The Minnesota Vikings learned a helpful — and thankfully not costly — lesson in their victory over the New York Jets in London.
Without Aaron Jones, they need help at running back.
They got it this week when they reunited with old friend Cam Akers. Minnesota’s struggles in the second half of the Jets game highlight why his return is so necessary.
Minnesota’s offense got off to another great start in London. The Vikings have had a lot to be happy about when Jones has been on the field, including a ton of first-down celebrations:
Jones has boosted Minnesota’s ground game and served as a dangerous screen and receiving threat. He has accounted for 16 first downs on the season and ranks fifth in the NFL in yards after contact. Jones also ranks fifth in the NFL in success rate per rush.
When Jones is in, the Vikings have the type of balanced attack that allows Kevin O’Connell to keep a defense guessing. Jones’ explosiveness is the counter to every scheme designed to shut down Justin Jefferson or the other talented receiving options. With a true run threat in the backfield, defensive coordinators must choose whether to keep their extra man in coverage or add another set of eyes to the run fit.
Jones also provides another dimension as a receiving threat, which is rare in the NFL for an RB. Below, the Vikings spread him out wide in an Empty set. The Jets move LB Quincy Williams out to cover Jones man-to-man as they run a Cover-1 scheme with a spy jumping Jefferson’s route. Darnold spies Jones’ easy release with no help over the top and drops the ball to him. Jones makes a great play on the ball for a big Vikings gain.
On Minnesota’s early drives, there was a steady mix of running and passing to keep the Jets’ defense guessing. However, when Jones went out in the second quarter, Vikings fans saw what an attack without him would look like. They went to Ty Chandler, a fifth-round pick in 2022 who they hoped could grow into a dual-threat player.
That proved notably less effective than handing the ball to Jones. Chandler ripped off a few runs for chunk yardage, only to see penalties negate his best runs. Below, the Vikings run a basic toss to the weak side, with run-blocking expert Trent Sherfield at the point of attack. This play highlights Chandler’s capabilities. Sadly, a holding call negated the play.
More often than not, Chandler would come away with a two- or three-yard gain. But he’d occasionally lose a yard on a standard run. Perhaps most alarmingly, Chandler also contributed to this costly turnover. The Vikings try another version of the toss play from earlier. However, the pitch from Darnold bounces off Chandler’s chest and into Quincy Williams‘ arms.
Minnesota’s staff knew Jones was banged up, so it was likely no surprise when he couldn’t finish the game. We saw what the Vikings’ plan would be in his absence. Chandler took over the primary duties, to mixed results, while fan-favorite C.J. Ham got a few carries, including this gem, as the Vikings executed an old-fashioned FB dive for a TD:
We also saw Myles Gaskin‘s first action (two carries for two yards) as Minnesota’s third tailback. The Vikings started to use Ham more frequently as a blocking back in obvious long-yardage situations, suggesting that the staff has much more confidence in his blocking than in Chandler’s.
Perhaps the most telling play was a drive starting at the 11:10 mark in the third quarter, with Minnesota leading 17-7. The Vikings managed to get a pair of first downs, but how they did so is noteworthy. Darnold dropped back on every play of the drive, even as the Vikings were attempting to burn clock while they added to their lead. The rest of the game continued this way, with Chandler’s longest run clocking in at three yards after this point. The Vikings managed to eke out the victory, but it’s fair to say that they didn’t close the game as they would have liked.
This combination of factors led the Vikings to add another piece to their RB room in their trade (again!) for Cam Akers. The Vikings likely see Akers as a more competent second RB and another versatile player at the RB position. They believe he can stay in the game and be trusted in pass protection. Perhaps most vitally, he can be trusted not to fumble.
If we compare Akerss run-after-contact numbers (2.2 in 2022 and 2.1 in 2021) to Chandler’s (1.8 in 2023 and 0.9 thus far this season), we likely see why the Vikings think Akers will be more effective in tough running situations. It doesn’t hurt that Akers already has experience in this system from last year. It won’t take him long to pick up the nuances of his running keys, alignments, and pass-protection assignments.
We will likely see Akers take over as the RB2 for the rest of the season, and we’ll probably see him as the RB1 at least once this season. It looks like Minnesota’s brass saw a fixable weakness on a team in first place in the conference and took a low-cost swing at bringing in an upgrade. This Vikings season just keeps getting more interesting.
