The Minnesota Vikings have been average in the red zone this year, scoring touchdowns 50 percent of the time, which is tied for 19th in the NFL.
It’s been on the other side of the field — backed up inside their own 20-yard line — where they’ve excelled.
Highlighted by last Sunday’s 68-yard connection between Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen from the Vikings’ own 5-yard line, Minnesota leads the league through Week 5 in passing yards (237), pass attempts (28) and first-down completions (10) from inside their own 20. They’re also fifth in rushing average at 5.63 yards per carry.
“I trust our quarterback. I trust all 11 guys that are on that field,” said offensive coordinator John DeFilippo. “We are in attack mode all the time. We are staying aggressive and staying in attack. But at the same time, being smart about it.”
Both of Minnesota’s second-half scoring drives against Philadelphia started inside their own 20. Using the deep pass to Thielen and another downfield shot to Stefon Diggs on the next play, the Vikings covered 93 yards in two plays to set up a field goal to take a three-possession lead. Later, they began at their own 11 with over nine minutes to go and pieced together an 11-play, six-plus-minute drive that resulted in Dan Bailey’s game-securing field goal.
“We were being aggressive but at the same time, we gave ourselves the best chance to have that play have success at that part of the field,” DeFilippo said. “So yeah. Kirk Cousins, Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs — you let those guys roll.”
Cousins is 22 of 28 (78.6 percent) for 237 yards and 8.5 yards per pass attempt when backed up inside his 20. He’s also 9 of 11 inside his own 10.
Thielen, Diggs and Kyle Rudolph have combined for 14 of the 22 catches, totaling 169 of the 237 yards. Latavius Murray also has five carries for 23 yards, and Cousins has a 13-yard scramble.
Because of some defensive mishaps that have allowed other teams to move the football, not to mention a lack of experience in the return game, the Vikings have found themselves backed up more than they’d like. Their average drive start has been the 26.3-yard line — 27th in the NFL.
But the offense’s aggressiveness has helped them out of a few jams.
“[DeFilippo] usually asks me, ‘Hey is it OK if we do this or we take a shot here?'” Zimmer said.
Twelve out of 15 times this year, the Vikings have managed at least one first down when starting a drive inside their own 20 — the three failures came in their lousy performance against the Buffalo Bills.
Even though the Vikings managed just six points in the second half against Philadelphia, their ability to twice drive the length of the field — instead of punting the ball away from their own end zone — played a huge part in staving off the Eagles’ late charge.
“Credit to Coach Flip for being aggressive as a playcaller, making sure he gave us opportunities to answer,” said Cousins. “Then players had to go make plays.”
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