Kevin O'Connell continuing to call trick plays when they don't work is a part of the bigger picture
When the Minnesota Vikings hired head coach Kevin O'Connell, they were getting a really smart head coach who has a very creative way to attack opposing defenses. Even though O'Connell is really creative, one of his trademarks is the "illusion of complexity." The goal is to make you believe the offense is really complex when […]
When the Minnesota Vikings hired head coach Kevin O'Connell, they were getting a really smart head coach who has a very creative way to attack opposing defenses.
Even though O'Connell is really creative, one of his trademarks is the "illusion of complexity." The goal is to make you believe the offense is really complex when they just use the same core plays but maximize it with different sets. Make the defense think something else is coming and then hit them with a core concept like dagger.
Why Kevin O'Connell calls trick plays
Trick plays are really interesting. The goal of trick plays is to catch the defense in a poor position. Plays like The Philly Special were derived specifically to do just that.
One of the things that has frustrated fans is the trick plays that O'Connell likes to run. They rarely end up working and because of that, fans would prefer the Vikings don't call any.
Offensive coordinator Wes Phillip talked to the media on Tuesday about trick plays and provided some interesting context.
"Sometimes it's flow of the game when to get some of these calls off. You know, situation in the game it's not really, hey, we're just going to run these things in the red zone, but some of them show up that way. And then some of them, across the league, some of them show up that way, kind of in that strike zone, fringe area, whatever you want to call it, where you're able to potentially throw the ball in or score from one of these plays, where you don't have to necessarily go through red zone offense and the tighter and more condensed defenses you face that can be challenging."
On Sunday, the Vikings tried a double reverse flea flicker with a throwback screen to catch the defense off guard. Like most of the trick plays the Vikings have run this season, it didn't work.
If we are consistently getting trick plays called, why aren't they working? The first thing is understanding why the Vikings are calling them.
The entire goal of the trick play is to catch the defense overpursuing so you can get them off guard. What this play tries to do is get the defense flowing away from the far side since quarterback Sam Darnold has the ball back.
Meanwhile, the offensive line slowly shifts over to the far side to protect for the incoming screen. Ultimately, the defense didn't bite on the throw being down the field and it resulted in a four-yard loss.
They call plays like this to build off of other plays called early in the game that trick the defense into crashing toward the wrong side of the field.
This play is one that the Vikings ran earlier in the game to try to get the defense flowing, and it worked.
This is a little bit different than the trick play. They get a fake screen to Justin Jefferson with a lead blocker of Josh Oliver. Doing so gets the second-level defenders to both freeze and flow toward Jefferson, opening up Aaron Jones on the swing route for a first down.
Conceptually, the Vikings want the defense to move a certain way to get easier looks. Sometimes, it doesn't work but trying to take advantage of the defense is an important part of the chess match between the offense and defense.
Even if it fails, it shows something to the defense that they need to account for. On offense, the goal is to make the defense have to think instead of react. That causes a lot of issues and allows you to take advantage of certain looks.
Is it frustrating that the trick plays O'Connell calls don't work? Sure! Should he stop trying to take advantage of the defense's tendencies? Absolutely not.
Sometimes, you just have to live with the result being unideal because the process is good. Over time, that will balance out, we just have to be patient.
The Vikings have a quarterback problem that the NFL hasn’t seen in more than 20 years
The 2024 Vikings are just like the 2004 Chargers
