For a while, it looked like Kevin O’Connell was back to his old tricks. After vowing to run the football in 2025, the Minnesota Vikings weren’t looking committed to their new-and-improved ground attack on Monday night against the Chicago Bears. The Vikings’ offense only ran six plays in the first quarter, but only two of them were designed, traditional rushing attempts.
It looked like KOC self-corrected in the second quarter, running Jordan Mason four times (15 yards) on Minnesota’s first scoring drive of the night. Still, despite that success, the Vikings kept declining to feed Mason and have him run behind Will Fries, Donovan Jackson, and Ryan Kelly. Instead, Aaron Jones took five carries for eight yards through three quarters, with all his carries coming on first and second down.
J.J. McCarthy‘s heroics were the story of the fourth quarter for the Vikings, but that turnaround arguably doesn’t happen if O’Connell didn’t finally start to embrace his power run game. It was Mason who kept the ball rolling after the Bears missed a field goal attempt to go up 20-6, taking the ball from Minnesota’s 40-yard line to the Chicago 35 in two plays. Those runs opened things up for Justin Jefferson‘s second catch of the night, bringing them into the red zone.
Three plays later? Touchdown, McCarthy to Jefferson.
The value add for Mason’s growing workload was keeping McCarthy out of high-pressure situations. Getting yards on first and second down keeps you in manageable third-down scenarios, and those were something McCarthy was light on through the first three quarters.
During that time, McCarthy had eight plays on third down, listed in order here:
3rd-&-2
3rd-&-4
3rd-&-8
3rd-&-5
3rd-&-18
3rd-&-8
3rd-&-18
3rd-&-2
Half of those required eight yards or more to convert the first down, putting McCarthy in a position where he needed to be one-dimensional. The Bears took advantage of that, baiting him into an easy pick-six on a third-and-eight.
BEARS PICK-SIX ON J.J. MCCARTHY 😱
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But let’s go back to McCarthy’s first touchdown drive. Between McCarthy’s strike to Jefferson in the red zone and the subsequent touchdown, Mason took the ball on first-and-10 from the 18-yard line and gained five yards. When McCarthy missed Jefferson on second down, Mason’s play ensured that McCarthy had a reasonable chance to convert his first third down of the night.
It took 45 minutes, but O’Connell figured out that while both of his RBs have lead-back capabilities, he shouldn’t use them in the same way. KOC evenly divided the workload early, and that meant playing into Jones’ weaknesses from last year. That’s no slight on Jones; he took a demanding role last season and acquitted himself well. But in terms of consistently moving the chains, pushing the ball forward, and sustaining drives, that wasn’t always his strength.
More importantly, that’s where Mason excels. He was third in the NFL last season in Rushing Yards Over Expectation (1.38 per carry), and he was fifth in Week 1 (0.97). That’s what you want from an early-down back — to be able to pick up an extra, tough yard or two, making it easier for a quarterback on third down. Or better yet, skipping those altogether.
That freed up Jones to do what he excels at in the fourth quarter. O’Connell played to Jones’ strengths, which include catching passes out of the backfield and even running routes. In the second quarter, with Mason taking most of the carries, Jones drew a huge pass interference call that got Minnesota within field goal range. Then, of course, there was Jones’ fourth-quarter touchdown reception. Jones also had some small successes in the fourth quarter as a rusher, thanks in part to Mason inflicting himself on an increasingly tired Bears defense.
J.J. McCarthy to Aaron Jones to put the Vikings ahead!
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It’d be reductive to call Jones a third-down back. He showed last year that, even at age-29, he was able to hold his own over 300 touches, notching 1,138 yards. McCarthy also made it extremely clear after the game how important Jones is to the offense. “He’s such a special player, but I can’t speak highly enough about who he is as a person,” the quarterback said after the game. “He’s one of the pillar guys of our team.”
Jones’ skill and intangibles both help the team out, and that showed in the biggest moments last night.
But while Jones is more than just a third-down back, the Vikings have the luxury to use him that way, and KOC had to learn he was better off flaunting that privilege. Luckily, he did, and the two backs excelled in their ideal roles. Mason ran hard behind his heavy line, opening opportunities for McCarthy, Jones, and everyone else down the field. That’s the blueprint the Vikings drew up when building this offense, and they’ll need to stick to it.