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TONY’S TAKE – A PREVIEW OF RAMS-VIKINGS

Tony Fiorello

by Tony Fiorello

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 24: Head coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams greets Head coach Kevin O'Connell of the Minnesota Vikings after the game at SoFi Stadium on October 24, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)


Welcome to the 2024 NFL season’s Wild Card Weekend. Here at Buffalo Sports Page we will attempt to inform and educate our readers about the upcoming playoff games and what each team might do to emerge victorious.


One of the NFC’s wild card games will take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona as the Minnesota Vikings will face the Los Angeles Rams. Here’s what you should know:

SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 12: Jared Verse #8 of the Los Angeles Rams rushes the passer during an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on December 12, 2024 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)


RAMS’ DEFENSE REBUILDING

Former Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, one of the greatest defensive minds the game has ever known, favored a 3-4 scheme that asked his front seven to control one gap and play matchup-zone coverage behind it. Yet his unit between 2017-19 was merely so-so, leading to him being replaced by former Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos outside linebackers coach Brandon Staley.


Since Staley’s hiring in 2020 the Rams have based their scheme off quarters coverage, or as it’s more commonly known as, Cover Four, with each defensive back dividing the field into fourths with matchup principles to take away vertical concepts. This approach has been gaining in popularity in recent years throughout the NFL.


According to Smart Football’s Chris B. Brown, “It’s the most important defensive scheme of the past decade…. At first glance, Cover 4 looks like an anti-pass prevent tactic, with four secondary defenders playing deep. But therein lies its magic. The four defenders are actually playing a matchup zone concept, in which the safety reads the tight end or inside receiver. If an offensive player lined up inside releases on a short pass route or doesn’t release into the route, the safety can help double-team the outside receiver. If the inside receiver breaks straight downfield, it becomes more like man coverage. This variance keeps quarterbacks guessing and prevents defenses from being exploited by common pass plays like four verticals, which killed eight-man fronts. The real key to Cover 4, however, is that against the run both safeties become rush defenders (remember, the outside cornerbacks play deep). This allows defenses to play nine men in the box against the run – a hat-tip to the 46’s overwhelming force.


This scheme – characterized by a four-man pass rush with many twists and stunts on the defensive line – can be excellent. Those games usually come from loaded fronts, with three linemen on one side of the formation and another on the opposite side. This helps create a lot of one-on-one opportunities when rushing opposing quarterbacks.


Staley’s success led to him getting the Los Angeles Chargers’ coaching job in 2021 and his successor, Raheem Morris, parlayed his run of good fortune into the head coaching position in Atlanta. Chris Shula, the grandson of Hall of Famer Don Shula, now runs this side of the ball.


Despite employing the league’s undisputed best defensive tackle in Aaron Donald, the Rams’ defense needed to rebuild in the worst way. Following their Super Bowl win three years ago, a salary cap crunch led to the team letting various veterans walk out the door and general manager Les Snead decided to go with a youth movement on this side of the ball.

Donald, a future Hall of Fame pass rusher on the level of names like Joe Greene, John Randle and Warren Sapp with his explosive quickness and strength, is now retired. Despite missing his obvious talent, L.A. has been able to replace his production not with one man, but by committee.


That committee includes rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, second-year players Kobie Turner and Byron Young and nose tackle Bobby Brown III. Verse, a first-year draft pick, can convert speed to power and boasts quickness and good hand usage while Fiske, who went in the second round, is a good athlete with solid strength and can play two gaps at once. Michael Hoecht is a nice backup who is reminiscent of former Patriots Rob Ninkovich and Kyle Van Noy and Omar Speights and Christian Rozeboom are the Rams’ inside linebackers.


At cornerback are Cobie Durant and Darious Williams, but both are better fits in the slot rather than on the boundary due to their lack of height, explosiveness and athleticism. Veterans Kameron Curl, John Johnson III (currently injured), Kamren Kinchens (who L.A. likes to use in big nickel packages), Jaylen McCollough (their dime defender) and the versatile Quentin Lake are the team’s primary safeties.


Los Angeles ended 2023 20th in total yards and passing yards given up, 12th against the run and 19th in points surrendered. They were also 24th in sacks and third last in takeaways. This year has been more of the same, as they’re 17th in points, 26th in total yards, 22nd against the run and 20th versus the pass. Additionally, they were 21st in sacks and tied for 14th in takeaways.

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 11: Cooper Kupp #10 of the Los Angeles Rams runs a route during an NFL Football game against the Miami Dolphins at SoFi Stadium on November 11, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)


GREATEST SHOW ON TURF, PART TWO

After Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Orlando Pace, Torry Holt and Issac Bruce roamed the Rams’ sidelines over 20 years ago the team didn’t field a good offense again for a long time. That changed when Sean McVay took over in 2017 and he has created an offensive juggernaut in the City of Angels.


Prior to being hired by the Rams McVay spent 2010-13 working with Mike and Kyle Shanahan in Washington, and was also on the staffs of both Jon and Jay Gruden. The Shanahans were the most influential when it comes to McVay’s preference in the running game.


The McVay-Shanahan system relies on smaller, quicker linemen who can work in unison and push defenders towards the sideline on outside-zone running plays while leaving backside lanes for running backs. It has long been a staple of those coaches and countless tailbacks have had success in it – from Todd Gurley to Darrell Henderson and from Cam Akers to the current starter in Kyren Williams. Williams, who has good patience, vision and decisiveness when reading defenders and pressing holes, finished third in the league in rushing yards a year ago and tied for seventh in touchdowns on the ground despite missing five games and has continued to play at a high level in 2024.


In front of him are offensive linemen Kevin Dotson, Alaric Jackson, Beaux Limmer, Steve Avila and Rob Havenstein (ex-Detroit Lion Jonah Jackson is also on the roster) and they have helped the Rams execute most of their runs out “11” personnel (one back, one tight end, three receivers) and “12” personnel (one back, two tight ends, two receivers). This year, while outside zone continues to be their foundational run the Ram have also mixed in more “duo” (a form of inside zone) and gap scheme concepts.


One tactic that McVay and company love to use in the running game is to pull their tight ends (also known as split-flow action) along with sending their wide receivers behind them on fake end-arounds before giving the ball to their tailbacks. This is used to create hesitation for opposing linebackers and safeties, and the Rams’ love for sending wideouts in motion has expanded greatly to give their receivers the ball on handoffs and screens, to become crack-back blockers on running plays and to identify coverages.


Passing-wise the Rams are aligned with the West Coast offense’s principles. A ball-control passing game that can eat up clock while stretching teams horizontally rather than vertically, this version of the system features mobile quarterbacks who can move within the pocket. It also will have its skill players line up anywhere on the line of scrimmage to try and get defenses to declare their coverages and will align wide receivers close to the offensive line to give them more space to operate and to block on running plays.


Their passing game makes excellent use of intertwining route combinations, especially ones involving posts, crossing patterns and flood concepts with option routes at the deep, short and intermediate levels. These are mostly executed out of “empty” shotgun formations with “bunch” and “stack” alignments by their receivers, with many of their run-action plays performed under center.


Due to inconsistencies in his game former first overall draft pick Jared Goff was shipped to the Detroit Lions in 2021 in exchange for two-time Pro Bowler Matthew Stafford, who remains one of the NFL’s most dangerous passers. Possessing one of pro football’s strongest arms and uncanny pocket mobility, he has also developed a mind and accuracy to match while leading L.A. to a Super Bowl victory three years ago. According to former MMQB/SI writer Andy Benoit, “Stafford continues to make the big-time, tight-window passes that he has always made – he’s especially deft throwing deep outside against Cover Two…. His bold throws are now also good decisions.”


The weapons that Stafford has at his disposal are wideouts Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Demarcus Robinson and tight end Tyler Higbee. Higbee is effective in the screen game and on wheel routes along the sideline opposite play-action bootlegs (also known as “leak” concepts).


Kupp, who accomplished the rare feat of leading the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns in 2021, is particularly great out of the slot, especially on corner routes out of their previously mentioned flood concepts. His quick feet, elite separation skills at the top of his pass patterns and understanding of coverages help him defeat man concepts, and Los Angeles also likes to use Kupp and company in what are known as “high/low” plays – with one receiver being the low man on short routes to influence defensive backs to cheat down low and take him away while creating open space for Kupp on deep dig routes in the vacated “high” area.


Due to injuries at wide receiver and on their offensive line in the first half of the season the Rams started off winning just once in their first five games but have gotten hot en route to winning the NFC West. As such they’re just 20th in points, 15th in total yards, 24th in rushing and 10th in passing.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 03: Minnesota Vikings linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (43) and safety Harrison Smith (22) line up for a play during the NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Minnesota Vikings on November 3rd, 2024, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN. (Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)


VIKINGS’ DEFENSE TALENTED AND COMPLEX

After a one-year tryout with Ed Donatell as their defensive coordinator, the Vikings replaced him with ex-Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. Flores, whose background is rooted in the Bill Belichick school of defense (he was his defensive coordinator in 2018), has brought an elite level of complexity and aggression to Minnesota.


Flores traditionally favors playing lots of Cover One – man coverage with a single-high safety over the top – but will also throw every coverage in the book at an opponent (Cover Zero, One-Robber, Two, Two-Man, Three, Four, Six etc.), which makes preparing for his scheme a challenge. He also loves to blitz, sending extra rushers at quarterbacks at one of the highest rates in the NFL out of multiple defensive fronts (especially with six, seven and eight men) and will sometimes zone-blitz on third-down with lots of pre-snap disguise and late movement by their defensive backs at the snap. An indicator of how creative his defenses can be is that at one point this season, Flores led the league in three-man and six-man pass rush snaps.


Luckily for Flores he has the talent to make his voluminous playbook work.  On the back end Minnesota has one of the league’s most accomplished safeties in Harrison Smith. A 13-year veteran who boasts a great combination of versatility, aggressiveness and intelligence, the two-time All-Pro is paired up with Camryn Bynum and the rest of the starting secondary is completed by former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore (who played for Flores in New England) and Byron Murphy Jr. at cornerback.


The Vikings’ front seven is stout and headlined by Jonathan Greenard, who has established himself as one of pro football’s better pass rushers with back-to-back seasons of at least 12 sacks, Andrew Van Ginkel (an ultra-versatile chess piece), Harrison Phillips, Jonathan Bullard, Jalen Redmond, Blake Cashman and Ivan Pace Jr.


This unit comes into Monday’s game second against the run, fifth in points allowed, tied for fourth in sacks and also tied for first in takeaways but were just 16th in total yards allowed and 28th against the pass.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - DECEMBER 8: Wide receiver Justin Jefferson #18 of the Minnesota Vikings and wide receiver Jordan Addison (3) celebrate a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium on December 8, 2024 in Minneapolis, MInnesota. (Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)


MINNESOTA’S OFFENSE SIMILAR TO MCVAY’S

The Vikings’ head coach is Kevin O’Connell, a former backup quarterback in the NFL and assistant coach in Washington and Los Angeles. Having been hired after winning a Super Bowl with the Rams as offensive coordinator, it’s no surprise that his offensive philosophy is similar to his mentor’s – Sean McVay, who comes from the Shanahan-Gruden tree of the West Coast offense (as did former Vikings offensive coordinators Gary and Klint Kubiak).


The McVay-Shanahan system relies on plenty of under-center play-action, shifts, motions, high-low concepts and downfield option routes with defined reads in the passing game along with outside zone as its foundational run. Countless tailbacks have had success in it and one of the NFL’s best backs in Aaron Jones, a strong and speedy ball carrier, is the beneficiary of it.


In front of him are offensive linemen Cam Robinson (in for the injured Christian Darrisaw), Blake Brandel, Garrett Bradberry, Dalton Risner and Brian O’Neill and they have helped the Vikings execute most of their runs out “11” personnel (one back, one tight end, three receivers) and “12” personnel (one back, two tight ends, two receivers). The main difference between the McVay and Shanahan schemes is the former doesn’t use fullbacks much while the latter does, but C.J. Ham remains on Minnesota’s roster from the prior regime – it helps that he’s a great run-blocker.


It’s an offensive scheme that quarterback Sam Darnold has used to revitalize his career. Darnold, the former New York Jet, was originally expected to fight for the starting job with first round draft pick J.J. McCarthy. But the product of the University of Michigan is out for the season following a torn meniscus, leaving Darnold to start.


Darnold, the third-overall draft pick out of USC in 2018, has decent mobility and underrated arm strength, accuracy and intelligence. His elongated release and penchant for throwing interceptions is what hindered him in New York, but spending last season as the backup to Brock Purdy in San Francisco allowed him to fix his fundamentals. Darnold’s footwork is married to his upper body mechanics and route concepts better, and he’s responded with career highs in nearly all statistical categories.


The main weapons that Darnold has at his disposal are wideouts Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson. Addison has short area quickness with good hands and body control while Hockenson is among the league’s most physically gifted players at his position.


Jefferson, meanwhile, has become one of pro football’s best wide receivers since being drafted in 2020 with the draft pick Minnesota acquired from Buffalo in exchange for Stefon Diggs. Versatile and excelling in every area, Jefferson is a excellent route runner who consistently wins at the top of his route stem and doesn’t need to slow down to make cuts. He’s especially adept at going over the middle on in-breaking routes and is very good at creating yards after the catch.


 The 2024 season went well offensively for the Vikings, as they were 12th in total offense, sixth in passing, 19th in rushing and ninth in scoring. But they were tied for 23rd in sacks allowed.

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