Here’s Where the Vikings Offense Ranks Through Week 7
Josh Frey
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Week 7 of the NFL season is officially behind us.
The Minnesota Vikings managed to shock the world on Monday night by upsetting the San Francisco 49ers and re-inserting themselves into the playoff picture.
Today, we will be breaking down where the Vikings offense ranks through Week 7 as a whole, and where individual players stand. Shout out to Pro-Football-Reference, Pro Football Focus, and nfeloapp.com for the numbers that went into this article. Stay tuned for the defensive rankings later today as well.
NOTE: Individual PFF Grades are sorted to include players with at least 20% of dropbacks, carries, or targets. With many of the teams now having their bye weeks behind them, we’ll also be transitioning towards per game numbers for the team statistics.
Team Offense
Total Offense
- Points per Game: 21.6 (18th)
- Total Yards per Game: 354.9 (11th)
- Plays per Game: 61.3 (21st)
- Yards per Play: 5.8 (5th)
- Turnovers per Game: 2.0 (3rd-most)
- First Downs per Game: 20.0 (13th)
- Penalties per Game: 5.0 (T-3rd-fewest)
- Third-Down Conversion Percentage: 38.4% (20th)
- Red Zone TD Percentage: 47.4% (24th)
- PFF Grade: 79.8 (4th)
- Total EPA/play: -0.03 (13th)
If the Vikings play like they did on Monday, there aren’t too many teams that can beat them. Even still, there were areas to improve. They had two red zone possessions end in field goals, further dropping their red zone TD percentage.
A great sign was their ability to convert on third down. This is something they haven’t done for much of the year as can be seen in their 20th-place ranking in that area. If the Vikings can improve these things and limit turnovers, their offense can be a great unit.
Passing Offense
- Completions per Game: 27.6 (1st)
- Pass Attempts per Game: 40.0 (2nd)
- Passing Yards per Game: 280.0 (3rd)
- Net Yards per Attempt: 6.6 (9th)
- Passing TDs per Game: 2.29 (T-1st)
- Passing First Downs per Game: 14.1 (2nd)
- Interceptions per Game: 0.71 (T-15th)
- Passing PFF Grade: 81.7 (5th)
- Pass-Blocking PFF Grade: 75.9 (3rd)
- Receiving PFF Grade: 72.9 (11th)
- EPA/pass: -0.04 (19th)
Rushing Offense
- Carries per Game: 19.1 (32nd)
- Rushing Yards per Game: 74.9 (30th)
- Yards per Carry: 3.9 (22nd)
- Rushing TDs per Game: 0 (32nd)
- Rushing First Downs per Game: 3.29 (32nd)
- Fumbles Lost per Game: 1.29 (Most)
- Rushing PFF Grade: 65.1 (30th)
- Run-Blocking PFF Grade: 79.0 (1st)
- EPA/run: -0.16 (22nd)
A pet peeve for the Vikings offense remains their production in the ground game. They broke off a few big runs on Monday night, but they remain one of the worst rushing offenses in the league despite the offensive line doing everything they can to open up lanes.
Luckily, though, the passing offense has been clipping along as one of the best groups in the league. Minnesota remains among the top five in just about every category in that department, and Kirk Cousins’ powers were on full display against the 49ers.
Individual Players
QB Kirk Cousins
- Completions: 193 (1st)
- Pass Attempts: 280 (1st)
- Completion Percentage: 68.9% (6th)
- Passing Yards: 2057 (2nd)
- Passing First Downs: 99 (2nd)
- Passing TDs: 16 (1st)
- Interceptions: 5 (T-14th-most)
- PFF Grade: 82.2 (7th among QBs)
RB Alexander Mattison
- Carries: 90 (15th)
- Rushing Yards: 359 (19th)
- Yards per Carry: 4.0 (24th)
- Rushing First Downs: 12 (T-39th)
- Rushing TDs: 0
- PFF Grade: 57.3 (T-53rd among RBs)
WR Justin Jefferson
- Targets: 53 (20th)
- Receptions: 36 (20th)
- Receiving Yards: 571 (7th)
- Receiving First Downs: 28 (T-8th)
- Receiving TDs: 3 (T-13th)
- PFF Grade: 89.9 (4th among WRs)
We’re keeping Justin Jefferson on this list just to indicate how dominant the receiver was to begin the season. Despite missing two games now, the Vikings star wide receiver remains among the top-20 receivers in the league in every statistical category. Truly amazing stuff from Jefferson, and hopefully, he’ll be back on the field in a few weeks.
WR Jordan Addison
- Targets: 44 (36th)
- Receptions: 29 (T-40th)
- Receiving Yards: 400 (24th)
- Receiving First Downs: 17 (T-38th)
- Receiving TDs: 6 (T-2nd)
- PFF Grade: 69.6 (45th among WRs)
WR K.J. Osborn
- Targets: 37 (56th)
- Receptions: 22 (T-71st)
- Receiving Yards: 261 (61st)
- Receiving First Downs: 12 (T-63rd)
- Receiving TDs: 2 (T-34th)
- PFF Grade: 52.5 (97th among WRs)
TE T.J. Hockenson
- Targets: 59 (T-12th)
- Receptions: 47 (9th)
- Receiving Yards: 390 (26th)
- Receiving TDs: 2 (T-34th)
- PFF Grade: 70.3 (10th among TEs)
NOTE: This article originally appeared on our sister-site, PurplePTSD.com.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.
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