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How Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell took a widely used concept and fooled the Texans defense is sheer brilliance

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Tyler Forness | Last updated Sep 23, 2024 9:04 PM ET

The Minnesota Vikings thoroughly demolished the Houston Texans by a score of 34-7 on Sunday afternoon to improve to 3-0 on the season. It was a thorough domination by the Vikings across all three phases of the game and was increasingly effective as the game went on.

The defense has gotten most of the attention. They have allowed just 10.0 points per game this season and already have wins of 22 and 27 points. Led by edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, who is top five in both sacks (4.0) and pressures (17), the defense is arguably the toughest in the National Football League. What isn't being discussed enough is how the offense has found ways to be creative without being revolutionary.

Kevin O'Connell used creativity with simple concept

Traditionally an Air Raid concept, mesh rail is a staple in that scheme that has been borrowed by just about everyone at this point. It's a pretty simple concept.

https://throwdeeppublishing.com/blogs/football-glossary/mesh-concept

It's pretty simple in concept. You have players on each side running a drag route to create confusion and a potential pick with man coverage. The Z receiver is running a spot route behind it to maximize spacing and create an outlet. The X receiver runs a clearout route of some kind. Here it's a deep out but sometimes its a go route or a post. The running back running a rail route (similar to a wheel) can often be wide open due to the congestion in the middle with man coverage.

The concept is simple and one that is being used often across all levels of football. What O'Connell did to make this an easy button was creative placing.

Not only did the Vikings rush out of the huddle and snap the ball quickly, they did so with Justin Jefferson in they backfield. It had the defense confused and worried about how their coverage would change. The Texans had the ball snapped in the midst of their confusion and Sam Darnold hit Jones on the crosser when he came into Jefferson's space.

Because of Jefferson drawing that attention, it made the decision to throw it to Jones easy because of all the open space available to him. This is brilliant creativity by O'Connell to make things easier for his offense to operate, especially in the red zone. It's not something that the Vikings will be able to do every week, but when they do this look again, they can run a counter off of it and make things easier for Darnold and the offense.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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