When the Vikings’ pass game falters, the run game stays effective

The Vikings offense has relied on the run game to prolong drives and support the defense in the five games since Kirk Cousins was lost for the season.

Alexander Mattison of the Vikings has ran for 118 yards in his last two games, but he hurt his right ankle against the Raiders and is questionable for Saturday’s game in Cincinnati.

The Vikings began their pursuit of a more efficient run game this offseason, picking Alexander Mattison over Dalvin Cook and giving contracts to blockers such as tight end Josh Oliver and fullback C.J. Ham, with the idea they could help Kirk Cousins.

An improved run game, so the thinking went, would keep the quarterback from facing as many long third-down situations where defenses could pressure him and open up more of Kevin O’Connell’s playbook for Cousins on second downs where the Vikings needed 6 yards or fewer for a first down.

The Vikings’ run game ranked 25th in success rate — a metric that shows how often a running play gains a significant portion of the yardage needed for a new set of downs — in 2022. It improved to 13th through the first eight weeks of the season, though turnovers, a lack of consistency and the Vikings’ general offensive approach still meant the team ranked 27th in total rushing attempts with Cousins on the field.

In the five games since Cousins tore his right Achilles tendon, though, the run game has assumed a more central role in the offense, particularly with Joshua Dobbs playing all but 30 snaps at quarterback. The Vikings have run 149 times in those games, the sixth most in the NFL. On Sunday, they ran on 30 of their 71 plays, with a 56% success rate that ranked as their best of the season and topped the NFL in Week 14.

“We really relied on the run game,” O’Connell said Monday. “We converted on some third downs with a couple of runs, quarterback run, Alex [Mattison] running it or Ty [Chandler], running for a first on a third-and-3-or-4, I believe. When I look at it, I think the run game was incredibly efficient.”

This week could mean another shift, with Mattison uncertain for Saturday’s game at Cincinnati because of a sprained right ankle, the Vikings facing offensive line injuries and another quarterback shift possibly in the works after O’Connell pulled Dobbs in favor of Nick Mullens during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 3-0 win in Las Vegas.

The Vikings could be inclined to start Mullens against the Bengals, after he completed nine of his 13 passes for 83 yards and drove the offense to the game’s only score. The first priority for their offense is to reignite a passing game that netted only 16 yards with Dobbs in the game on Sunday. “In the end in this league, you do need to still drop back and throw the football, especially to maximize a guy like Justin Jefferson coming back into our offense,” O’Connell said.