Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings and Falcons have had nearly five months to think about this one since the schedule was announced in April.
That’s a lot of time to study an opponent on readily available film, look for tendencies a play caller may have in certain situations and scheme up what might work best.
Vikings Offensive Coordinator Kevin Stefanski has been studying up on the defense implemented by Falcons Head Coach Dan Quinn. Quinn was the Seahawks defensive coordinator from 2013-14 before his hire as the top man in Atlanta in 2015. He is head coach/defensive coordinator this year.
Meanwhile, Vikings Defensive Coordinator George Edwards has been getting a bearing on Falcons Offensive Coordinator Dirk Koetter, who held the role with Atlanta from 2012-14 before venturing to Tampa Bay. Koetter was the Buccaneers offensive coordinator in 2015 and head coach from 2016-18.
It's a delicate balance, however, to avoid paralysis by over-analysis.
“We probably go too far back,” said Stefanski, who began his tenure with the Vikings in 2006 and was elevated this offseason from an interim position he held for the final three games of 2018. “In this first game, you can really go spend a lot of time looking back. We’re trying to make sure we have a nice sound, concise plan but certainly you want to study Coach Quinn as a coordinator.
“The harm is you want to prepare for this game, but you don’t want to over-prepare,” Stefanski added. “It’s the paralysis-by-analysis thing. You have so many days leading up to this game, even starting back in April. We did some work on these guys back in the spring, and you’re into the preseason, you’re still kind of keeping an eye on Atlanta. You have to fight that urge to go too far over the top. We want to have a nice, concise plan that our players can execute.”
Edwards explained that he’s surveyed what Koetter has done in the past, but the lack of activity in the preseason from players such as receiver Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman made it a little difficult to get a fresh look.
“You’re kind of piecing together some of the things and the concepts that you’re looking at in different situations,” Edwards said. “It’s tough, any time that you get a new offensive coordinator, you’re looking at some of his tendencies from last year and now applying it to a new team.”
Stefanski said “ultimately the focus is on us.”
“We need to be about our business and do the things that we’ve seen our players do out here on the practice field and not overthink this thing or try and get too creative and give them too much because that would be a disservice to our players,” Stefanski said.
Asked what makes a play caller effective, quarterback Kirk Cousins said this week that it’s having a balance between creativity that keeps a defense guessing and making sure “offensive players in a place where they are comfortable.”
“That’s a tough balance to walk, because if you start calling plays out of left field, it certainly may be a challenge for the defense, but it also may be a challenge for your own players, to understand where to line up and how to execute the plays correctly versus all the different looks they are going to see,” Cousins said. “I think the great ones are able to bring variety while also staying within an identity. As many coaches will say, ultimately, it’s players not plays, and if you have great players, I think systems will look really, really good, so you’ve got to have great players, too.”