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Offensive
Philosophy
Brooks bring one of the most realistic approaches
to the game if all the players in the PFL. You
won't see very many gimmick, "arcadish" type plays
from Brooks. The offense is centered around the
ability of Brooks to establish the running game
early. He doesn't allow defenses to sit back and
tee off on his passing game. Therefore you must
respect the run. Smith uses a combination of Robert
Smith and Leroy Hoard to smash mouth his way down
the field. He then loves to go to the flats on
occasion just to keep the defense off balanced. On
long yardage situations he has the ability to go
down the field deep for the big play. He won't
hesitate to make a quick strike if needed as well.
Brooks uses of all of his receivers are impressive
as well. Look for both Palmer and Morrow to get
quite a few touches during the ball game as well.
The receiving corp is stellar as well, led by the
explosive Randy Moss. Chris Carter and Jake Reed
also make it difficult to double cover or roll
coverages to one receivers side of the
field.
CUSTOM
PLAYS
Brooks uses his custom offensive plays very
sparingly. He has a double screen in the repertoire
that is very cleverly designed. Where Brooks
differs from most PFL ballers, he doesn't show the
customs very often. Most PFL ballers will come
right at you with the custom package, but not so in
Minnesota's case. However, Brooks most impressive
use of the custom package is the on the defensive
side of the ball. The Viking's line stunts out of
the defensive package are cleverly designed to send
pressure to the outside of the line to occupy the
offensive tackles, while sending the defensive ends
up the middle. This causes big confusion on the
offensive line leaving large holes for the
defensive line to get penetration. Here again you
won't see this package unless it is an obvious
passing situation.
GRADING THE
OFFENSE
Defensive
Philosophy
Brooks defensive
approach is very similar to the offense. Not very
aggressive, and somewhat lethargic. However, the
Vikes will blitz in obvious passing situations, but
not very much in other situations. Brooks is one of
the few coaches in THE LEAGUE that can run the 4-3
effectively. Brooks will mix crashes, zones and
unders from the 4-3 in addition to some nickel.
Because of the weak corners, the Vikes play limited
man and more zone. The safeties are underrated, and
the defensive line can apply pressure at times. The
Vikings run defense is a little suspect. This would
be the best way to attack them. But instead many
teams go after the secondary which allows Brooks to
tee off on the passing game which is right where he
likes to be. If you want to beat the Vikings, you
must rush for more than 50 yards against
them.
GRADING THE
DEFENSE
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