Kevin O'Connell Explains Vikings' Failed QB Sneak Play Calls
The Vikings had the ball on the Bengals' 42 yard-line — right near the edge of field goal range — in overtime. It was third and 1. So Kevin O'Connell called for a quarterback sneak with Nick Mullens, who had converted two sneaks in the first quarter.
With Brandon Powell attempting to push him from behind, Mullens appeared to come close to getting the ball across the line to gain. O'Connell thought he saw an official indicating that it was a first down, so he started calling a first and 10 play for his offense. But upon review, it was ruled that Mullens was actually just short.
"Thought we had a good look at it on third down, official spotted it otherwise, so they probably had a better look at it than I did," O'Connell said. "We gotta be able to get a little bit more than that in that moment on an inches type situation."
On fourth and literal inches, the Vikings called the same play. This time, Mullens mishandled the snap and didn't even get close. Officials measured the spot again, but he had clearly gone a few inches backwards, if anything. The result was a turnover on downs — and the Bengals kicked a game-winning field goal on the ensuing possession, defeating the Vikings 27-24 in a thriller.
In hindsight, maybe the Vikings should've handed the ball off to Ty Chandler, who ran for 132 yards in the game. But O'Connell doesn't regret the decision to sneak it twice.
"Really looking at about four, five inches there," he said. "Don’t really want to have to turn around and extend the ball and hand off. I trust our guys in that moment to execute. Thought we could execute with some interior push right there."
The decision to have Powell be the push player behind Mullens in the "tush push" was an odd one. O'Connell said he "wanted to stay in 11 personnel to try to keep them out of goal line defense or anything like that," but why not use T.J. Hockenson or even Justin Jefferson in that situation instead of the shortest player on the team? Powell is listed at 5'8" and 181 pounds. It probably didn't matter on the second sneak because Mullens didn't handle the snap cleanly, but maybe it could've made a difference on the first one.
That turnover on downs wasn't the only reason the Vikings lost the game. Mullens threw two picks in field goal range in the first half, and Minnesota's defense fell apart in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Still, fans will be thinking about the decision to sneak it twice — and the inability to execute those plays — for a while.
"Felt like we let one slip away," O'Connell said.
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