After losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 28-22 on Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings head to the West Coast to face the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football.
Even after a heartbreaking loss to the Eagles on Sunday, the team had some positives to take away from that contest. Chief among them is their ability to stop Saquon Barkley and Philadelphia’s run attack.
However, the Vikings can take the electricity out of the Chargers by replicating what they did Sunday against the Eagles and stopping the run.
Stopped Saquon
In Sunday’s contest, Brian Flores’ defense limited last season’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year to just 44 yards on 18 carries and no touchdowns.
Barkley isn’t having anywhere near the production he had last season. He has yet to rush for 100 yards. Still, he is a back who can truly test a team’s run defense.
The fact that players like Jonathan Greenard, Jalen Redmond, and Eric Wilson are making impact plays in the run game and consistently get to Barkley at or before the line of scrimmage drove the run defense’s success.
Coming into the season, PFF gave the Eagles the best overall grade on the offensive line. The Vikings imposed their will on a fairly consistent basis, making it hard not to have hope that this same defensive front will give a run-first head coach like Harbaugh headaches all game long.
Harbaugh’s History
You don’t need to ask J.J. McCarthy, who played for Harbaugh in Michigan, about his run-first mentality. If you examine his coaching career in college and the pros, it’s easy to see that the Chargers’ head coach values his offensive line and a downhill running back.
During his first NFL head coaching stint with the San Francisco 49ers, Harbaugh’s team had the second-fewest yards in the passing game. It focused heavily on Frank Gore, providing Colin Kaepernick with option routes to utilize his speed and make plays happen.
After four NFL seasons and a Coach of the Year win, Harbaugh took that same run-first mentality to Michigan. He spent eight seasons coaching the Wolverines, the final three of which were under McCarthy’s leadership.
The Wolverines consistently employed a run-first mentality, which helped impose their will on any opponent on any given week, much to their head coach’s liking.
After winning the National Championship in 2023, the Chargers hired Harbaugh. He consistently demonstrates that he intends to play this physical style of football, where the run game sets up the pass to dictate game flow and grind out a win.
Thursday Night
While he’s currently missing his workhorse rookie running back, Omarion Hampton, out with an ankle injury, don’t expect Harbaugh to stop trying to impose his will with the Chargers’ run game. He uses the run game to open the passing game for Herbert and get stars like Ladd McConkey and Keenan Allen going.
Success for Minnesota starts with forcing Harbaugh to go to Herbert early. They must trust that Isaiah Rodgers, Harrison Smith, and the defense will secure crucial takeaways. However, the Vikings have a minus-six turnover differential over the last three games.
To win in LA, Minnesota’s run defense must make massive stops and create opportunities for the backs to come up big with much-needed turnovers. The football world knows what Jim Harbaugh‘s offense relies heavily on. It will be up to the same defense that stuffed Saquon Barkley to take the electricity out of SoFi Stadium.