Kevin O'Connell inherits red zone chemistry with Cousins-Thielen connection
EAGAN — Kirk Cousins looked around for somewhere to throw the ball and couldn’t find an open man at first. He paused and then whipped a pass in the direction of Adam Thielen, who was thoroughly covered. The throw was toward Thielen’s back shoulder too high for him to get both of his yellow gloves on it so he reached up and snatched it out of the air with his right hand for a touchdown.
Yes, it was only an OTA drill. Sure, the defensive line wasn’t really rushing the quarterback. Yeah, the cornerback would probably say he stopped running thinking the play was over. But the highlight of Wednesday’s Minnesota Vikings practice was something that’s become common over the last two seasons: Cousins to Thielen red zone touchdowns.
“What he's done in the red zone over the course of his career speaks for itself,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “He's got a tremendous feel, a knack for.... just an understanding as that field shrinks where that open grass and how can I be a friendly target to the quarterback.”
Over the past two seasons, Cousins has found Thielen in the end zone 24 times, only trailing Davante Adams, Mike Evans and Tyreek Hill for the most receiving touchdowns in the NFL between 2020 and 2021. Out of the 24 TDs, 20 of them have come in the red zone, which ranks only behind Adams for tops in the league. Overall Thielen has grabbed 27 of 32 passes his way inside the 20-yard line since the start of 2020, the highest catch percentage of any receiver (per Pro-Football Ref).
In his first few months as head coach, O’Connell has talked about plans to improve the offense, offering hints at tweaks to Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook’s usage, but Thielen’s experience in running routes by the goal line for Cousins is something the new head coach won’t need to alter.
“That play that you're talking about is just an example of Kirk kind of feeling [Thielen’s] body language in the route,” O’Connell said of the highlight-reel practice catch. “Do we coach it to throw in that area? Absolutely not. He's just throwing Adam open with some trust. I think that's the big word, the trust in the red zone.”
“There’s a lot of times where he’s scoring touchdowns when it wasn’t exactly how you drew it up,” O’Connell added.
The result of the Vikings’ QB-WR red zone chemistry has been strong touchdown production when the Vikings reach the red zone. Last year they ranked 10th best in red zone scoring percentage and sixth in 2020. If the Vikings are going to improve on their total scoring output from the last two years, they need to carry over their previous success. Under Mike Zimmer, situational football was of the utmost importance during OTAs, minicamp and training camp. That’s something O’Connell will be copying from the previous regime.
“Those are four-point swings, seven-point swings that you've got to be able to take advantage of and that's where we can coach those things from the jump,” O’Connell said. “We don't install a red zone play without talking about a red zone philosophy and how we want to play down there. Then the plays and the Xs and Os come in.”
Cousins’ experience will be a major bonus for O’Connell in installing his red zone packages, considering things can get hectic inside the 20-yard line. In the last two seasons, Cousins has 47 touchdowns, one interception and only six times sacked in the red zone. He has the second highest red zone QB rating between 2020 and 2021.
“There's just so much that goes into it,” O’Connell said. “Leverage. What's the defensive intent? What are they trying to take away? Because really there's a 12th defender out there with that backline and the field does condense. They don't have to defend vertical grass. Every little blade of grass matters because if it's an inside or outside leverage player, technique and fundamentals are going to be such that they've got to be detailed otherwise if one guy gets that timing thrown off within a concept of five eligible you might be progressing to somebody that's not where they're supposed to be.”
“You guys will see us work it a ton leading up to our first game,” O’Connell said.
