What Went Wrong, Week 4: Vikings vs. Broncos
At this point last year, the Minnesota Vikings were 2-2, having just beat the Atlanta Falcons behind an eye-opening performance from rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. In his first NFL start, Bridgewater completed 19 passes for 317 yards and even scored a touchdown with his legs. The elation in Minnesota would quickly end, though, as the franchise’s newfound quarterback missed the next game and watched as his team fell to the Green Bay Packers.
Suffering from the humiliation at Lambeau Field, the Vikings continued their losing streak against the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills to fall to 2-5. Bridgewater struggled, the running game sputtered without Adrian Peterson, and the defense was a sieve at best against the run. Their 2-2 start, kicked off by a drubbing of the St. Louis Rams, wasn’t enough to keep pace with the NFC’s playoff contenders.
This year, the Vikings find themselves in a familiar, yet much different position. Though they enter the Week 5 bye at 2-2, this is a team that’s deeper, more talented, and playing at a higher level than their 2014 counterparts through four games. The record doesn’t necessarily reflect this, and an ugly Week 1 loss to the 49ers swayed expectations early, but three strong performances against the Lions, Chargers, and Broncos put the Vikings in excellent position to compete for an NFC playoff spot this season.
The Vikings won’t return to the field until Week 6, when they host the Kansas City Chiefs at TCF Bank Stadium in a crucial inter-conference matchup. Until then, head coach Mike Zimmer will have much to assess in his time off, including a few ugly trends in his team’s two losses. After the jump, we’ll dive into the game film from the Vikings’ Week 4 loss to the Denver Broncos and try to figure out what went wrong. As the famous saying goes, “The eye in the sky never lies…”
Protecting the Franchise
My biggest concern heading into last week’s game was the play of the offensive line against Denver’s crop of elite pass rushers, and on the Vikings’ first drive, those concerns were affirmed. Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips does and excellent job disguising and designing blitzes to get to the quarterback, and his plan worked, as Teddy Bridgewater was sacked seven times on Sunday.
The Broncos are dangerous because they can generate pressure with a four-man rush, a three-man rush, zone blitzes, and safety blitzes. T.J. Ward, for example, sacked Bridgewater twice and sealed the victory with a strip-sack in the game’s final minute. After the game, Zimmer complimented Denver’s speed on the defensive side of the ball.
“To start (we) were shocked at Denver’s defensive speed,” said Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer. “They hit us with a couple blitzes that we hadn’t seen. They had the strong safety coming off the edge.” Four of those seven sacks came in the fourth quarter, and a number of Bridgewater’s drop backs were either hurried or cut short because of the lack of a clean pocket.
(2:01 – 1st) Bridgewater sacked at DEN 43 for -8 yards (S.Ray)
Image courtesy of NFL Game Pass
The Vikings line up in 12-personnel, with two tight ends inline and Adrian Peterson offset left in the shotgun. The Broncos walk Ward up to the outside shade of Rudolph (right) and bump rookie defensive end Shane Ray to the outside shoulder of Vikings right tackle T.J. Clemmings. At the snap, Ray rushes inside, crashing hard across Clemmings’ face into the B-Gap, while Ward comes untouched off the outside shoulder of Rudolph. Clemmings, who Pro Football Focus graded as the Vikings’ worst offensive linemen this game, has struggled with speed rushes this season and was beat easily by Ray on the play.
Image courtesy of NFL Game Pass
On the opposite side of the line, Kalil, Fusco, Berger, and Harris handle the rush well, creating a clean pocket for Bridgewater to step into. However, Adrian Peterson is forced to come across the formation and block Ward — a tough task for any running back, but especially so for Peterson, who still struggles in pass protection despite his unparalleled strength and explosiveness. As you can see in the image above, the rush is in Bridgewater’s face before he can reach the top of his drop, and the quarterback has no choice but to take the sack.
Image courtesy of NFL Game Pass
This play is a perfect example of the term team football. Four players on the offensive line create a pocket for their quarterback, but one missed assignment and a poor effort from the running back destroy what could have been a successful throw to MyCole Pruitt (top right). Coaches never want to see their right tackle grasping for air, and no one expects T.J. Ward to forklift Adrian Peterson, but that’s exactly what happened on this particular play. Bridgewater should have recognized Ward as a blitzer, but failed to slide his protection and/or move Peterson to his right, creating an easier block for the running back.
(12:05 – 4th) Bridgewater sacked at MIN 35 for -8 yards (sack split by S.Williams and M.Jackson)
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On the first sack, T.J. Clemmings and and Adrian Peterson were beat with athleticism on the outside. Here, Wade Phillips schemes a perfectly-timed blitz that’s well executed by Denver’s defensive tackles, leading to miscommunication between Joe Berger and Brandon Fusco and a sack of Teddy Bridgewater. Malik Jackson (No. 97) crashes hard across Berger’s face, flying from the B-Gap to the opposite A-Gap. Once he occupies Berger and Fusco, Sylvester Williams (No. 92) loops around to the other A-Gap, creating difficult blocking angles for the Vikings’ interior offensive linemen.
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Fusco slides to his right to double-team Jackson, turning his shoulders and losing the leverage to pick up the looping Williams. He doesn’t disengage from the double team in time, and Williams beats him around the corner. To the right, Jackson drops his shoulders and bends the corner, lowering his center of gravity and preventing Berger from cutting off his rush lane. Like Clemmings on the first sack, Berger is beat with a speed rush and lets the defender slide across his face. Whether it was miscommunication or athleticism, the Broncos whipped the Vikings’ offensive line. As are so many problems in the NFL, these issues are correctable, and John Sullivan’s return to the field later this year will improve the communication across the line.
Notes and Observations
Although the game was close until the end, we saw shades of the same Vikings who lost to the 49ers Week 1. The lack of a running game — outside of Peterson’s fourth quarter touchdown — forced the ball into Teddy Bridgewater’s hands, but his solid performance couldn’t save this team from defeat. He played well, but the game swung on two plays in the second quarter.
The first, a missed 38-yard field goal, marked a wasted drive for the Vikings, who had marched deep into Broncos territory. Blair Walsh’s struggles have been well-documented, but his miss at this point in the game kept Denver’s lead intact and led to quick 10-point swing. On the following play from scrimmage, Broncos running back Ronnie Hillman took an outside run 72 yards for a momentum-swinging touchdown. The play looked eerily similar to those run by the 49ers, and again, Vikings defenders lost contain and took poor angles to the ballcarrier.
- The safety position opposite Harrison Smith is still a problem. Robert Blanton took poor angles in the run game, and missed open field tackles on free-running Broncos receivers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see newcomer Brock Vereen get his shot during the bye week.
- Terence Newman struggled on the Broncos’ final drive, giving up a critical reception to Emmanuel Sanders on second down and nearly losing a deep ball battle.
- Stefon Diggs played well in his regular season debut, but struggled with ball security and fumbles. He fumbled the ball twice, giving pause to the notion that he’ll replace Jarius Wright in the slot.
- The Vikings miss Justin Trattou. The veteran defensive end has played well against the run, and Danielle Hunter missed a key tackle that sprung Hillman loose on the touchdown run.
Xavier Rhodes: Injury Lingering?
Xavier Rhodes is one of the league’s best young cornerbacks, but his penchant for grabbing opposing wide receivers led to a handful of penalties on Sunday. He played in the game despite suffering a concussion the week before, and I wonder if the side-effects played a role in his sloppy play. In my opinion, Rhodes played well, and many of the calls were ticky-tacky decisions by the officials. The examples below involve some standard hand-fighting, but nothing out of the ordinary from Rhodes and Thomas.
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Rhodes is playing off-man coverage, and Thomas attempts to beat him down the field with a double move. Manning nearly throws the ball out of bounds (and far out of reach for Thomas), but Rhodes is still called for defensive pass interference. I can understand defensive holding, as Rhodes slightly grabs the arm of the receiver, but the action doesn’t prevent Thomas from sprinting downfield. And the Oscar goes to….Demaryius Thomas.
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At one of the most critical points of the game, with Denver driving down the field for the go-ahead score, Rhodes is called for defensive holding, giving the Broncos an automatic first down. This play, as I mentioned on Twitter, nagged at me — Rhodes is well within five yards, and Thomas throws his hands up to engage Rhodes. Rhodes counters by jamming Thomas, and as Thomas breaks to the outside, releases his grip. Thomas, meanwhile, shoves Rhodes down the field, creating separation to drive toward a poorly-thrown Manning ball. The referees called this penalty after Thomas begged for a flag, and the decision helped the Broncos drive the field and score.
The 2015 Vikings are a much better team than their 2014 counterparts, but the same mistakes continue to pop up on film. Until John Sullivan returns, the interior offensive linemen will continue to struggle with communication, and T.J. Clemmings’s slow growth is hurting the unit’s efforts in pass protection. On defense, the Vikings need to shore up their play against the outside running attack and cut down the penalties, which plagued them throughout Sunday’s game.
Fortunately for Mike Zimmer, he has time to unwind by the fire, drink a glass of red wine, and watch plenty of tape on his iPad during the bye week.
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