3 Top Takeaways: Minnesota Vikings vs. New York Jets – Week 7
By Adam Patrick
The offense still has plenty of work to do
After two straight weeks of John DeFilippo showing improvement in his play-calling, some questionable decisions were made by the Vikings’ first-year offensive coordinator on Sunday against the Jets.
Minnesota began the matchup with a great opening drive on offense that ended with Kirk Cousins throwing a 34-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen. But after that score, the Vikings gained just 46 total yards during their next eight offensive drives in the first half.
On their fourth drive of the day, Minnesota faced a 3rd and 3 from their own 40-yard line. There are an endless amount of plays to call in this situation, but for some reason DeFilippo opted for a play that resulted in an incompletion on a deep pass attempt to Stefon Diggs.
During the Vikings’ very next offensive drive, they got all the way down to the Jets’ three-yard line. However, Minnesota ended up settling for just a field goal after three straight pass plays ended up as incompletions.
It’s sequences like these two drives where DeFilippo’s inexperience as an offensive coordinator shows up. The Vikings offensive coordinator has been making strides in the right direction this season with his play-calling, but Sunday’s matchup in New York proved that he still has some things to work on.