Vikings fans often lament what they perceive as predictability and a conservative approach from the team's offensive play calling — particularly when it comes to running the ball in long yardage situations.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is a believer in the running game and voices his frustration when he doesn't feel like the offense is running the ball enough — as he did after Sunday's 37-10 loss to the Packers, a setback that ended the team's playoff chances and further called into question Zimmer's job status.
As Andrew Krammer and I talked about on Tuesday's Daily Delivery podcast, there is perception and there is reality. Let's dig into a few helpful facts to see where this all sorts out.
The wonderful Sharp Football site supplies us with some important data:
*In all situations this season, the Vikings have thrown the ball 59% of the time and run 41%. League average is a 58/42 split, so they are right around that mark.
*The Vikings have thrown on first down 48% of the time this year. League average is 49%. Again, right around average.
*On 2nd-and-8 or longer, the Vikings have run the ball 35% of the time. League average is 31%, so the Vikings are a little above that but not way above it.
*In the first half against Green Bay, the Vikings ran the ball just eight times with throwing 16 times while falling behind 20-3. Their 67% pass rate was the seventh-highest in the league during the first half of Week 17.