Our own Mark Craig had an interesting story today about the Vikings' struggles (or downright failure) inside the red zone this season. Along with Brett Favre's sudden regression back into an INT machine and the defensive line's inability to produce sacks, the team's offensive sputtering once it reaches an opponent's 20 yard line is right up there among the most glaring differences between 2009 and 2010. The numbers don't lie:
In 2009, the Vikings made an astounding 69 trips inside the red zone, coming away with a league-high 43 TDs. They tacked on another 17 field goals, meaning only nine times out of 69 did they fail to score points -- and in 62.3 percent of their overall trips, they were scoring TDs.
In 2010, Minnesota has made only 29 trips inside the red zone in nine games -- about one trip fewer per game (a little over 4 vs. a little over 3) than last season. And once they've gotten there, the Vikings have scored just 12 TDs in those 29 trips (41.3 percent) and have failed to score any points at all on 8 of 29 red zone possessions (ranking them tied for 30th in the NFL).
Crunching the numbers further only makes them more painful. 43 TDs (assuming extra points, too) and 17 field goals is a total of 352 points. The Vikings a season ago averaged 22 points a game only on red zone possessions. This year, through nine games, they have averaged 12.3 points per game on red zone possessions -- about a full TD and FG less than a year ago.
In Craig's story, WR Greg Camarillo is quoted as saying, "I wish there was one quick answer I could give you that would solve the situation, but it's just a matter of breakdowns in execution."
That's partially true. If you want a magic bullet that we think also contains a great deal of truth, though, we point you directly at another WR, and a missing one at that: Sidney Rice. While Sidney certainly gave the Vikings a deep threat with his ability to out-jump and out-muscle smaller defenders a year ago, his greatest ability might have been in situations closer to the goal line -- whether running jump-ball fade routes, quick curls or slants. He caught eight TD passes in his breakout 2009 season, and six of them came in the red zone (in fact, all six of those were from 14 yards or closer).
And having a dynamic playmaker near the goal line doesn't just impact plays that directly involve that playmaker. Particularly on plays inside the 10, when defenders have so much less of the field to worry about than on a play from the 50, having a WR who draws attention from the defense creates mismatches for other WRs, tight ends and even running backs. It opens up that big ol' play-calling menu and creates those open windows that result in Favre TD passes instead of those closed windows that end in INTs or dangerous incompletions.
But don't just trust us. Trust Visanthe Shiancoe. He had 11 TD grabs a year ago -- all inside the red zone, and all but one from 13 yards or closer. This year, he has two TD catches. Distances: 20 and 25 yards.
