If you’re like me, you’re still reeling a little bit from watching what Justin Jefferson did to the Green Bay Packers. He put on a show and totally flummoxed the Cheeseheads to the east. They’re reeling from it themselves.
So how did the Minnesota Vikings, who hovered around 20 in most power rankings, beat a consensus top-five team this convincingly? And how did a team that was projected to have an elite defense lose sight of the most electric Viking since at least Adrian Peterson? The answer is, as always, a combination of multiple factors that all went in Minnesota’s favor. The Vikings used motion and conflict concepts to give Jefferson either favorable coverage or no coverage at all. And it didn’t hurt that the Green Bay Packers made a litany of errors on the back end.
Choice routes
Three of Jefferson’s nine catches on the day came on what is called a “choice” route. Coming from McVay’s offense, Kevin O’Connell made the choice route the focal point of his offensive attack. That shouldn’t surprise anyone — it’s also McVay’s favorite dropback-passing ingredient.
A choice route is simple: Run five or six yards, either straight at a defender or straight at a soft spot in zone coverage. If it’s the former, run away from that defender’s leverage. If he’s outside you, break to the inside, and vice versa. If it’s the latter, sit down in the soft spot and look for the ball. If the quarterback reads it the same way you do, and the timing is right, it should be free pitch-and-catch for at least seven yards or whatever else you can squeeze out after the catch. There are always exceptions and variants, but that is the bread and butter.
Here’s a favorite: Choice Return, or Choice-Stucko, as Shawn calls it. Different terms, same concept. The “return” on the other side of the field as the “choice” is helpful to take advantage of any space created by a linebacker cheating toward the choice receiver, usually a superstar like Cooper Kupp or Jefferson.
Here’s an example:
This is an absolute staple for Minnesota. I wouldn’t be shocked to see this be the most common pass play the Vikings call for the entire season. And the Packers were completely discombobulated by it. Part of that is the depth of a choice route. This one breaks off at five yards deep, and that’s a particularly tricky depth for many defenses. Modern defenses differentiate between vertical patterns, including deep routes and shallower routes. But where do you draw the line? It changes by game plan, but once you see the first few plays, you’ll know where the line has been drawn this week. Then, you can exploit it.
Motion
The Vikings utilized motion, specifically motion across the formation, to confuse and stress the Packers’ defense. Many modern defenses split their coverages up: One side of the field has one call and the other side of the field has another. The Packers, like the Vikings, utilize a lot of Quarter-Quarter-Half (also known as Cover 6). Here’s a primer on the way the Vikings do that. The Packers are similar enough for our purposes.
These calls rely on how many people are on either side. A coverage call is different if it’s on the strong side rather than on the weak side and even more different against three eligible receivers, two, four, and so on. So when that math changes right before the snap, everyone has to understand how their job changes.
Here’s one where they do it twice:
If the Packers aren’t willing to re-arrange parts of their defense, further changing the original call, they are at the mercy of mismatches.
Jefferson’s Routes
All of this is designed to make things easy for Kirk Cousins and Jefferson. That it worked is no slight on those two who earned their production. But I doubt either of them will complain about how often they could pitch-and-catch for chunk yardage.
It’s not always easy. There were a few moments where Jefferson had to find separation, move a defensive back, or otherwise engage in deception. It won’t surprise you to learn that Jefferson excelled in these spots.
My favorite play from both players is the 64-yard bomb in the second quarter. The play broke down, but Cousins rebuilt it and delivered a ball with anticipation for a huge gain. And Jefferson’s route has gone mostly unnoticed — which is exactly what he wants.
I can’t gush about this play enough. I’m a sucker for players who can get the job done when the circumstances aren’t perfect, and in at least this instance, Cousins pulled that off. It’s the kind of play that gives me optimism for the entire Kevin O’Connell era of Vikings football.
Still, this is an article about Jefferson. His ability to get Darnell Savage to spin around makes life difficult even on the plays where the Packers didn’t just mess up and give the Vikings free production. Minnesota only notched 23 points in this game, but a lot of that had to do with their 17-0 halftime lead. The game changes a bit after that on both sides of the ball. The reality is that the Vikings controlled this game from tip to tail.
The result is unmistakable: The Packers just were not ready for even the simplest of Vikings staples. Does that mean they’re unstoppable? No, but they’re the same staples that won the Super Bowl last year. It might say more about the Packers than it does the Vikings. The Vikings are the team they intended to be, no question about it. The Packers, at least on defense, aren’t. It’s a long season, but Minnesota is way ahead of where I thought they would be. Now we see if they can maintain the momentum.
If you want to see breakdowns like this for every single Justin Jefferson touch, including one that didn’t count, you can find it at Patreon.com/LukeBraunNFL. I will also post breakdowns of Jordan Hicks, missed downfield opportunities, and coverage busts throughout the week.
