Vikings need to use the pass to set up the run, rather than the other way around

In a perfect world, teams would be able to both run and pass the ball effectively. In reality, most teams are better in one facet than the other. While coaches – especially in the offseason – love to talk about balance with their offensive attack, when push comes to shove, they need to lean into what they do best. That’s what the Vikings did in the final quarter – they leaned into their passing game. While trailing in the game forced their hand to a large degree, it’s fair to ask if this is the way the Vikings should play from the very first snap.

While the final stats from the game show 31 passing attempts and 15 rushing attempts, the mix was much different earlier in the game. Here’s how each drive played out, with the numbers being rushes-passes-sacks:

Drive 1: 4-3-1

Drive 2: 0-1-0

Drive 3: 1:1:1

Drive 4: 3:4:1

In four drives in the first half, the Vikings had 8 rushes, 9 passes and 3 sacks. This fairly balanced attack led to six points. Here’s how the drives played out in the second half:

Drive 5: 1-4-0

Drive 6: 1-1-1

Drive 7: 1-5-0

Drive 8: 2-5-1

Drive 9: 1-7-0

In these five drives, the Vikings had 6 rushes, 22 passes and 2 sacks. This unbalanced attack led to 17 points. There was one final drive, where the Vikings had a kneel-down to run out the clock not included in the above breakdown.

Most of the time, NFL offensive philosophy is to run to set up the pass. The 1980s San Francisco 49ers flipped the script, using their passing attack to set up their rushing attack. Roger Craig had three 1,000 yards rushing seasons in this span, including 1,502 yards rushing in 1988. That’s the year they beat the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs, 34-9, en route to a Super Bowl victory over the Bengals.

My preference would be to see the Vikings use their passing attack more in the first half. They could run up-tempo packages right off the bat, establishing Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson and Justin Jefferson immediately. The Cardinals had a good defensive game plan and no doubt that the two early fumbles by Aaron Jones bogged down the offense’s production in the first 30 minutes.

Yet the fact is that once they stopped worrying about establishing the run, the Vikings were much more productive, scoring on their last three possessions before the final kneel down in victory formation.

It would be nice to see a 3:1 ratio of passes to rushes in the first half. And if that gets the offense an early lead, it lends itself to flipping the script in the fourth quarter, using Jones to batter a tired defense, much like Craig did 35 or so years ago.