What is the worst downside to being the team in the NFL most committed to running?
It isn’t merely being the second-to-last team in passing yards per game, which the Minnesota Vikings are after a 2-2 start and being the third-leading team in rushing yards.
The even-worse byproduct is unhappy star receivers, who happen to be two of the highest paid wideouts in the NFL, a duo also considered to be one of the top five duos in the NFL.
Stefon Diggs (5 years, $81 million) and Adam Thielen (4 years, $64M) has 13 receptions each through four games, which, as SKOR North’s Matthew Coller pointed out, is about two week’s worth of work in the past.
Diggs walked out of the locker room in full pads when media was allowed to enter for post-game interviews, making himself unavailable for comment. This, following a week during which he refused media requests entriely.
Diggs, who caught 7 passes for 108 yards — mostly on the team’s 92-yard drive late in the game when a victory was out of reach — also had a crucial fumble on the Vikings’ second possession of the first half.
Last week, there were rumored reports of Diggs demanding a trade after a three-reception game against the Oakland Raiders in an easy win. Those rumors were a popular topic on post-game call-in shows following the Bears loss.
Thielen had 2 receptions for 6 yards on 6 targets in Chicago and was asked whether he felt the Bears had emphasized covering him more than in the past.
“It didn’t feel like that out there, but at the same time, the quarterback’s getting hit, I think when the plays were called, we didn’t make them, and I don’t know why that was,” he said. “But I didn’t feel that.”
That angst can be taken as nothing other than a direct shot at quarterback Kirk Cousins, who was constantly pressured and once again failed to find, or try to find, Thielen and Diggs either open or in coverage to give them a chance to make a play. Instead, Cousins often held on to the ball until he was sacked (fumbling twice) or dumped a short pass to running backs Dalvin Cook and C.J. Ham.
Cousins, you may know, is in the second year of a fully guaranteed 3-year, $84 million deal signed after the Vikings’ 13-3 season of 2017, where they reached the NFC Championship game and Cousins was considered the best (and most expensive) free agent quarterback on the market.
But the veteran QB was disppointing while running offensive coordinator John DeFilippo’s pass-happy attack in 2018, when Minnesota missed the playoffs with an 8-7-1 record and defensive-minded head coach Mike Zimmer fired the play-caller three games before season’s end, turning in the offseason to a ground-based attack guided by former Broncos and Texans head coach Gary Kubiak and longtime Vikings offensive assistant Kevin Stefanski, who calls the plays.
While Minnesota started 2-1 and Cook led the NFL rushing coming into Chicago, the Vikings insisted on pounding Cook into the Bears’ No. 1 rushing defense until late in the game. He finished with 35 yards on 14 carries while the team averaged 2.5 yards per carry on 40 attempt. Cousins was 27-of-36 for 182 yards, or a measly 4.3 yards per attempt.
Thielen is a two-time Pro Bowler and Diggs has scored as high as seventh by Pro Football Focus’s grades and led the NFL in contest catch rate.
According to SKOR North, Thielen also expressed a sentiment that has been shared over the past three weeks about the Vikings’ reliance on running back Dalvin Cook: That it couldn’t last forever:
“At some point, you’re not going to be able to run the ball for 180 yards, even with the best running back in the NFL,” Thielen said. “That’s when you have to be able to throw the ball. You have to be able to make plays. You have to be able to hit the deep balls. You have to do that, because otherwise, it’s too easy for teams to just tee off and rush the quarterback. We have to be able to run the ball and pass the ball. In this league, you can’t be one-dimensional. It’s just too easy to defend.”
Neither Thielen or Diggs have been on record with criticism of their quarterback or offensive system, even after a Week 17 sideline incident between Thielen and Cousins. But the signs of frustration are showing after two division losses in the first four weeks.
