The rundown: Jackson suspended for hit, Dobbs under pressure, JJ’s possible return
The Minnesota Vikings fell short against the Denver Broncos on the road on Sunday night. Here are some of the notes that came from the 21-20 road loss and Kevin O’Connell’s Monday press conference…Kareem Jackson suspended
While Denver safety Kareem Jackson was not penalized for lowering his helmet and slamming into Josh Dobbs on the opening drive of the game, Jackson was hit with a big suspension on Monday. The NFL announced that he will sit the next four games without pay due to a “serious violation of the rules,” according to NFL Compliance Officer. He had previously been suspended for multiple instances of lowering his helmet and being ejected.
Since 2018 the NFL’s “command center” in New York has been allowed to look at plays that could result in an ejection but NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero noted that the league is not allowed to step in unless there is a penalty flag thrown on the play.
Following the game head coach Kevin O’Connell expressed that he felt Jackson should have been penalized on the play, which caused Dobbs to fumble and sent the QB to the injury tent.
“It seemed like a pretty direct helmet to helmet type of hit but I’m sure they saw it differently on the play,” O’Connell said.
It’s hard to make sense of the league not being able to step in when a play so blatantly should have been penalized for unnecessary roughness and possibly could have resulted in an ejection. Those plays are very difficult to determine in the moment for referees and often impact the game significantly, as it did on Sunday night. Not only did the Broncos produce a field goal off the turnover but Jackson remained in the game and played 74 total snaps for Denver’s defense.
In the loss to the Broncos, Josh Dobbs finished with 20-for-32 passing for 221 yards, one touchdown and one interception. There was a significant gap between his performance when given a clean pocket and when under duress.
When the Denver defense did not pressure Dobbs, he graded a 90.3 by PFF and went 16-for-21 with 178 yards (8.5 YPA) and had two big-time throws and zero turnover-worthy plays. The problem was that he was pressured on 44.7% of drop-backs and only completed four passes on 17 pressured drop-backs, including his lone interception in which his arm was hit as he threw.
Dobbs’ pressure rate was not exactly reflective of the offensive line’s play. On pressured attempts he took nearly 5.0 seconds to throw. That would suggest his penchant for scrambling had its pluses and minuses. He gained 21 yards on four running attempts and produced his second worst rushing grade from PFF of the season.
“I thought once again his athleticism showed up early on some critical downs and then just continuing to find that balance of when to exhaust a progression, when to try to go make a play,” O’Connell said. “We’re not in a position right now to over-coach by any stretch. We don’t want to take any of that out of his game because I think it’s a critical factor for him, in addition to as he builds comfort and confidence in our progressions and the footwork and kind of the rhythm and timing of our pass game.”
Mattison and Chandler
In Denver, Alexander Mattison had one of his best games of the season, save for his game-altering fumble late in the third quarter. He gained 4.5 yards per carry, 3.44 of which came after contact. He ended up slightly on the positive side of NFL NextGen’s Rushing Yards of Expected stat and caused a season high seven missed tackles.
On the season, however, his numbers remain underwhelming. Out of 31 running backs with at least 100 carries, Mattison grades 30th by PFF and 25th in terms of yards per attempt. As far as the all-around game goes, he’s 23rd in receiving grade and mid-pack in terms of pass protection.
His blunder against the Broncos combined with RB2 Ty Chandler’s 110-yard game on just 10 carries and four receptions opens the door to the potential of Chandler getting more opportunity going forward.
“I think it is pretty obvious to see his burst, his athleticism. He is an exciting player with the ball in his hands,” O’Connell said. “We try to find different ways to get it in his hands throughout the game. He does play a critical role right now on our offense to be a featured player, we are continuing to add to his workload every single week because he has earned those opportunities. I feel great about where Ty is at just in year two of his career the progression.”
Chandler’s game was not flawless though. He allowed a pressure on a blitz up the middle in which Dobbs’ arm was hit and the ball intercepted by the Broncos.
“The blitz pick up that is very critical throughout the regular phases of our offense where we are trying to be multiple dimensional,” O’Connell said.
Green dot without Hicks
The Vikings’ defense held the Broncos to under 300 total yards and 1-for-5 in the red zone despite missing linebacker Jordan Hicks, who not only was one of the highest graded defensive players on the team but handled play calling duties as well. In his place stepped rookie Ivan Pace Jr., who was on the field for 55 plays on Sunday night.
“I thought, for the most part, mixing and matching things and IP [Ivan Pace Jr.] running that green dot, it was probably as smooth as it was going to be,” O’Connell said. “Jordan’s [Hicks] has been extremely crucial for our whole defensive operation, especially in those two minutes or when teams are going fast on us and we’re communicating different alerts, checks, things like that, but I thought IP did a nice job handling that. I thought Flo [Brian Flores] was really good with his communication.”
Anthony Barr played 12 plays in his first game back with the Vikings.
“A lot of substitutions throughout the night with different personnel groupings and getting Anthony [Barr] in the mix,” Barr said. “A lot of moving parts there, and we’ll continue to get our guys more comfortable in maybe some new roles or more enhanced roles, but a lot to build off of.”
Troy Dye also mixed in, playing 22 defensive snaps.
Playoff odds
The Vikings’ loss to the Broncos caused only a slight dip in their playoff odds according to the analytics website SumerSports. They presently sit above 60% to reach the postseason and there isn’t another team directly in their rearview mirror. There are four teams sitting with 4-6 records (Green Bay, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Tampa Bay). The Bucs and Packers are the biggest threats to the Vikings because the Bucs have a head-to-head win and Green Bay has another game against Minnesota. The Rams stayed in the mix by surviving against Seattle. Their manageable schedule and return of Matthew Stafford gives them a shot to stay in the hunt. The Vikings are very much in control of their own destiny still with only two games against opponents with winning records remaining.