Why do the Vikings play so few games?

EAGAN – As the Minnesota Vikings prepare for the big swing game of their season against the Indianapolis Colts, one stat seems to be stuck in head coach Kevin O'Connell's mind: 50 games.

The Vikings offense was on the field for just 50 plays in last Thursday's loss to the Los Angeles Rams, shining a light on an issue the Vikings have struggled with all season. They just didn't have enough plays on offense. In fact, O'Connell's team ranks 32nd in number of plays per drive and total offensive plays with 397 in seven games. This has led to them struggling with consistency and weakening their defense.

What is the cause? What is the solution? Let’s dive in….

Part of the reason the Vikings lacked plays is because they scored points, and scored them so quickly. They have had 32 shots on goal this season and the average number of plays it took to either reach the end zone or kick a field goal is 7.2. That's the second-fastest rate in the NFL, with only Detroit scoring in fewer games.

Explosive plays in the passing game were a big reason for this. If you score a 97-yard touchdown, the defense must immediately return to the field. Overall, Sam Darnold has the third-most yards gained on completions of more than 20 yards through the air.

Only 11 of the 32 scoring drives required more than three first downs. The Vikings had 10 scoring drives that started from their own 30 or less and still required three or fewer first downs. Simply put: lots of quick punches.

Since the Vikings have lost their last two games, it's easy to forget that they've been winning the entire time during their 5-0 start. No team has played more total games with a lead of 9 points or more than the Vikings. In fact, the Vikings have 37 drives when they're at least two points ahead, and the second-highest point total in the NFL is (surprisingly) the Broncos with 26.

With their two point leads, the Vikings didn't do a particularly good job of eliminating their opponents. Of the 37 drives with a lead of at least 9 points, 17 ended in punts, six ended in turnovers, two ended in turnovers on downs and they only ran an average of 2:13 off the clock.

The average NFL drive in which a team is at least two points ahead scores points on 39% of drives. The Vikings scored on just 21% of drives once they had the lead and averaged just 4.6 plays per drive. No team with at least 10 drives and a two-point lead will have a lower total number of plays per drive.

If we flip the coin, the Vikings defense was on the field most plays when they were at least nine points ahead, and overall they were very successful, giving up points on 28% of drives (5% below league average) and generated sales on 20% of these trips. However, the opponent makes an average of 5.7 plays per drive.

We can clearly say that the number of total plays was influenced by the score and their performance when they are ahead by a large margin.

*Statistics using Stathead from Pro-Football Reference

Quick points and scoring opportunities aren't the only reason the Vikings lack overall plays.

They had 21 drives that were negatively impacted by penalties, meaning they were on the wrong side of the net penalty yardage difference. Only four of those drives ended in the end zone, three ended in field goals, 11 ended in punts, one resulted in a turnover and one resulted in a turnover on downs. That means 33% scored and 52.4% required a punt.

If we flip it, the Vikings have 60 drives where they are tied or on the right side of the penalty yardage, and they scored on 43% of those opportunities and punted on just 25%.

The Vikings rank 5th overall in penalties per game and third in pre-snap penalties, behind only Cleveland and Chicago.

On Friday, O'Connell addressed how to reduce delays of play and false start flags.

“Sam (Darnold) did so many good things at a really high level, especially throwing the football for us. I think we all need to remember sometimes that it's his first year starting (in the system)…”

“We need to do a few things to help him. Shorten the playing time when we break the huddle every snap in practice and try to fight back a little. There are some other times that are part of the bigger picture. Can we make it a little easier for him in orchestrating our offense? in an NFL offense that tries to move the ball and score points. There's a good balance there.

Another drive killer was sacks. Sam Darnold was sacked on 10.4% of his drop backs, the second-highest rate in the NFL, and he is credited with being responsible for the sack on the fifth-most sacks.

This helps Darnold understand where he needs to go with the football.

“We can just continue to help him from a philosophical perspective, from game intent, from what we're chasing and from the risk-reward ratio on some things that maybe it's not about losing the ball, it's about keeping the ball and trying to get things right based on his confidence in the piece, the diagram, what he had envisioned,” O'Connell said. “And more importantly, his trust in the guys running routes for him. But all of that just comes with the amount of games. And I think we want to own the ball. We don’t want to force our defense to stop more attacks than necessary.”

The Vikings have allowed 15 drives of at least 10 plays or more, which is the 10th most in the NFL. They gave up the ninth-most pass completions that gained between 1 and 10 yards and the third-highest percentage of short completions that resulted in first downs. Against the Rams, Matthew Stafford had 20 pass attempts that went less than 10 yards and completed 16 for 110 yards.

The short passes helped overcome the Vikings' vaunted pressure. Stafford went 10 of 13 for 128 yards and Jared Goff completed 15 of 16 for 165 yards as the Vikings sent at least five rushers.

“It’s just the ongoing chess game throughout the season,” Flores said. “I think it's about how much do you add in a week? … What players are available to you?' I think it all kind of comes into play when you go into it – hey, we've been doing this for four or five weeks, now we've got to get on with it.”

The race against the Vikings has also increased in the last two weeks. Before facing the Lions, they had only allowed more than 100 yards rushing once this season, but Detroit had 144 and Los Angeles had 107.

The Vikings' problem with a lack of offensive options is influenced by circumstances, style of play and mistakes. There are certain elements that will be difficult to fix, but penalties can be cleaned up and Flores can make adjustments in the coming weeks to better limit opponents' short passing games compared to their blitz attacks. And if the Vikings still end up with fewer plays because they have a three-point lead, then no one would dispute that.