That's a great point. The offense struggled mightily in both the second half of the game against the Packers and for 3 solid quarters against the Jets, and yet when the chips were down late in both games Darnold drove them into scoring range with some nice throws. Not sure if I am worried about the dropoff in offensive production the last two weeks, but I suspect the defensive coordinators of the Packers and Jets figured something out scheme-wise that is throwing the Vikings offense and Darnold off a bit. Looks like the tight man coverage is making things more difficult, but that is going to be up to KOC to scheme his way out of that. Also, effective running can help make DCs think twice before committing DBs to lock on coverage schemes. Unfortunately, the Vikings had a few nice gash runs called back due to somewhat dubious penalties against the Jets, and I don't remember if they struggled running in the 2nd half against the Packers, but there are effective counters to aggressive man coverage schemes and the Vikings should have the offensive talent to implement them. We'll see how things go against the Lions defense after the bye, but your point about Aaron Jones is a good one.J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 08, 2024 9:12 pm And for the second straight week, when the team needed a late drive, he delivered.
Lastly, I think having a healthy TJ Hockenson back will do wonders too. I love Mundt and Oliver, but neither one of those guys can create vertical passing route mismatches like TJ can, and having that additional option from the TE position might just be too much for most defenses to cover, especially if they try to do that with tight man across the board. Hockenson might even be the X factor for this offense, and as good as they've looked at times, that is a scary prospect for the remaining teams on the schedule.
The Vikings have faced Murderer's Row to open this season. Heck, when all is said and done I think even the Giants won't turn out to be nearly as bad as most assumed they would be, which will make that win against them on the road look more impressive in hindsight. Showing they can not only compete against really good, overall balanced teams, but even dominate those teams for stretches, gives me a lot of hope that this year's team might actually be capable of something special. I know better than to look too far ahead with the Vikings, but sometimes a team just takes on the air of something special, and this year's Vikings seem to have that aura around them.