Hogs Haven
It’s week 14 of the NFL season and the 3-9 Washington Commanders will be facing a 4-8 Minnesota Vikings team on the road at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Sunday at 1:00 pm ET. The Vikings had a reasonable start to the season, winning 3 of their first 5 games, but have gone on to lose 6 of their last 7 games. The Vikings seemed to find lightning in a bottle last year, with a 5th-ranked defense in terms of points allowed and a rehabilitated QB in Sam Darnold, but have struggled to find any sort of success with 2nd-year QB J.J. McCarthy at the helm this year.
On offense, the Vikings are coached by HC Kevin O’Connell (former QB coach and OC of the Redskins under Jay Gruden), the primary playcaller and architect of the offense, as well as OC Wes Phillips, former TEs coach of the LA Rams and son of legendary DC Wade Phillips. The Vikings under O’Connell run a West Coast Offense with a primarily zone run scheme, though with some power/gap concepts mixed in. However, the Vikings offense has looked terrible this season, ranked 29th in total yards and 28th in total points. Although the Vikings were briefly helmed by QB Carson Wentz due to a McCarthy injury, they have not looked particularly effective on offense this year regardless of their QB starter. This is despite having perennial All Pro WR Justin Jefferson on the roster, truly one of the best at his position.
On defense, the Vikings are coached by DC Brian Flores, former HC of the Dolphins and longtime defensive coach of the Patriots under Bill Belichick. On paper, the Vikings run a 3-4 defense, but in reality, Flores is known for varying his defensive front and coverage schemes constantly to keep QBs guessing. Make no mistake, the Vikings defense under Flores has consistently been a top-10 unit. Even though this is a down year for the Vikings, they are the 5th-ranked defense in terms of passing yards allowed, the 21st-ranked unit in terms of rushing yards allowed, and the 16th-ranked unit in terms of total points allowed. That may not sound impressive, but it is driven heavily by the inability of the offense to move the ball and maintain time of possession. The Vikings defense is still a unit that should inspire respect by opposing teams.
I asked Christopher Gates of Daily Norseman five questions to better understand the state of the Vikings and what to look for in this game.
1) What is your scouting report on JJ McCarthy, his strengths and weaknesses, and will he be the starting QB of the Vikings in week 1 of next year?
McCarthy’s strengths are that he’s got very good arm strength and can fit the ball into some pretty tight windows given the opportunity. Unfortunately, at this point that arm strength also tends to make him throw every pass at approximately eight hundred miles an hour, which leads to a...
