Five Plays from '08 That Made the Minnesota Vikings Tick

While the reigning NFL rushing champion has the power and speed to do damage from a variety of sets, “All Day” was at his most dangerous when he came out of the I-Formation and found room to run off the left side of the offensive line.

Even though Peterson took more carries from single-back sets (175) than he did from the I (156), he was more productive when he lined up behind the extra blocker. AP tallied 5.1 yards per carry from the I—against 4.8 on single-back tries—and punched in five of his 10 touchdowns.

To clear space downfield for Peterson, the Vikings typically lined up a receiver or two on the strong side, and threw a pair of big bodies—fullback Naufahu Tahi and tight end Jim Kleinsasser—into the mix.

The 6’0”, 254-pound Tahi was a blocker in the purest sense of the term, clearing the way for Peterson without taking a single handoff of his own. Kleinsasser, meanwhile, was a tight end in name only: At 6’3” and 272, he effectively served as an extra lineman, while tallying just six receptions. When the pair of beefy blockers lined up, it wasn’t hard to guess why.

The left side of the line , meanwhile, featured mammoth left tackle Bryant McKinnie (who started ’08 with a four-game suspension for personal conduct), and perennial All-Pro left guard Steve Hutchinson, who has paved the way for a 1,000-yard rusher in each of his eight pro seasons.

Of the 71 first downs Peterson picked up on the ground in ’08 (excluding touchdown plays), 34 came on carries to the left, along with 726 of his 1760 yards rushing. Seven of Peterson’s 20 runs of 20-plus yards—and half of his touchdowns—came on carries to the left edge or left tackle.

It’s a fair bet that Wade didn’t keep too many defensive coordinators up all night. With a distinctly average career mark of 12.0 yards per catch and a total of seven touchdown catches in six seasons, he isn’t what you’d call a game-breaker.

When it came to moving the chains, however, no Minnesota receiver was more effective than Wade. He led the Vikings in receptions with 54—the second straight year he’s done so—and hauled in a team-high 30 catches for first downs, excluding plays that went for touchdowns.

Fifteen of those grabs—plus one of Wade’s two touchdowns last year—came out of the slot in three-receiver sets. When defenses keyed in on vertical threats Bernard Berrian and Visanthe Shiancoe, Wade found room to operate on short curls and drag routes in the middle of the field.

Wade didn’t flick on the afterburners much in ‘08—a full three-quarters of his catches came within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage—but when the Vikings needed a quick pickup underneath the defense, he was the team’s possession target of choice.

After four seasons as an afterthought with the Giants, Shiancoe showed signs of life after inking with Minnesota. He doubled his career yardage total and found steady playing time in 2007, his first year in purple.

The former third-round pick broke out in earnest in ’08, recording career highs in receptions (42), yards (596), and touchdowns (seven). He started 16 of 17 games, including the Vikings’ playoff tilt with Philadelphia.

As Shiancoe emerged as a receiving threat, the Vikings lined him up in a variety of formations, including a handful of snaps on the outside as a receiver. He did his best work, however, when he slipped off the end of the line and wormed his way into the seams downfield between linebackers and safeties in zone coverage schemes.

Twelve of Shiancoe’s 23 catches for first down—and three of his receptions for scores—came in the seam. At times, he hesitated after the snap, faking blocks or pass protection before breaking downfield much more quickly than his 6’4", 250-pound frame would suggest.

Although Shiancoe qualified as a deep threat at 14.2 yards per catch (the fourth-best mark among tight ends who caught at least 20 passes), his knack for exploiting soft spots in coverage also made him a high-percentage target. He snagged 42 of the 59 balls thrown his way, a 71 percent clip.

In an offense that didn’t exactly scream “bombs away"—the Vikings ranked 17th last year in passing plays of 20-plus yards, and 25th in yards passing per game—Berrian’s knack for going deep gave Minnesota’s passing game a much-needed homerun threat.

Berrian’s 20.1 yard-per-catch output was the second-best mark in football among qualifying receivers. He also tied for second in catches of 40-plus yards, hauling in seven. Five of his seven touchdowns were the product of one of those scorchers, including a 99-yarder that went as far as the field would allow.

Berrian was at his most productive when he lined up wide to one side in two and three-receiver packages. He racked up 628 of his 964 yards receiving on patterns that took him deep down the sidelines.

Even when he didn’t catch the ball, his ability to race behind defenders caused headaches for opposing secondaries. In addition to his 48 receptions on the season, Berrian drew five pass interference penalties that netted the Vikings an additional 101 yards.

When Childress grabbed Jackson as a surprise second-round pick in 2006, one of the Alabama State quarterback’s selling points was his ability to make plays with his legs.

After all, Jackson tallied 280 rushing attempts for 980 yards and 11 touchdowns in four-plus seasons of college ball, including 103 carries for 285 yards and three scores as a senior. ESPN’s Mike Tirico even called Jackson a right-handed Michael Vick. The Vikings were enamored with the idea of a mobile passer with a cannon arm.

In some respects, they got what they paid for. In 2006 and 2007, his first two seasons in Minnesota, Jackson ran the ball 69 times for 337 yards and three touchdowns. In five starts in ’08 (plus half of Minnesota’s Dec. 7 win at Detroit), Jackson carried the ball 26 times for 145 yards—a healthy 5.6 yards per attempt.

Throw out the carries that weren’t really runs—two kneel-downs, two carries on which Jackson simply fell forward to avoid a safety, and one botched handoff that ended in a fumble—and Jackson gained a little more than seven yards a pop every time he actually ran the ball last year, picking up 10 first downs in 21 tries on the ground.

Jackson’s running game still has room to grow. All but a handful of his carries last year came on pass plays that broke down, and the 14 sacks he absorbed in five-plus games suggest that he tried to salvage at least a few downs that weren’t mean to be saved.

If Jackson can pick the right spots to bolt (and hang on to his starting job, of course), he’s the kind of dual threat that can make defenses sweat.