Brian Flores made Daniel Jones uncomfortable and kept New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka guessing all day. The Minnesota Vikings' defense held New York to 166 total passing yards and only 74 on the ground. The Giants finished 7/18 on third-down conversions and 1/3 on fourth downs. The Vikings also came up with five sacks and two INTs. They did so by featuring positional flexibility, most notably by Josh Metellus and Andrew Van Ginkel, and playing a wide array of players to fit New York's situation and personnel groupings.
Let's look at how Flores and his crew were able to confuse the Giants’ offense.
On the first play of the game, the Giants come out with their two-TE personnel (12 personnel), and the Vikings respond with their base defense aligned in a Bear front, with Harrison Phillips towering over New York's center and Ivan Pace in at linebacker. The Giants try to run a G-scheme gap running play, but Phillips and Co. are too stout.
[video width=1280" height="720" mp4="https://zonecoverage.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/D-play-1-nyg.mp4]
On second down, the Giants try a quick game concept to the 2-WR side. However, Minnesota's corner quickly jumps the flat route and exchanges with Harrison Smith on the slant route. The clip below showcases Van Ginkel's positional versatility. He aligns as a DE but drops adeptly underneath the slant. There's nobody open. By the time Jones gets his read to the other side to hit his back, there are already four Vikings in position to stop the play.
[video width=1280" height="720" mp4="https://zonecoverage.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Vikes-D-play-2-nyg.mp4]
Things get interesting on third down. Flores sends in his Bengal package to feature players at the line of scrimmage (LOS) who are gifted pass rushers or good cover guys. Or, in Van Ginkel's case, players who are good at both. Out is Pace, as is Phillips, and in are guys like Jonathan Greenard, Jihad Ward, and Dallas Turner. Below, you can see Metellus' positional flexibility. He's a safety who Flores has lined up at the LOS who can either blitz or drop into coverage with speed and skill.
[video width=1280" height="720" mp4="https://zonecoverage.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Play-3-NYG-offsides.mp4]
Jones sees this alignment and calls in his TEs/H-backs to strengthen the protection, going from their intended no-back set to a two-back set. More importantly, this late shift resulted in a delay of game penalty on New York. Giants fans looking for a resurgence from their OC and their QB must have felt their stomach drop when they couldn't manage to get the play off on their first third down of the season.
On the next play, a third-and-10-plus, the Vikings rushed four and played Cover 4. Jones threw to a checkdown, but Minnesota's defenders surrounded it, and the pass fell incomplete.
That was the theme all day. Flores kept Kafka and Jones guessing, often incorrectly.
Below, the Vikings show their Bengal press look but in a personnel grouping with Pace in the game. The Giants think they can take some easy yards with a "Now" screen to Malik Nabers. However, Cashman and Pace bail into coverage at the snap of the ball, and Gilmore slides down into a hard fit in the flat in Cover 2. Loss of a yard on the play.
[video width=1280" height="720" mp4="https://zonecoverage.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Fooled-ya-nyg-defense.mp4]
The havoc continued. Once again, the Vikings are in their base personnel and play a Bear front with Cover 2 behind it. Metellus is playing LBer and gets across the field under the receiver to that side, settling into an area. New York's receiver should be open because LBers don't usually cover that much ground. Amazing play by Metellus.
[video width=1280" height="720" mp4="https://zonecoverage.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Metellus-great-play-nyg.mp4]
Dallas Turner didn't play that many snaps but made an impact. Below, Turner lines up in a "wide-5" technique and performs a brilliant T-E stunt with the help of Jihad Ward. Once again, there's no one open downfield, and Turner goes up and over and on Jones for the sack.
[video width=1280" height="720" mp4="https://zonecoverage.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Turner-sack.mp4]
The Vikings had an answer even when the Giants got into the red zone.
New York motions to a bunch set in the clip below, and the Vikings answered with a four-man rush and 2-lock behind it. The Vikings lock on to each receiver with help over the top from the safeties, negating Jones' option to throw a slant to Nabers on the single-receiver side. Once again, we see positional flexibility from Van Ginkel, who aligns in a DE position but rushes over the right guard.
In essence, he has become the 3-technique in a four-man front. He makes a tremendous play in recognizing that Jones is taking off with his feet, does a great job extending upon contact with the guard, sheds the block, and makes the play.
[video width=1280" height="720" mp4="https://zonecoverage.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Great-play-Ginkel-nyg.mp4]
Most notably, Van Ginkel also did
The Giants finished 29th in the league in total offense last season. However, the Vikings face the San Francisco 49ers this week, who feature great players at every skill position on offense, and Kyle Shanahan, one of the best play-callers in the league. Flores had his guys dialed in against the Giants; can they repeat the task against one of the best offenses in the NFL?
Think you could write a story like this? Hockey Wilderness wants you to develop your voice, find an audience, and we'll pay you to do it. Just fill out this form.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.