped to beat these blocks and then tackle Jones.

After scoring this touchdown, the Vikings never looked back. The final score showed 39-22 in favor of Minnesota.

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