Kommandozentrale » When Pat Shurmur accepted the job as the new

head coach of the New York Giants following the end of the Minnesota Vikings’ 2017-18 season Minnesota Vikings Jerseys 2019 , the purple could have had their pick of just about anyone they wanted to run their offense. They would have had their pick of whatever quarterback they wanted, the best wide receiver pairing in the NFL, and a dynamic young running back ready to return from injury and light up the league again.While the Vikings brought some coaches in for interviews, they were content to wait until the Philadelphia Eagles’ season ended and offer the job to their quarterback coach, John DeFilippo. DeFilippo had some previous offensive coordinator experience, but had really made his name in working with quarterbacks, specifically Carson Wentz and Nick Foles.We’re officially twelve games into the DeFilippo era with the Vikings’ offense, and thus far the reviews have been. . .well, let’s call them less than stellar. With what was widely considered an upgrade at quarterback in Kirk Cousins, the Vikings’ offense seems to be significantly behind what it was last season. One of the more frequently named culprits is the Vikings’ difficulty in running the football, but. . .well. . .the difficulty in running the football is definitely self-inflicted.On Saturday, as I was driving around running some errands, I was listening to SiriusXM NFL Radio, specifically the Movin’ the Chains show with former NFL executive Pat Kirwan and former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim Miller. Part of their show on Saturday was a preview of the contest between the Vikings and the New England Patriots, and they pointed out that in the games the Patriots had lost, they had gotten battered by the run, and talked about the Vikings’ lack of a run offense. Kirwan then brought up the following numbers.In 2017, the Minnesota Vikings ran the ball 501 times for 1,957 yards. That’s an average of 31.3 carries a game and an average of 3.91 yards per carry.Going into the Patriots game this past Sunday, the Vikings had run the ball 240 times for 938 yards. That’s an average of 21.8 carries/game and an average of. . .3.91 yards per carry.And those numbers only got better for the Vikings after the Patriots game. Against New England, the Vikings ran for 95 yards on just 13 carries, an average of 7.3 yards/carry. According to Pro Football Talk, that’s the highest rushing yardage total in the NFL this year for a team that had 15 carries or less. In the first half, Dalvin Cook carried the ball just five times, but had gained 62 yards, an average of over twelve yards per carry. In the second half, he carried the ball just four times.Keep in mind, Sunday’s game was 10-7 at halftime and 10-10 with two minutes left in the third quarter after Dan Bailey’s tying field goal. It’s not as if there was a reason to abandon the running game, and specifically Cook Infant Dru Samia Jersey , at that point.The only man in Gillette Stadium on Sunday that was capable of stopping Dalvin Cook was John DeFilippo. . .and that’s exactly what he did. But that’s what DeFilippo has been doing all year, and it’s probably the biggest part of the reason for the struggles of the offense.Sure, we know that the Vikings’ offensive line is terrible, but at least in terms of the run game, they’ve been performing at around the same level as they did last season. Actually, if you base it on yards/carry alone, the offensive line is actually better this season than it was last year. (I know that’s not the only measure of offensive line play, but it does kind of poke a hole in the normal narrative about the Vikings’ run offense.) But DeFilippo has thrown anything resembling offensive balance out the window. To what extreme has he done so?Under Pat Shurmur in 2017, the Vikings threw 527 passes and had 501 rushing attempts. (I’m not getting into sacks or kneeldowns or any of that sort of thing.) That means that, in 1,028 offensive plays, the Vikings were at 51.3% pass plays and 48.7% run plays.This season under John DeFilippo, through 12 games, the Vikings have thrown 491 passes and had 253 rushing attempts. So, in 744 offensive plays, the Vikings are currently at 65.9% pass and 34.1% run plays.The Vikings have gone from a nearly perfect 50/50 balance between run and pass plays. . .despite a relative lack of success running the football, save for sheer volume. . .to a 2-to-1 ratio of pass plays to run plays. The majority of the offensive personnel is the same, with the exception of the quarterback, but now the Vikings have gone completely pass-happy.This team isn’t going to win football games that way. This team can’t win football games that way. Not with the offensive line playing the way it is. I understand that this team has Kirk Cousins and Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph and Dalvin Cook. But they’re not winning football games that way. Not just because of the lack of offensive balance, but it’s affecting the defense as well.Because of the offensive balance the team had in 2017, the Vikings’ defense faced fewer snaps than all but three teams in the NFL. They were on the field for an average of 59.75 snaps per game and for an average of 27:34 each game, which was the second-lowest figure in the NFL.This season, the Vikings’ defense is facing an average of 62 snaps per game, and has been on the field for an average of 30:49 each game.That doesn’t sound like much, obviously, but the additional time on the field does add up, and with the injuries the Vikings have dealt with, particularly in the secondary, it’s undoubtedly had an effect on the defense. I mean Dru Samia Jersey nfl draft , an extra three minutes per game over the course of twelve games is the equivalent of an extra half of football more than what they were on the field for last season.Mike Zimmer apparently wants to run the football more. Now, I like Mike Zimmer, and I don’t think we need to be calling for him to be fired or anything like that, but it does lead me to wonder why DeFilippo doesn’t seem to be running the offense the way Zimmer wants him to.More importantly, I’m wondering why Zimmer doesn’t make DeFilippo run the kind of offense he wants.When the media asked him if he thought the Vikings ran the ball enough against the Patriots, Zimmer simply said “no.” Well, man, you’re the head coach. . .and if you want the dude with the headset and the play card to call more running plays, then tell him to call more running plays. And if he doesn’t call more running plays, then take the headset away from him and call the plays yourself.This team has four games to get themselves into a postseason berth that many. . .myself included. . .saw as a foregone conclusion when this season started. They’re not going to get there the way they’re doing things now. That means one way or another, John DeFilippo needs to channel his inner Pat Shurmur and give this offense the level of balance that made them so successful in 2017. Should the Vikings keep their Pro Bowl linebacker?"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Vikings 2018 SeasonVikings 2019 OffseasonU.S. Bank StadiumMinnesota Vikings PodcastsThe Anthony Barr QuestionNew,153commentsShould the Vikings keep their Pro Bowl linebacker?CSTShareTweetShareShareThe Anthony Barr QuestionHarrison Barden-USA TODAY SportsI’ll be honest: during the 2014 draft, I really, really wanted the Vikings to take Johnny Manziel. So when I heard “With the ninth pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings select Anthony Barr,” I was disappointed. This is one of many reasons I’ll rarely question Rick Spielman’s decision making, and one of many reasons I’ll constantly question my own decision making. That pick was undoubtedly a good one. Obviously there were other good players picked later in that round (Odell Beckham Jr., Aaron Donald) but the Vikings addressed a need and also got a guy who’d go to four Pro Bowls in his first five seasons. Pro Bowl appearances aren’t always a great measure of success because so many guys end up pulling out of the game, but four straight Pro Bowls is nothing to scoff at. So before we get into the financials of keeping Barr, let’s just remember this: the guy is a stud. Last season, Barr made a healthy $12.3 million on his fifth-year option. The Vikings could’ve tried to sign him to an extension and alleviated his short-term cap hit, but that didn’t end up mattering. Now, though, he’s set to make a lot more money, whether it’s in Minnesota or elsewhere. First, the options: the Vikings could hit Barr with the franchise tag, something they’ve only done twice since the tag was introduced in 1993 (the two guys make for a good Vikings trivia question). According to OverTheCap, tagging Barr would cost the Vikings $14.9 million in 2019, which would make him Minnesota’s second-highest paid player behind Kirk Cousins. That’s a lot for a guy who had an up-and-down 2018 season. The Vikings could also try to sign him to a long-term deal Replica Dru Samia Jersey , either after tagging him or just in general. For what it’s worth, the two other times the Vikings used the franchise tag, they ended up negotiating long term deals. Minnesota could also use the transition tag, which would cost about $12.3 million.So if you’re against keeping Barr, I get it. They guy has been inconsistent and he’s gonna command a ton of money, whether it’s with the Vikings or with another team. Minnesota also has already locked up the rest of its core to long-term deals. When Cousins’ deal expires in 2021, the Vikings will still have Stefon Diggs, Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, Harrison Smith, Linval Joseph, Eric Kendricks and others under contract.But allow me to make the case for Barr. According to Pro Football Focus, 2018 was Barr’s best season since 2015, and that was headlined by his improvement as a pass-rusher. His pass-rushing productivity ranked first among qualifying linebackers for the past season, but he’s the type of player who can’t always be measured by stats. He’s never gonna put up tackle numbers like Kendricks, and he doesn’t rush the passer enough to come up with sack numbers rivaling Hunter or Griffen. A lot of his impact is his ability to cover multiple positions and fly to the ball at all times.For those who want to prioritize re-signing Sheldon Richardson, consider this: The Vikings had the best defense in the league in 2017, without Richardson but with Barr. Richardson is a very good player who will make any team better. But he doesn’t offer the same value over a replacement that Barr does. Barr is exactly the type of player Mike Zimmer wanted to build his defense around. He’s able to adapt to any scheme and can alter his role to fit whatever players are around him. He’s built up chemistry with Kendricks and the rest of Minnesota’s front seven, and it’d take time for the Vikings to build that back up with someone else. That’s why the Vikings need to do everything they can to keep Barr. The 2018 season was a disappointment by almost any metric, but this team isn’t going to be blown up. Spielman needs to address the offensive line and Cousins needs to, quite frankly, figure it out. If those things happen, there’s no reason the Vikings can’t be a Super Bowl contender next season. The Vikings still have to be operating in a Super Bowl window, and getting rid of Barr would almost certainly make the team worse in the short-term. With the way the rest of the roster is constructed, that would be a mistake that could cost the Vikings a chance to compete at the highest level.