Patriots vs. Vikings: Breaking Down Minnesota's Game Plan

The Minnesota Vikings enter Week 2 looking to build on the most thorough victory in the team’s recent history.

The team’s outlook is all of a sudden rosier than Mike Zimmer’s cheeks. Zimmer has his first win out of the way—a 34-6 road blowout of the St. Louis Rams in Week 1—and will now be tasked with making the adjustments necessary to sustain success.

His job gets a lot more difficult on Sunday. He’ll be looking across the field at Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. This is just the beginning of the toughest part of Minnesota’s schedule.

Both these teams are in much different situations at the moment. The Vikings were considered to be rebuilding franchise to some degree before the season began. Major turnover in the coaching staff and the defense certainly contributed to that idea. But after one game, things are looking up in Minnesota. Just three hours of very good football and a resounding victory have caused widespread optimism within the fanbase.

The Patriots came into the season with the same high expectations they always have under Belichick. Their veteran squad is primed to win right now. Unfortunately, they went into Miami and lost in disappointing fashion, allowing 23 unanswered points to close out a 33-20 loss.

If history tells us anything, New England is a difficult team to beat coming off a loss.

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One thing we & #Vikings will hear million times this week -- #Patriots 18-and-1 since '03 after a loss. Of course, NE lost at Miami today.

— Paul Allen (@PAOnTheMic) September 8, 2014"

For Minnesota to add another loss to that statistic, these are the things it needs to accomplish in its home opener.

Get Adrian Peterson Going

While he did valuable legwork in St. Louis last Sunday, Adrian Peterson will need to have greater production against the Patriots if the Vikings offense is to sustain success. Peterson and the offensive line combined for 3.6 yards per carry and didn’t crack 20 yards on any one of his 21 carries.

A few features of the Week 1 game contributed to this. St. Louis possesses a potent front four and were able to neutralize Minnesota's top weapon. Peterson also failed to help himself sometimes, making peculiar decisions with his cuts. He seemed to want to bounce most of his carries to the perimeter and make it a race for the end zone, but such decisions didn’t work. How he adjusts this week will be very important.

If a more effective Peterson and more effective offensive line comes to play, they’ll be able to kick a Patriots unit that’s down right now. Miami rang them up for 191 rushing yards in Week 1 with an even five yards per carry.

In an interview with NESN this week, New England linebacker Dont’a Hightower pinpointed where the Patriots came up short:

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It really wasn’t an overpowered thing, it was more about the technique…It was little small things that we see now when we watch film. It’s not as bad as we thought it was, but it was bad. Technique, playing fundamentally sound—we weren’t doing as good as we should. Those cutback lanes that [Knowshon] Moreno likes, that’s what was given there. We weren’t squeezing hard enough. Those jump cuts he likes to make, just like AP does, those are things we need to get corrected.

"

If Peterson can shake off the rust and make stronger cuts and decisions this week, he can take advantage of those fault lines in the Patriots defense. New England’s run defense looks ripe for the picking.

Communicate Along the Offensive Line

To improve the rushing output and more effectively protect Matt Cassel in the pocket, more communication is needed along the offensive line, especially this week.

A unique aspect of the New England defense is just how varied it is. Nobody is entirely sure what their base defense is, much less the Patriots themselves. On top of using multiple formations, they utilize a wide range of personnel.

Oliver Thomas of nepatriotsdraft.com counted 17 different groupings utilized by New England in Week 1. The constant shifts between even fronts, odd fronts and the constant movement of second level defenders increases the mental workload for the offensive line.

The experience along Minnesota’ offensive line should mean it can handle all the pre-snap movement and shuffling of personnel. They’ll have calls to make at the line of scrimmage that communicate assignment based on what the Patriots are showing.

Following his usual form as an interviewee, Belichick wasn’t about to give away much information about what fronts New England might favor against Minnesota.

"

BB on 3-4/4-3: "We’ll do what we think is best for that individual game, that matchup, that offensive system. It might change, might not."

— Doug Kyed (@DougKyedNESN) September 10, 2014"

It doesn’t need to be rocket science for the Minnesota offensive line, though. As long as there's effective communication among the linemen, they can account for whatever Belichick and the Patriot defense throws at them.

Have Adjustments Prepared to Keep Patterson Running

The wrinkles Norv Turner introduced on Sunday that featured Cordarrelle Patterson as a runner earned the Vikings 103 yards on just three carries and a touchdown.

New England will be prepared for the likelihood of Turner dabbling with Patterson in the backfield. There are number of things Patriot defenders can do differently than their St. Louis counterparts to stop the speed sweep for example.

Belichick and the Patriots defensive coaches might be more aggressive with their defensive backs, especially in bringing up the safeties to counteract Patterson rushing the ball. Each of the speed sweeps was run to the strong side, so a force safety that comes down the alley against fast motion could cause problems. They could also slant aggressively with their defensive line towards the motion.

The Vikings should have plays built in that complement the sweeps they ran on Sunday. For example, Turner probably has a play-action pass ready to take advantage of defensive backs who support the run to aggressively.

NFL Game Rewind

Minnesota also could run Peterson between the tackles after Patterson clears in motion. Either way, continuing to build on the looks already given will keep Turner and the Vikings offense one step ahead of the Patriots defense.

Keep New England’s Interior Offensive Line Guessing

For the Vikings defense to put in a second straight quality shift, it’ll have to incessantly attack the weakness of the New England offense—a reshuffled offensive line.

The Patriots hemorrhaged four sacks last week to Miami. While the Dolphins’ Cameron Wake had his usual dominant outing, it was an offensive line-wide lack of cohesiveness that did in the Patriots.

"

Patriots offensive line problems go beyond one position. Logan Mankins isn't walking through the door...and it probably wouldn't matter.

— Erik Frenz (@ErikFrenz) September 7, 2014"

Trading away veteran guard Logan Mankins a couple weeks ago was the first domino for New England. Now the Patriots are trying to figure out who are their best three interior linemen; Marcus Cannon, Dan Connolly, Jordan Devey and Ryan Wendell all got reps against Miami. The performance of the offensive line as a whole was disappointing from tackle to tackle.

Defensive linemen Linval Joseph and Brian Robison are coming off terrific games for Minnesota. Everson Griffen, Tom Johnson and Anthony Barr have also shown themselves to be dynamic pass-rushers at times.

Mike Zimmer will continue to vary his defense's pressure on the quarterback. Look for him to target this pressure at the Patriots' interior offensive line in an effort to move Tom Brady off his spot.

Locate Vereen and Gronk

Failing in this task is the quickest way for the Vikings defense to start leaking big plays. Tight end Rob Gronkowski and running back Shane Vereen are the game-changers in the Patriots offense.

New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels knows how to utilize these two dynamic receivers too. To keep defenses guessing and create mismatches, he’ll move Vereen and Gronkowski all over the field. Lining up both in a more traditional wide receiver position is quite common.

NFL Game Rewind

The Vikings will have decisions to make on how they want to play formations like this. Because of New England's versatility, Minnesota can’t trot out its dime defense and match up defensive backs on players like Gronkowski and Vereen. New England would then keep Gronk in-line, put Vereen in the backfield and run the ball with loads of success.

Nickel sets make the most sense with two linebackers and five defensive backs, but even that approach raises questions. Do they track Gronkowski or Vereen with a linebacker, even out to the perimeter? Do they increase their usage of quarters coverage, Cover 3 or mixed coverages to bracket Gronkowski in the seam, a de facto double-team? Does Harrison Smith get work in man coverage against Gronkowski or Vereen?

Zimmer and his staff will be prepared for these looks, but that doesn’t mean they can stop its effectiveness. Minnesota doesn’t match up well with the versatility of these two playmakers. Most defenses don’t. But they have to find ways schematically to stay afloat.

Put the Game away

For Minnesota to move to 2-0, they'll have to get off to a start, establish and extend a lead and not let a Brady-led Patriots offense to hang around in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots have been the most potent offense in the fourth quarter in recent memory after all. New England has ranked in the top five in the NFL in fourth-quarter points in each of the last four years, finishing first in that category in 2013.

If the Vikings don’t pull away before the final period, Brady will smell blood in the water. Having the game done and dusted by the end of the third quarter will relieve a lot of tension on the Minnesota sideline and among the home fans.

Accomplishing these tasks will get the Vikings a home win to start off their home slate. New England is still in a state of flux, so Minnesota is lucky to have gotten the Patriots on the schedule when they did. Hopefully that means a second consecutive victory in Minnesota’s first regular-season home game outdoors at TCF Bank Stadium.